Mathematics Framework

Planning

Good planning is worthwhile. The time involved is an investment for future years and reduces the demands of paperwork in the long term. Experience in primary schools of planning from the Framework suggests that it becomes quicker and easier with familiarity. Plans that are well constructed and informative do not have to be written in full prose or elegantly typed, though they do need to be accessible to others. Their prime purpose is to specify coverage, ensure good progression and so improve teaching.

It is helpful to consider three levels of planning which together form a scheme of work.

Long-term plans
The Framework provides yearly teaching programmes - sets of objectives of what to teach over the course of each year, based on the National Curriculum programmes of study for the key stage.

Medium-term plans
Medium-term plans show the titles of units of work or main topics that pupils will be taught over a half-term or term. Each unit covers a block of several lessons. There are four basic requirements for each year group:

• for each unit, the number of hours or lessons is specified
• the objectives to be addressed in each unit are identified, with adjusted objectives as appropriate for higher and lower attainers
• for the majority of pupils in each year, the units between them cover all the objectives for the year
• taken as a whole, the units provide breadth and balance across the National Curriculum programmes of study.

The best medium-term plans provide opportunities to revisit topics and to make connections between different aspects of mathematics. They also build in time for regular assessment and review.

Short-term or lesson plans
Short-term or lesson plans are the teaching notes for a block of lessons. They show how a unit of work will unfold to meet the intended objectives. They indicate the objectives for each lesson or group of lessons that form part of the unit, outline starter activities, show how work will be developed in the main part of the lessons through teaching input and pupil activities, indicate how lessons will be rounded off and suggest what homework will be set. They may include references to relevant resources, such as textbooks and ICT applications. Each unit will consist of several lessons: for example, an 8-hour unit may be planned in a sequence of 3, 2 and 3 lessons. A unit may, of course, include a plan for a single key lesson, perhaps an introductory lesson based on a problem, or a lesson focusing on an open-ended investigation suitable for pupils with a wide range of attainment.

There could be up to three versions of a particular unit of work for a specific year group, differentiated for higher, average and lower attainers, but with some overlap.

The main requirement of a short-term plan is that it makes clear how the objectives for the relevant unit will be taught. It should be possible to trace an objective from the yearly teaching programme in the Framework through its location in the medium-term plan, down to when and how it will be taught in one or more lessons.