Mathematics

'Learning God's Way'

Intent

At St Mary’s, we believe that maths is essential to everyday life and provides a foundation for understanding the world. Children have a naturally enquiring mind and we want to ignite that sense of curiosity of maths in them and ensure that they enjoy the subject. Our aim in maths is to enable the children to become fluent in the fundamentals, reason mathematically and solve problems by applying their learning to varied situations with confidence. Through the teaching of our core values, with a particular focus on perseverance, and our key drivers, we want to support our children in becoming the best mathematicians they can be, equipped to deal with the maths in ‘real life.’

Having an embedded understanding of mathematics and that all important number sense will give them confidence and access to every aspect of life is an integral skill that will allow young people to succeed in life.

Our teaching of mathematics is based on the National Curriculum Programmes of Study and the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). We can help our children acquire proficiency by giving a sharp focus to the relevant aspects of the programmes of study for mathematics. We do this through a daily lesson that has a high proportion of whole-class teaching based on a ‘Teaching For Mastery’ approach – a highly inclusive way to teach which provides deep learning opportunities for all children with rich questioning and powerful models.

National Curriculum Content (main aims)

We aim for all pupils to:

• become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics so that they develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.

• be able to solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of problems with increasing sophistication, including in unfamiliar contexts and to model real-life scenarios

• reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry and develop and present a justification, argument or proof using mathematical language.

There are three types of knowledge in maths:-

Declarative knowledge - ‘I know that…’ and refers to facts and formulae, and the relationship between facts (conceptual knowledge.)

Procedural knowledge - ‘I know how…’ and refers to methods and the principles underpinning them.

Conditional knowledge - ‘I know when…’ and refers to knowledge and understanding of strategies that can be used to reason and solve problems.

Implementation

At St Mary's, we follow White Rose Maths as our main scheme of learning. The White Rose Maths scheme of work aims to show pupils that everyone can do maths and inspire children's love for this fascinating subject. Covering a wide range of school years, it aims to develop pupils' reasoning, fluency and problem-solving skills. 

The resources we use have been developed with the national curriculum in mind, so you can rest assured your child's class will be working towards meeting the curriculum aims.

Each year is split into three terms (autumn, spring and summer), and each term comprises individual blocks of learning about a particular topic. We place a high value on the secure understanding of number and spend lots of time building strong number skills in Reception, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. These essential core skills lay a solid foundation for more complex learning later on. Number skills are revisited and rehearsed with regular Numbersense sessions, fluency sessions within maths lessons and through the use of Numbots and Times Table Rockstars. Weekly homework is available in KS1 and  set in KS2 to help children to secure and consolidate skills and retain learning.

Our mathematics lessons build fluency, problem solving and reasoning through sequences of carefully planned and resourced lessons. We use a range of concrete (practical apparatus such as cubes, counters etc) pictorial (diagrams and representations) and abstract (written, problem solving, application tasks) activities and resources to support children's learning.

EYFS

In Early Years, Mathematics involves providing children with opportunities to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems; and to describe shapes, spaces, and measure. At St Mary's primary school, Numbersense and White rose early maths activities  are used to ensure children have ongoing opportunities to access Maths at all times. Practitioners are focused on making mathematics engaging and exciting and activities are linked to the core text. Practitioners offer a balance of child initiated and adult led learning using continuous play and small group activities. Activities are multi-sensory and ‘hands on’ – providing the opportunity for children to explore and develop their thought process, which enables children to become excellent problem solvers. Practitioners have high expectations and ensure there is no limit to a child’s learning experience.

Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2

In Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 children are taught:

• Daily maths lessons include fluency, reasoning and problem solving.
• Teachers use concrete, pictorial and abstract (CPA) methods to teach maths.
• Concrete manipulatives are used so that children have materials to support their learning.
• Lessons may be personalised and differentiated to address the individual needs and requirements for a class but coverage is maintained.

In maths lessons all children are expected to succeed and make progress from their starting points. Teachers teach the skills needed to succeed in mathematics to the  differing abilities of the children  through the use of  modelling, questioning, scaffolds  and revisiting  concepts .

Children who grasp ideas quickly and confidently will be challenged through more demanding problems which deepen their knowledge of the content. 

Impact

The impact of our mathematics curriculum is that children understand the relevance and importance of what they are learning in relation to real world concepts. Ongoing assessment takes place in maths through formative assessment , questioning and  through the children’s books. In addition to this pupils are assessed using white rose assessments. 

At the end of the academic year , a summative judgement is given  linked to the level that they have achieved in  maths.

By the end of  each year, children :

• Are fluent, competent and efficient mathematicians  for their age and stage of learning.
• Have the ability to recall facts and procedures, including the recollection of times tables for their year group .
• Have the ability to clearly explain their reasoning and justify their thought processes.
• Be confident to choose the strategy that is best suited to solve a problem.
• Talk enthusiastically about maths  and can articulate their learning
• Understand and use the correct mathematical vocabulary
• Have a positive attitude towards their maths lessons and their learning