Intent:
At St Peter’s our mathematics intent is to be in line with the expectations of the National Curriculum striving for our children to:
- become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics,
- reason mathematically in arrange of situations,
- to develop skills in problem solving.
We aim to deliver this curriculum whilst building confidence, resilience and a passion for maths in our children. We strive for a mathematics curriculum which is accessible to all in order to maximise the development of every child’s ability. Our intention is to give an understanding that maths is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology, necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment by providing opportunities for maths learning outside of the maths lesson.
Implementation:
Our Maths curriculum is relevant and engaging and is adapted to match the needs and abilities of all our children to ensure that all pupils are able to succeed and challenge themselves in a way appropriate to them. Children in Year 1 -6 receive 5 maths lessons each week, with additional time dedicated to practising number facts and times tables. Children are given time to practise these skills daily through the use of mental starter activities and Times Tables Rockstars.
From F2 to Year 6, we adhere to our calculation policy, which outlines the progression of strategies and methods to be taught. We have created our long and short-term plans in line with the White Rose scheme of work. Lessons are adapted from this scheme to suit the varying abilities of our children and to ensure they are able to progress and succeed within each Maths lesson. Children from F2 are familiar with concrete and pictorial representations and children throughout the school will continue to use these to support them with their learning when needed.
For F2 and KS1 classes, we have begun teaching Mastering Number 4 times a week. This is designed to improve recall of number facts and encouraging children to become fluent with recognising related facts.
For children who understand a concept quickly, challenges are used to deepen and embed the knowledge from the lesson. Children receive constant verbal feedback from teachers during the lesson and are able to correct any misconceptions or mistakes with calculations using green pen in their books.
Termly assessments are completed and used as a diagnostic tool to ensure that teachers are adapting learning to meet the needs of all children and to ensure that any necessary interventions are targeted to close the gaps and meet the needs of all learners. Assessment data is collected termly using FFT aspire and data is analysed regularly by subject lead.
The expectation is that the majority of pupils will move through the programmes of study at broadly the same pace. However, decisions about when to progress is based on the security of pupils’ understanding and their readiness to progress to the next stage. Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly are challenged and those who are not sufficiently fluent with earlier material can consolidate their understanding, including through additional practice, before moving on.
Impact:
- Well-planned sequences of learning support children to develop and refine their maths skills.
- Children are able to independently apply their knowledge to a range of increasingly complex problems.
- Children are all engaged and challenged within Maths lessons.
- Children become increasingly more independent and confident with reasoning and problem-solving challenges.
- Learning is tracked and monitored to ensure all children make good progress.
- Cognitive load is reduced when children are accessing higher level questions, as number facts are readily available to them, as they are practised and revisited often.
