Maths
The leader for mathematics in our school is: Miss N Thomas
Our journey for mathematics starts in the Early Years. We follow a Curriculum Progress Model that covers the six areas of mathematics and ensures progression from Nursery to Reception with clear links into the Year 1 Mathematics Curriculum. Teachers identify children who need further support and challenge and address these needs through adult-led activities and carefully thought-out enhancements in the continuous provision.
The journey continues in Years 1 – 6 through the implementation of the 2014 National Curriculum. We ensure that our children:
- Become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics.
- Are able to reason mathematically.
- Apply their mathematical understanding to routine and non-routine problems.
We have outlined the order in which we will teach our units of work to enable us to plan coverage of the entire National Curriculum whilst allowing us to prioritise the DfE Ready to Progress statements. Teachers consider the needs of their cohort before determining how many weeks they will spend on each topic. The NCETM Teaching for Mastery Assessment questions are built into units of work to enable teachers to effectively assess children’s understanding at a Mastery and Greater Depth level within a unit of work.
Fluency, reasoning and problem-solving skills are embedded within mathematics lessons and are developed consistently over time. By ensuring that children secure their fluency skills before moving on to more complex mathematics we develop children’s confidence to tackle a variety of problems either independently or in collaboration with their peers. All children are given the opportunity to reason at their own level using the 5 stages of reasoning, describe, explain, convince, justify and prove.
How does this look in our school?
Flashback 4 – at the beginning of every maths lesson, children answer 4 questions. These questions consist of:
- A fluency question on a maths topic from last term
- A fluency question from the maths work last week
- A fluency questions from the current maths learning
- A problem solving question linked to previous/ current mathematics learning
Fluency Sessions – There are 4 fluency sessions per week throughout the school. These sessions revisit and consolidate DfE Ready to Progress Statements to ensure that children are retaining the core skills identified to prepare children for their next year group. Teachers also use these sessions to address any gaps in learning that have been identified within their Daily Mathematics Lesson. In Reception and Key Stage 1, children’s daily fluency sessions are delivered using the NCETM Mastering Number program. Teachers in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 complete a fortnightly arithmetic ‘quiz’ which is analysed and informs their fluency sessions.
Daily Mathematics Lessons – Objectives may be covered over more than one lesson to ensure that children have had sufficient time to secure their understanding and work at a deeper level within the objective. We use a ‘Strive for 5’ approach to fluency and ensure that children can confidently and independently tackle 5 fluency questions before moving on to the next stage in their learning. Depending on which stage of the objective is being taught, there will be a range of modelling, whole class work, group work, independent practice and challenge activities evident within the lessons. Teachers and teaching assistants are skilled in knowing which resources best model mathematical concepts and how to move children onto pictorial representations and then onto more abstract understanding. Teachers model effective use of vocabulary through all stages of the lesson and this is reinforced through the use of working walls which link vocabulary to the concrete, pictorial and abstract representations of the concepts being taught.
We ensure that children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) have access to a broad and balanced curriculum. Teachers set high expectations for every pupil, whatever their prior attainment. Teachers are clear on the pre-requisite learning for each unit of work and the progression to mastery and greater depth for each objective. This allows maximum progress to be planned for and then children are challenged and supported through this journey at a pace appropriate to their needs. Lessons are planned to address potential areas of difficulty and to remove barriers to pupil achievement. Such planning will mean that pupils with SEN and disabilities will be able to study the full national curriculum. Teachers are fully supported with CPD available for every small step that they teach via First4Maths Academy. The training videos outline the resources and images to use to support children’s conceptual understanding and the questions that will challenge at mastery and greater depth.
Pupils’ attainment is assessed through the use of pre and post learning tasks, teacher assessment and end of year PUMA tests/ End of Key Stage tests. Teachers complete Assessment Tags via DC Pro at the end of each unit to identify children working towards age related, expected and greater depth. This enables teachers to analyse progress through the unit of work and to make judgements about whether to revisit any areas of the unit before moving on. All teachers from Reception to Year 6 moderate their assessments internally with the support of the subject leader. The subject leader monitors the progress of mathematics through work scrutiny of mathematics books, listening to pupil voice, observing lessons and discussions with staff.
We are committed to ensuring that children are able to recognise the importance of mathematics in the wider world and that they are also able to use their mathematical skills and knowledge confidently in their lives in a range of different contexts. We build in regular opportunities for our children to reflect and evaluate on the skills that they have used in order for them to take ownership and pride in their work. Cross-curricular mathematics, outdoor mathematics and active mathematics are encouraged where it enhances and enriches learning. Children enjoy mathematics and experience success in the subject, with the ability to reason mathematically. We develop children’s curiosity about the subject, as well as an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics.