Intent

The National Curriculum for Mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils:

• become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics
• are able to reason mathematically
• can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems

At Grayswood CE Primary School, these skills are embedded within Maths lessons and developed consistently over time through a well-structured scheme of learning. We are committed to ensuring that children are able to recognise the importance of Maths in the wider world and that they are able to apply their mathematical skills and knowledge confidently in a range of different contexts.

We want our children to develop a love of Maths and to become confident mathematicians who persevere and take risks, understanding that making mistakes leads to further growth and learning.  

Mathematics is of central importance to our modern society. It is an essential part of everyone’s daily life, critical to science, technology, finance and engineering and necessary for any employment or independent life.

Implementation

The structure of the Mathematics curriculum across school shows clear progression in line with age related expectations. We teach the curriculum content in blocks, following the White Rose scheme of learning which breaks down the National Curriculum requirements into smaller steps. 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. The concrete, pictorial, abstract approach provides a clear structure in which children can develop their depth of understanding of mathematical concepts and work independently.

Teachers adapt the White Rose scheme of learning according to the need of our pupils at that time. This adaptation is based upon summative assessment gap information, ongoing formative teaching judgements and pupil feedback. Where appropriate, children who have mastered and shown greater depth within their current year group’s objectives will be challenged with more open-ended investigative tasks and opportunities to further enhance their problem-solving reasoning skills.

Key knowledge and skills are revisited regularly allowing repetition to embed learning.

To allow teachers to design a creative and engaging curriculum, tailored to the needs of the children in their class, White Rose Maths is sometimes supplemented with other resources. The small steps and learning objectives are followed to ensure progression of knowledge and skills across the school, but teachers may use other resources such as NRICH, NCETM and Numberblocks to enhance learning or further increase fluency. 

Within lessons, children have access to concrete resources in order to help them embed and understand new knowledge. Children will use concrete resources before moving onto pictorial representations and abstract problems; this is especially important for children with SEND. Children should have access to a range of different variations to support achieving a deep understanding of a taught concept.

Language is a crucial part of mathematics and at Grayswood CE Primary 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 sentence stems such as `I know that… because…` to demonstrate their understanding. From the EYFS children are encouraged to talk and wonder about mathematics.

Wherever possible, mathematics is taught contextually giving the mathematics the children are taught meaning and relevance to daily life. From EYFS, mathematics is taught in a context to make learning more personalised and enjoyable for the children.

Daily mental maths sessions are taught in Years 1-6 to develop quick recall of number facts and ensure that key knowledge and understanding of these is embedded from an early age. We also use KIRFS (Key Instant Recall Facts) half-termly, which are designed to support the development of mental maths skills that underpin much of the maths work in our school. With frequent repetition and practice, children should be able to transfer key number facts from their working memory to their long-term memory, providing more space within their working memory for new taught concepts.

Impact

Teachers in Years 1-6 assess at the end of each unit taught using the White Rose end of block assessments. At the end of each term, NFER assessments are completed by children in Years 1,3,4 and 5 and past SATS papers are completed by children in Years 2 and 6. The purpose of these assessments is to inform teacher judgement, indicate next steps for learning and to identify children not making expected progress and who may need additional intervention support.

Interventions are led by Class Teachers or Learning Support Assistants during the school day; Class Teachers are responsible for the planning and facilitation of these. We use a variety of intervention programmes across the school, including pre-teach and Number Stacks.

Enrichment in Maths

In addition to the curriculum, we offer the following enrichment opportunities in Maths for children at Grayswood CE Primary School:

• Access to and use of Mathletics
• Acccess to and use of TTRockstars 
• Celebration of World Maths Day 
• Links with local secondary school who provide fun challenge days