Maths

Curriculum Intent:

At Christ Church, we want pupils to understand mathematics as having relevance in their own lives and in the world in general, recognising that mathematics will be used constantly to help them to solve problems they meet in everyday life. Our aim is to equip all pupils with the knowledge, skills and confidence to solve a wide range of mathematical problems. We intend to create a vocabulary rich environment where children are confident in explaining their answers, orally and written and are able to use the correct mathematical vocabulary appropriate to their age.  Within lessons, we want children to be able to reason mathematically whilst understanding the interconnected ideas and patterns that encapsulate being a mathematician. It is our drive here at Christ Church to ensure that our learning in mathematics is real and meaningful for our pupils and that it is as creative and practical as possible. We aim to bring learning to life as a strategy for helping our children embed their learning and to help them to ‘know more and to remember more!

Implementation:

Maths is a core subject and therefore is taught every day as a discrete lesson. It is also taught within other subjects such as science and through our topic themes

Our Maths curriculum provides breadth and balance, is relevant and engaging and is differentiated to match the needs and abilities of all our children to ensure that all pupils are able to excel.

Every class from EYFS to Y6 follows the White Rose scheme of learning which is based on the National Curriculum. Lessons may be personalised to address the individual needs and requirements for a class but coverage is maintained. Additionally, we use: I see Reasoning, NCTEM (National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics) and NRich resources to further develop the children’s reasoning and problem-solving skills and enrich our children’s maths diet.

As a school, we recognise the key to unlocking the potential in our children is through the development of basic mathematical skills and the understanding of mathematical concepts. We strongly believe in a CPA (Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract) approach. We therefore place great emphasis on the use of concrete resources and pictorial representations at all ages, to enable children to fully understand the concepts and principals, when presented with abstract calculations and questions.  All staff have had training in this approach.

Daily assessment is incorporated throughout the lesson through live and verbal feedback. End of topic and end of term summative assessments are used as a diagnostic tool to ensure that teachers are adapting learning to meet the needs of all children and ensure that any necessary interventions are targeted specifically to meet the needs of children. At Christ Church we use termly NTS tests in Maths to assess children’s progress formally and we let parents have these results.  On a more informal basis we use weekly arithmetic tests and information we collect during lessons to inform our future planning and activities.

Children in Year 2 and Year 6 take part in statutory assessments (SATs) for Mathematics at the end of the year; these results are reported to the government.  Children in Year 4 take part in the Multiplication Tables Check in June of each year.

At Christ Church, Maths Shed supports children with developing their fluency in rapid recall of tables up to 12 x 12 by the end of year 4 and their knowledge of other number facts. Children from Y2 – Y6 have the opportunity to consolidate and apply their times tables knowledge both in school and at home by accessing their Maths Shed account at home.

Impact

  • The impact of our mathematics curriculum is that children understand the relevance and importance of what they are learning in relation to real world concepts.
  • Children understand that maths is a vital life skill that they will rely on in many areas of their daily life.
  • Children will have a positive view of maths due to learning in an environment where maths is promoted as being an exciting and enjoyable subject in which they can investigate and ask questions; they know that it is OK to be ‘wrong’ and that making mistakes can strengthen their learning because the journey to finding an answer is most important.
  • Children are confident to ‘have a go’ and choose the equipment they need to help them to learn along with the strategies they think are best suited to each problem.
  • Our children have a good understanding of their strengths and targets for development in maths and what they need to do to improve.
  • Our maths books evidence the range of activities and demonstrate good coverage of fluency, reasoning and problem solving. Our verbal and ‘live’ feedback and interventions support children to strive to be the best mathematicians they can be.
  • There are clear end points for pupils in all year groups to achieve age related expectations and an expectation that children will reach national expectations or above at the end of KS2.

You can view the National Curriculum 2014 document, which includes the programmes of study for mathematics for each year group here.

To help us have a cohesive and sequenced approach to maths teaching, we also have a Calculation Policy which you can find here Calculation-policy.

Prior to Covid we used the Inspire Mathematics scheme which is a highly thought of approach to mathematics from Singapore.  In 2019-2020 and 2020-21 we also used Oak National Academy maths lessons and White Rose resources to help with remote teaching and our Covid Catch-Up programme and to make sure that no child missed vital maths learning blocks from the Lockdown period.  In 2021-2022 we used advice from National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) https://www.ncetm.org.uk/ to help us make up lost learning.  They produced advice booklets for each year group suggesting objectives that teachers should focus on.  From September 2022 we have reverted to a single scheme again, which teachers have been trialling from Spring 2022.  We have chosen this scheme because it has developing reasoning skills at its heart which makes for excellent mathematicians and many schools use White Rose resources and planning too which ensures continuity for children who join us as mid-term transfers.

So how does it work in the classroom?

Mrs Lindsay Douch, is our Maths Lead and she monitors maths to ensure there is sufficient coverage and progression for each year group.  Staff teach maths every day.  We particularly emphasise mental maths and maths fluency as early morning activities – as well as encouraging use of maths apps at home.  Mental maths has been on our School Development Plan for the last two years as we feel this is an essential building block and needed to improve.  During Lockdowns we had good engagement with a daily mental maths activity appropriate for each year group.  In 2021-22 we took part in an NCETM project which focused on developing ‘Maths Fluency’ in EYFS and KS1 and we were excited to take this element of maths learning, further.  From September 2023 we will be developing our Maths Mastery journey further by joining teacher workgroups as part of the Maths Hub subject provision – these workgroups will be specifically aimed at smaller schools with mixed age classes, like ours.

During the daily lessons teachers use a range of strategies such as quizzes to revisit and assess prior learning.  The new objective is then taught by the teacher, making sure that children have access to concrete equipment to help them.  We use interactive whiteboards to show worked examples of what is being taught and to ensure that children are given support and a visual prompt.  Children are then given the opportunity to work for themselves, following the modeled example.  Marking and feedback are given in a whole-class way – this means children would be given 10 minutes to go through some questions and then the teacher would feedback.  We want to address misconceptions quickly, rather than children go wrong for a whole lesson.  We also use problem solving activities and investigations regularly to ensure that knowledge can be applied in a new or different context.

How to help your child at home

In order to be a confident, efficient and accurate mathematician you need to have core number facts at your fingertips.

These core number facts include such things as:

  • addition and subtraction facts for all number that make 10 e.g. 7+3==10 and their inverse subtraction facts
  • numbers that make 20 e.g. 18+2=20 and the inverse subtraction facts;
  • addition and subtraction facts for all number to 20 e.g. 18+5=23, 5+18=23, 23-18=5, 23-5=18,
  • complements that make multiples of 10 e.g. 25+45=70;
  • times tables to 12×12 and their inverse division facts e.g. 6×9=54, 9×6=54,  54÷9=6, 54÷6=9

Useful Documents for Mathematics

Maths Coverage – White Rose Maths progression 2023

Learning Times Tables – What Parents need to know

Mathematics primary national curriculum

National-Curriculum-Progression-Mixed-Age

Early Years

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Useful Websites for Mathematics

White Rose Maths – support for parents

https://whiterosemaths.com/maths-with-michael#watch

Master the Curriculum – everything parents need to know about KS1 Maths

https://masterthecurriculum.co.uk/blog/everything-parents-need-to-know-about-key-stage-1-maths/

Master the Curriculum – get your child excited about Maths

https://masterthecurriculum.co.uk/blog/get-your-child-excited-for-school-with-interactive-maths-activities/

Master the Curriculum – preparing children in Y6 for secondary transition

https://masterthecurriculum.co.uk/blog/preparing-children-year-6-transition-secondary-school/

Times tables Tips for Parents

https://www.theschoolrun.com/times-tables

Y2 Assessment information for parents

https://www.theschoolrun.com/ks1-maths-sats-what-is-tested-in-the-y2-assessments

Thinking Blocks Problem Solving

https://www.mathplayground.com/thinkingblocks.html

Maths Zone maths games for children

https://mathszone.co.uk/

Topmarks –General Maths games

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/counting

Topmarks – Hit the Button, times tables practise

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button