Subject Information:

Intent:

At St. John’s Primary School, we believe mathematics is an important part of children’s development throughout school, right from an early age. We intend on delivering a curriculum which:   

• Allows children to be a part of creative and engaging lessons that 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 and therefore is of paramount importance in order that children aspire and become successful in the next stages of their learning.  
• Engages all children and entitles them to the same quality of teaching and learning opportunities, striving to achieve their potential, as they belong to our school community.  
• Makes rich connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence in solving increasingly sophisticated problems.   
• Provides equal opportunities for children to apply their mathematical knowledge to other subjects (cross-curricular links).   

• Is in line with the expectations in the National Curriculum 2014.   

Implementation:

• In the Foundation Stage, children are given the opportunity to develop their understanding of number, measurement, pattern and shape and space through a combination of short, formal teaching as well as a range of planned structured play situations, where there is plenty of scope for exploration.  
• Children will become very competent ‘counters’ so that their fluency with the number system provides a foundation for mathematical understanding. Counting forwards and backwards in many different sized steps as well as from different starting and ending points is essential.  
• Maths learning builds from a concrete understanding of concepts where children are manipulating objects. When children are able to see concepts this way, they then need to understand the same concepts represented pictorially. Children are then ready for abstract representation before being able to apply their knowledge to different situations.  
• Children should be encouraged at all times to communicate their understanding of maths so that it clarifies their thoughts.  
• Children’s mental maths is of great importance, with number bonds, times tables facts and various strategies for calculation taught and practiced at school with support sought from parents through homework activities.  
• A progression towards efficient written calculations should be developed and applied consistently in each year-group. The school Calculation Policy should be followed.  
• Though the nature of lessons will be very different depending on the needs of the class, children should be: active; practicing skills they haven’t yet mastered (perhaps recapping on class gaps); learning something new OR learning to apply their knowledge to different contexts. They should be: ‘doing’ very quickly; working at a good pace and being productive; sharing their thoughts and methods and being successful.  
• When teaching problem solving skills across the curriculum, time should be given to each aspect of problem solving ensuring children get thorough practice.   
• The teaching of Mathematics provides opportunities for: whole class work, group work, paired work, individual work and group/individual work with a teacher or teaching assistant. 
• Pupils engage in: the development of mental strategies, written methods, practical work, investigational work, problem solving, consolidation of basic skills and number facts, mathematical discussion. 

Impact:

• Assessment for learning should occur throughout the entire maths lesson, enabling teachers/teaching assistants to adapt their teaching/input to meet the children’s needs. This feedback should be incisive and regular.  
• On a daily basis children should self-assess against the WALT and WILF, giving them a sense of success.  
• Pupil’s work should be marked in line with the Marking Policy, giving children a chance to learn from their misconceptions or incorrect methods.  
• Future lesson design should depend on class success evaluated through marking and observations made during the lesson.  
• Assessment of pupil work and progress is ongoing by the class teacher and informs future planning. Teachers mark work in mathematics in line with the school marking policy. Teachers use Eazmag to record children’s attainment in mathematics.  
• In years 2 and 6 much assessment is done using past SAT’s papers. Other assessments used throughout school are WRMH and Twinkl 
• Summative assessments are made every 6 weeks in order to provide further understanding of the attainment and progress of a child and to inform a more rounded judgement of their abilities.  
• Tracking is used in order that children who are not making good progress over time can be targeted for support in one form or another. What that support will be and how intensive, depends upon the child’s needs and it may be a simple strategy within whole class teaching that is needed. Where further support is deemed necessary, children can access interventions.  
• The maths lead looks at the maths data for the whole school every 6 weeks and identifies any children causing concern. Conversations are then has with class teachers and provision maps reviewed in order to make sure these children are identified on them. 

What do Maths lessons look like in school?

Each lesson starts with '2 minutes counts'. This is so the children practise and develop their counting skills on a regular basis, which in turn helps them in other areas of maths e.g. times tables. We start off in Key stage 1 counting forwards and backwards in 1's, 2's 5's and 10's, progressing through KS2 to counting in fractions and decimals.

The lesson then moves into the teaching input which is delivered in a number of ways, through the use of ICT, whiteboard work, interactive games etc.

Children then have the time to work independently on the lesson objective to show their understanding, being supported by members of staff where needed.

The 'wave' approach is also sometimes used within maths lessons.

The lesson is then drawn together in the plenary, which is a chance for the pupils to demonstrate their understanding, for teachers to address any misconceptions and to look forward to future learning and skills.

What will the children be learning this year?

Here at St-John's we aim to deliver an inspiring and engaging mathematics curriculum which enables children to be numerate, creative, independent, inquisitive, enquiring and confident mathematicians. We work really hard to engage children of all ages and abilities.

We are following the National Curriculum for Mathematics, which aims to ensure that all pupils:

• Become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and recall and apply knowledge
• Reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and using mathematical language
• Can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems

We use White Rose Maths Hub schemes of learning as a basis for our teaching and learning, and supplement this with a wide range of resources e.g. Master The Curriculum and Primary Stars Education. For each year group the scheme of learning is split into terms, then into blocks of learning about a particular topic, from which individual lessons are planned and delivered.

What else is happening in Maths this year?

• NSPCC Number Day Friday 3^rd Feb
• Y4 MTC- 5^th-16^th June

Maths at Home

There are many ways you can support and encourage your child's maths journey at home. This can be as simple as counting the stairs as you ascend and descend them, spotting numbers and shapes in the environment, weighing and measuring when baking etc. If you want something more formal then White Rose Maths have some free workbooks which you can download from Amazon or from their website,

https://whiterosemaths.com/parent-resources#download

White Rose - Maths with Michael- support for parents helping their child with maths

White Rose have  teamed up with TV presenter, teacher and parent Michael Underwood to bring you a mini-series called Maths with Michael. There is a series of videos you can watch with supporting guidance you can download.

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

Children in years 1-6 all have a 'MyMaths' login and password. Teachers set homework on this for the children to complete at home. This can be done on any device that has internet access. There are games etc that can be accessed even when not set for homework.

https://www.mymaths.co.uk/

Children in years 2-6 will also have login details for Times Tables Rockstars. This is so they can practise their times tables and earn (virtual) coins at the same time.

https://ttrockstars.com/

Below you will find Progression Maps from NCETM (National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics) which illustrate progression in maths topics across Y1-Y6.