Maths
'Love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort and keep on learning'
Intent
At Henbury, Maths is a skill we use on a daily basis and is an essential part of everyday life. Therefore, mathematics forms an important part of our broad and balanced curriculum where we endeavour to ensure that children develop an enjoyment and enthusiasm for maths that will stay with them throughout their lives and empower them in future life. We believe that unlocking mathematical fluency is an essential life skill for all learners and is a pre-requisite to being able to reason and solve problems mathematically. Our aim is to develop a positive culture of deep understanding, confidence and competence in maths that produces strong, secure learning. As a school, we recognise that the key to unlocking the potential in our children is through the development of basic mathematical skills and the understanding of mathematical concepts. 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. Our maths curriculum is progressive; at KS1 it is designed to develop competencies to equip pupils for KS2 where they will build on KS1, make connections and solve increasingly sophisticated problems.
Vision
Mathematical Fluency
We aim for our learners to develop skills in choosing appropriate procedures, carrying out procedures flexibly, accurately, efficiently and appropriately, and recalling factual knowledge and concepts readily. Learners are fluent when they calculate answers efficiently, when they recognise robust ways of answering questions, when they choose appropriate methods and approximations, when they recall definitions and regularly use facts, when they use appropriate mathematical language and when they can manipulate expressions and equations to find solutions.
Mathematical Reasoning
We aim for our learners to develop an increasingly sophisticated capacity for logical thought and actions, such as analysing, proving, evaluating, explaining, inferring, justifying and generalising. Learners are reasoning mathematically when they explain their thinking, when they deduce and justify strategies used and conclusions reached, when they adapt the known to the unknown, when they transfer learning from one context to another, when they prove that something is true or false and when they compare and contrast related ideas and explain their choices.
Mathematical Problem Solving
We aim for our learners to develop the ability to make choices, interpret, formulate, model and investigate problem situations, and communicate solutions effectively. Learners formulate and solve problems when they use mathematics to represent unfamiliar or meaningful situations, when they design investigations and plan their approaches, when they apply their existing strategies to seek solutions, and when they verify that their answers are reasonable.
Implementation
Our Maths curriculum provides breadth and balance, 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 excel. As a school, we believe in the importance of following the concrete (hands on thinking)-pictorial (picture my thinking)-approach as a means to developing a solid understanding of mathematical concepts which can be applied in a variety of contexts through reasoning and problem-solving challenges.
Children receive a minimum of 5 hours maths tuition each week with additional sessions devoted to number proficiency and times tables. From Reception to Year 4, we adhere to our calculation policy which outlines the progression of strategies and methods to be taught and we have an accompanying vocabulary progression document which we also follow.
We have created our medium-term plans in line with White Rose small steps, but have altered the order to suit and benefit the needs of our children so that connections between units of learning are easier to recognise. From Reception to Year 4, children follow the scheme of ‘White Rose’ which supports children in learning the fundamentals behind the meanings of numbers and exploring other key mathematical areas. White Rose use ‘small steps’ to break down the teaching sequence into small achievable steps. Where children require additional support, ‘scaffolds’ are used to support children further to ensure that they have secured the small step before moving on. These ‘scaffolds’ may be in the form of returning to concrete resources or pictorial representations. For children who understand a concept quicker, challenges are used to deepen and challenge learners further within the curriculum area. Progression documents such as our calculation policy are carefully used to ensure that children are not being stretched outside their year group but rather deepened within it. In each lesson, children have a fluency activity and then an apply it and solve it deeper thinking task, which asks them to apply their knowledge and then make connections between this and their prior knowledge.
Each lesson will begin with a ‘Fluent in 5’ style activity, where the children can retrieve and apply both mental and written methods. This allows our children, through spaces retrieval, to build fluency and accuracy which will support their continued mathematical understanding.
Daily assessment is incorporated throughout the lesson through live and verbal feedback. Termly NTS 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.
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 in Year 2 to Year 4 experience 15 minutes of times tables teaching every day using a variety of different techniques, including songs and rhymes, the counting stick and 'Times Tables Rockstars'. Year 1 children use this 15 minute slot to teach number facts and mental maths skills.
Addition and Subtraction Journey