INTENT

Our aims in teaching Mathematics are that all children will:

• enjoy mathematics and study it with confidence and a sense of achievement so that they become competent and independent mathematicians.

• have the ability to recall fluently and apply number facts such as number bonds and multiplication tables rapidly and accurately.

• build a deep conceptual understanding of concepts which will enable them to apply their learning in different situations. 

• develop a deep understanding by reasoning mathematically and have the ability to articulate, discuss and explain their thinking.

Principles of the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics

At North Bradley School we believe that everyone can succeed in mathematics and it is essential for everyday life and the advances on which our economic future depends. It equips our children for the role that science, technology and engineering will play in their future. It is, therefore, fundamentally important that we provide pupils with the best possible mathematics education.  We help our children develop a positive mindset and enthusiastic attitude towards mathematics and strive to deliver a stimulating mathematics curriculum that develops our children into confident and competent mathematical thinkers who can apply their knowledge in a range of situations.

IMPLEMENTATION

In the Foundation Stage we plan mathematical activities that address the learning objectives as set out in Development Matters and the Early Learning Goals.  We have adopted the White Rose Maths scheme to support a maths curriculum that embeds mathematical thinking and talk. The scheme provides a bank of ideas to support the teaching of mathematics in Reception. Developing a strong grounding in number is essential in the Reception class.  We aim for the children to develop a deep understanding of numbers to 10, the relationship between them and the patterns within those numbers. This will ensure that our children develop a secure base of knowledge and vocabulary from which mastery of mathematics is built.  In addition, it is important that we include opportunities for children to develop their spatial reasoning skills across all areas of mathematics including shape, space and measures. This allows them to enjoy, explore, practise and talk confidently about mathematics.

Our Mathematics curriculum is set out in year groups as defined in the National Curriculum. 

This ensures continuity and progression in our teaching. We have adopted the maths scheme 'Power Maths' in Year 1-5.   This whole class mastery model embeds a growth mind-set approach to maths and helps children gain a deep understanding of maths concepts.  Teachers follow the day to day guides precisely to ensure a consistent structure to lessons and a clear progression of mathematical skills. Extra lessons are built in if more support of a key skill is required. In Year 6 we return to The White Rose scheme of learning, which is aligned with Power Maths, and weaves the three key elements of fluency, reasoning and problem solving to ensure our children are ready for their transition to secondary school.

The daily mathematics lesson often includes: ·

• a Power Up fluency task to sustain prior learning and consolidate number facts

• a whole-class, interactive learning phase, where children share their thinking and look for the best ways to solve a mathematical problem

• demonstration, explanation and instruction by the teacher on the same objective to the whole class

• concrete, pictorial and abstract methods to develop children's skills

• intelligent practice questions for children to complete

• a reasoning or problem solving activity so that children can apply their understanding

• the teacher working with a group of children whilst the rest of the class work independently

• those children who are ‘rapid graspers’ will either be challenged with deeper thinking questions, asked to show their understanding in different representations or through writing own word problems/ explanations/application of skills.

• mini plenaries and a final plenary to review the main teaching and learning objectives.

At North Bradley CE Primary School, we value breath of understanding over rapid acceleration into the following year group’s objectives. We ensure that children have a secure and deep understanding of mathematics.  Each maths objective is broken down into small steps which gradually develops children's understanding.  Teachers ensure children understand each step before moving onto the next. The large majority of our pupils progress through the curriculum content at the same pace.  Differentiation is achieved by emphasising deep knowledge and through individual support with pre-teaching and rapid intervention. Teachers use precise questioning in class to test conceptual and procedural knowledge, and assess pupils regularly to identify those requiring immediate intervention so that all pupils keep up. Those children who grasp the concepts more quickly are given opportunities to deepen their knowledge and improve their reasoning skills. 

We work hard to ensure that our children develop arithmetic proficiency through an appreciation of number and number operations.  This enables mental calculations and written procedures to be performed efficiently, fluently and accurately. Our whole school approach to developing children’s written methods for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division can be found in our calculation progression document.  This document ensures progression in the four calculation methods from one year to the next.

Fluency in mental methods (a rapid recall of number facts such as number bonds and multiplication facts) is essential for successful progression through the National Curriculum expectations and is practised daily. Children in year one and two practice their number bonds daily through a number fact teaching programme called ‘Number Sense’. This develops a deep understanding of number and number relationships, and fluency in addition and subtraction facts. Children in year three and four practise their multiplication facts daily in preparation for the multiplication tables check.  Children in Year 5 and 6 develop their arithmetic skills.

Vocabulary is explicitly taught at the start of each unit of learning.   All pupils have access to the vocabulary as it is displayed on the maths working wall.  The definition and application of the vocabulary is modelled continuously by the teacher/teaching assistant throughout the unit of work.  There is a high expectation for pupils to use, model and apply the vocabulary in their verbal and written reasoning.

Homework is used to support mathematics through such tasks as:

• the learning of number bonds

• the learning of tables (expected of all pupils from Year 3 onwards)

• specific tasks set periodically by teachers which may involve gathering data or completing work set at school

• Mathletics is used in the Year 6 class

IMPACT

We aim for our children to be engaged and motivated.  Our lessons both support and challenge using a

range of concrete, pictorial and abstract resources. Our children have the flexibility and fluidity to move between different contexts and representations of maths.  They demonstrate quick recall of facts and procedures and have the skills to solve problems by applying mathematics to different situations with increasing sophistication.

Formative assessment is used to guide the progress of individual pupils in mathematics.  It involves identifying each child's progress in every aspect of the subject, determining what each child has learned and whether an immediate intervention is needed to allow the child to stay on track.  There is great emphasis on Assessment for Learning at all points within the maths lesson by the Teacher/Teaching Assistant.  Pupils are identified for rapid intervention or pre-teaching.

End of Unit checks are written into both the White Rose and Power Maths schemes of learning and are used by all teachers to monitor children’s progress and inform future planning and intervention support. The results are used to inform termly pupil progress meetings.

Using the tracking programme, Sims, ensures that assessment in mathematics is rigorous and ongoing.  We use the detailed tracking national curriculum records to record when an objective has been achieved or mastered at a greater depth. Sims is used to monitor achievement and identify gaps in learning.  This is completed individually for each child.

Formal Summative Assessment is carried out at the end of each National Curriculum Key Stage (ie in Years 2 and 6) through the use of SATs and/or teacher assessment. 

The teaching of mathematics is monitored by leaders through lesson observations and book scrutinies.