• Philosophy
The introduction to a calculation policy should give a feel for the approach and philosophy being encouraged in the school.
It doesn't need to be lengthy and detailed, but it is an opportunity to make it clear to all in the school, including parents, the emphasis that the school puts on certain aspects of teaching calculation. For example, the use of concrete resources and models to support conceptual understanding or pictures and images such as number lines and 100 squares to support mental imagery could be made clear in this introduction. The development from concrete experiences through to mental jottings, mental strategies and on to written methods can also be explained. You may also want to emphasise the importance of problem solving and calculating in context.
Whatever you choose to include in this policy, you are aiming for a consistency of approach in your school.
• Learning concepts, facts and procedures
It is a good idea to clarify the learning that will be taking place during a child's time in primary school. Debbie Morgan* talks about the 'Knowledge-led curriculum' with three forms of knowledge:
- Factual: I know that
- Procedural: I know how
- Conceptual: I know why
Conceptual understanding underpins the other two, and it is good to distinguish between children knowing facts and children using methods to get to an answer, using the facts they know.
• Progression
This is probably the key part of a calculation policy, and will certainly take up the majority of the content.
It needs to meet the expectations of the 2014 Programmes of Study, but does not need to map directly to it. It is far more important to make each of the small steps very clear so there are no gaps through to the expectations by the end of Year 6.
• Worked examples
Alongside the steps of progression it is very useful to have examples of the procedures, questions, language, approach or whatever is needed to clarify the teaching and learning.
For example, if a Y3 subtraction step is 'Use a formal written method for HTU-HTU', then it is important to show a worked example, including the language of decomposition (exchange, rename etc) to help model it.
Broadbent Maths Planning Menu - User Schools
For schools that are using my Maths Planning Menu, I have written a set of four documents to support you in writing your own calculation policy.
I have written separate policies for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, with clear progression steps and expectations for each year group. I have obviously made sure that they are in line with the new 2014 NC.
I have included examples for each progression step, but it is this specific content that individual schools should develop to match their own requirements and really make the calculation policy their own.
For example, a school may decide that they will use a grid method as a written method for multiplication in Y4 (HTUxU), whereas another school may choose to use a formal vertical method.
Here is a link to the page for the four calculation policy documents:
Calculation Policies
* Debbie Morgan is Primary Director at National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM).
