Maths
At Slip End Village School we value Maths. We are MATHEMATICANS!
We recognise the place of maths in each one of our lives, and so seek to deliver a curriculum that our pupils find engaging, varied and most importantly, supports children in developing the maths skills that they will use for the rest of their lives.
Maths enables all our children to develop and master fluency, problem solving and reasoning skills across the maths curriculum. Learning is presented using CPA methods (concrete, pictorial and abstract) in all or most lessons. We believe that all our children should be able to confidently use mathematical vocabulary and resources.
Children are encouraged to be independent learners and have opportunities to make choices of how they want to solve calculations or problems. These choices will gradually be streamlined so that all children are utilising formal written methods as per our calculation policy.
At the heart of our maths curriculum is the belief that all children can succeed and can become experts. This is achieved by addressing misconceptions and providing opportunities to undertake challenging activities.
We are MATHEMATICANS!
➢ To develop children’s ability to problem-solve and reason in a variety of different
contexts, applying their mathematical knowledge.
➢ To develop children’s fluency so that they are able to select the most appropriate
method to solve a problem. Children are able to recall known mathematical facts to
support them in solving these problems.
➢ To support children in making links between existing knowledge and learnt knowledge.
➢ To provide children with memorable learning experiences and regular opportunities to
revisit their previous learning, through retrieval practice activities, to enable children to
store these mathematical concepts in their long-term memory so that knowledge
sticks.
➢ To support children in becoming confident mathematicians who enjoy mathematics
and are resilient and persevere.
➢ To ensure previous year group concepts are revisited so that children can continue to
progress through new taught concepts within their current year group.
Each year group follows the objectives outlined in the National Curriculum. The scheme
White Rose Maths is used to support teachers in planning and delivering lessons that meet
the year group objectives within the National Curriculum and to ensure that all content is
covered by the end of the academic year.
Within White Rose Maths, children are exposed to elements of fluency, reasoning and
problem solving as the lessons are designed around these three mathematical elements.
Regardless of ability, all children should have access to fluency, reasoning and problem
solving as well as opportunities to show greater depth of understanding for example
through the use of questioning appropriate to the ability of the child.
In EYFS the `Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage` and the nonstatutory guidance of `Development Matters’ provides the long-term planning in EYFS. To support further with their planning and link with key stage 1, teachers use the White Rose
Maths Early Years resources. In EYFS maths there are two main areas for children to
achieve by the end of the curriculum, that of focus on number and numerical pattern. Prior
to this it is made up of: comparison, counting, cardinality, composition, shape, spatial
awareness, pattern and measures.
In key stages 1 and 2, to allow teachers to design a creative and engaging curriculum,
White Rose Maths should be supplemented with additional resources. These could include
but aren’t limited to Classroom Secrets; Master the Curriculum; Third Space Learning;
NRICH; NCETM; DfE Non-Statutory Mathematics guidance. The DfE non-statutory guidance
and the White Rose progression document will be referred to when planning to ensure that any gaps in learning are addressed. Teachers will revisit and review concepts from the
previously taught year group before moving onto current year group content.
Within lessons children will have access to concrete resources in order to help them
embed and understand new knowledge. Children will have access to concrete resources
before moving onto pictorial representations and abstract problems. Children should have
access to a range of different variations to support them to achieve a deep understanding
of a taught concept.
Language is a crucial part of mathematics and we ensure that children are exposed to a
range of mathematical vocabulary which will be displayed in the classroom and referred
to. Vocabulary will be current and used regularly within mathematics lessons. Children are
encouraged to explain their thinking and use `because` to demonstrate their
understanding.
From the EYFS children are encouraged to talk and wonder about mathematics and are
taught contextually giving the mathematics the children are taught, meaning and
relevance to daily life. Mathematics is taught in a context to make learning more
personalised and enjoyable for the children.
Multiplication facts are reviewed at least three times a week to encourage children to be
able to learn and recall multiplication and related division facts confidently. All children
have access to Times Tables Rock Stars to continually practise their multiplication and
division facts. Within years 3 to 6 this is reviewed weekly to target specific times tables
and provide focus for the week’s multiplication teaching. Times Tables Rock Stars can be
accessed both at school and at home.
Feedback is provided in books as per the school marking policy. We also encourage
teachers, particularly with the older children, to use answer sheets where possible to allow
children to live mark their work and monitor progress as they work.
During the lesson, live marking, yellow highlighter use will enable pupils to understand how
they are progressing. In Years 5 and 6, pupils complete a weekly arithmetic check, to gauge
their scores and identify gaps that the class teachers may need to spend more time
covering.
Teachers assess on an on-going basis using Depth of Learning. Teachers may also wish to
keep their own individual records to show how their class progress throughout the different
strands in mathematics.
At the start of each unit, teachers will complete a teaching
challenge to identify existing knowledge and areas for further progression. This indicates
next steps for learning. Where children are not making expected progress, interventions will be provided to support these children.
Children will be able to recall their number facts across all operations which will allow
children to store these in their long-term memory- providing more space within their
working memory for new taught concepts.
As a result of our maths curriculum our children will have the ability to problem-solve and
reason in a variety of different contexts.
The children can talk about how they apply maths and the methods they use to tackle
mathematical problems and calculations.
The children will be able to understand mathematical vocabulary and can explain their
thinking.
