Maths
St Peter’s of Eaton Square C of E Primary School
Maths Curriculum Overview
Intent:
In line with our school’s mission statement, we recognise that the key to unlocking the mathematical potential that God has given all children is through the delivery of engaging and thought-provoking lessons. We endeavour to ensure that all children enjoy and are enthused by maths.
At St. Peter’s we intend to deliver a curriculum which:
- allows all children to be a part of engaging lessons, which will give them a range of opportunities to explore mathematics following a mastery curriculum approach;
- gives each pupil a chance to believe in themselves as mathematicians and develop the power of resilience and perseverance when faced with mathematical challenges;
- recognises that mathematics underpins much of our daily lives;
- makes rich connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence in solving increasingly sophisticated problems;
- is in line with the expectations in the National Curriculum 2014.
We believe that unlocking mathematical fluency is an essential life skill for all learners and is imperative to being able to reason and solve problems mathematically. Our aim is to develop a positive culture of deep understanding, competence and confidence in maths that produces strong, secure learning.
In KS2, the curriculum is designed to prepare and equip pupils for their journey into secondary school.
Implementation:
The mastery approach is designed to develop children's knowledge and understanding of mathematical concepts. In our school, we follow the national curriculum and use White Rose and NCETM resources to guide and support teachers with their planning and assessment. We have created our medium-term plans in line with the White Rose small steps, which break down teaching into small, achievable steps that develop breadth of knowledge, which are altered in order to suit the needs of all children.
All lessons begin with revision to support retrieval practice and develop long-term memory. Lessons are delivered with clear modelling allowing children the opportunity to develop their understanding of mathematical concepts. The mastery approach incorporates use of concrete materials, pictorials, words and numbers to help children explore and demonstrate mathematical ideas, enriching their learning experience. Throughout each topic, discussion is a key part of teaching: children are expected to explain or justify their answers, providing evidence for their reasoning. This allows for deeper understanding as well as rich assessment opportunities.
Independent learning in children’s books is designed with varied fluency questions followed by a related reasoning or problem-solving challenge. This enables all children to acquire the skill, apply the skill and deepen the skill within one lesson.
Feedback is given on children’s learning in line with our marking and feedback policy. Formative assessment within every lesson helps teachers to identify the children who require more support and those who are ready for a greater challenge through targeted questioning or additional activities. Where children require additional support, scaffolds are used to assist children further. These scaffolds may be in the form of returning to concrete resources and pictorial representations, or through small group work with their teacher or teaching assistant. For children who understand and can apply the concept securely, extension questions and investigations are used to challenge learners further.
Times tables play an important part in our maths learning, with children developing their fluency in rapid recall of tables up to 12 x 12 by the end of Year 4. While the rapid recall of times tables is being developed, children are also learning how to apply and manipulate their understanding of this to reason and solve problems. Children from Year 2 – Year 6 have the opportunity to consolidate and apply their times tables knowledge through utilising Times Tables Rock Stars which we celebrate and acknowledge in our weekly ‘celebration’ Collective Worship.
Impact:
Indicators of when a mathematical concept or skill has been mastered is when a is able to represent problems and answers in multiple ways, use mathematical language to explain their ideas, and independently apply the concept to new problems in unfamiliar situations.
The impact of our mastery curriculum allows the children at St. Peter’s to:
- demonstrate quick recall of facts and procedures;
- move between different contexts and representations of mathematics with ease;
- recognise relationships and make connections in mathematics;
- exhibit confidence and believe that they will achieve;
show a high level of pride in the presentation and understanding of their work.