Assertive Mentoring

Maths
Monday

th
12

October 2015

AIMS OF THIS SESSION

To inform you of the new statutory requirements for
assessment
To give you an overview of the Assertive Mentoring System
we are following for Maths.
To provide you with information on how to support your
child in their learning at home.

REMOVAL OF LEVELS
The Government removed the former national curriculum assessment levels
(3c, 3b, etc) because the new curriculum has much higher standards and
expectations.
DfE: The curriculum must include an assessment system which enables
schools to check what pupils have learnt and whether they are on track to
meet expectations at the end of the key stage and report regularly to
parents.
However no new levels for assessment have been introduced nationally.
We are therefore in a new era of assessing without levels. There is now no
national requirement from the government in how schools should assess and
record progress. It is therefore up to each school to develop its own system.

ASSERTIVE MENTORING
The assertive mentoring system format allows the teachers to assess the pupils learning against a
variety of progressive statements called steps.
For each year group there are four age-related steps and associated learning statements that the
pupils are assessed against.
These will be recorded as emerging, developing, secure and mastering these steps will be
recorded in the pupils files and discussed at parent consultations.
Under the new national curriculum, children must only work on the objectives for their year group
and cannot be taught skills from a higher year group. For those pupils who have reached their
end of year expectations, the teachers will provide a range of learning opportunities that offer a
greater depth and breadth of understanding specific to their year group.
The new curriculum is 8 months harder at every point because primary standards have never been
higher!

The curriculum is not about going higher it is about going deeper.

NEW PRIMARY CURRICULUM FOR MATHEMATICS

WHATS OUT?

WHATS THERE LESS OF?

INFORMAL WRITTEN METHODS OF

CALCULATION

EMPHASIS ON ESTIMATION

CALCULATORS

LESS WORK ON PLACE VALUE

SEPARATE STRAND FOR USING AND

APPLYING

LESS WORK ON DATA HANDLING

(STATISTICS)

Whats in?
Roman numerals
Times tables up to 12 x 12
Equivalence between metric and
imperial
Long division and algebra (Y6)
Building learning over time and
going deeper Geometry moved
into year 4. Slower and Longer.

Whats there more of?

More challenging objectives,
especially in number
Formal written methods introduced
earlier
More work on fractions

HOW DOES ASSERTIVE MENTORING WORK IN

MATHS?
Levels with Stages. Stage 1 is Y1; Stage 2 is Y2 etc.
Each Stage is broken down into sub stages
There are 4 Sub Stages per Stage:
Emerging
Developing;
Secure
Mastering or Next Stage Ready

HOW ARE WE ASSESSING IN MATHS?

Use the Half Termly Tests
Each pupil completes the half

termly test at the Stage they are

currently operating within
(exception of SENs pupils)
The teacher tracks which areas the
children are not able to do and the
teaching is adjusted accordingly.

Half termly test Example of questions and structure

 The children also complete a Weekly

Basic Skills Check.

There are 15 of these at every Stage (S16).
Pupils take the Weekly Basic Skills Check
in class during a normal numeracy
lesson at the Stage they are currently
working at... once a week.
This regular practice supports mastery of
the basic skills as the weekly repetition
enables pupils to keep getting right those
questions theyd previously got right so
that basic skills are not forgotten over time
And the teacher addresses common group
misconceptions

Weekly skills check Example of questions and structure

HOW DOES THE TEACHER RUN THE WEEKLY SKILLS CHECKS LESSON?
We suggest that the teacher gives pupils Skills Check
One in week one at the Stage they are working at as a practice exercise. Pupils are given help from the
teacher & TA - they only take 20/30 minutes to do
Further help is given to pupils through use of Pupil
Prompt Sheets . These are available for S0-S6
Pupils use the Prompt Sheets to work independently as
they work their way through the Weekly Skills Check.

The Prompt Sheets are also great for homework

Parents love using them to help their children

Pupil Record Sheet. We advise that all 15 Skills

Checks at each level are collated in booklet form with
the record sheet on the front. Pupils record their own
scores on the left hand column of the record sheet.
In the second week, give the pupils Skills Check One
again, this time with NO HELP. They record their
score in the right hand column of the Record Sheet.
Challenge them to achieve the same score in the
without help column as in the with help column

Weekly skills check Example of the prompt sheet

All parents have been emailed a copy of the prompt sheet relevant the stage your child is working within.

FURTHER USE OF THE WEEKLY BASIC SKILLS CHECKS.

Once a week, in a specially timetabled slot, pupils go
Revise Wise Friday groups.
Here, teachers and TAs are each assigned a group of
pupils who arrive with the Basic Skills Check that they
completed earlier in the week in their own class
The teacher or TA leading the groups go through the
weekly basic skills check question by question
They teach to the misconceptions that are identified
through this process ie those areas that a significant
number of pupils got wrong
Next week, back in class, when the pupils take their
next weekly basic skills check, they will have a much
better chance of getting right the questions theyd
previously got wrong

HOW DO PUPILS LEARN THEIR TABLES?

Pupils are now expected to have learnt their tables - 1-12 by the end of Y4. However Y5 is
probably more realistic.

The system aims for children to be able to say their tables in order without hesitation (bronze
level); in any order they are asked (silver level) and the associated divisional facts (gold level).

Times Tables Record Card. This is to motivate children and allow them to see their own progress.
The front of the card has the tables up to 12 so they can learn them. On the back there are
spaces for pupils to collect stickers once they have achieved the expectations.

For each table, there are three spaces on the reverse of the card. The first is to put a Bronze
sticker once they can say their tables in order without hesitation; a space for a Silver sticker once
they can say their tables out of order without hesitation and a space for a Gold sticker once they
know the associated divisional facts.

There are class and homework practice sheets for every table. There is also a series of tests
including a useful excel spreadsheet for this purpose.

Gold Level Times tables and associated divisional facts

AIMS OF THE NEW CURRICULUM

Fluency in the fundamentals

Reason mathematically
Solve problems

CHILDREN NEED TO:

Know it
Use it
Explain it

TEST TIME!
Look at these numbers. Circle the odd one out.
8, 16, 64, 32, 25
Sort these numbers into descending order
94cm, 3cm, 178cm, 4m, 202mm
Bruno the boxer dog love hot dogs. Hot dogs are sold in tins of 8. He eats 6 hot dogs every day.
Work out how many tins we need to buy:-

A) for a week
B) to last 4 weeks