Mathematics

Everyone can and does do Maths.

We aim for all our children to understand the power and beauty of mathematics and that it is central to the real world in which we live. We expect our children to leave the school as efficient, independent and enthusiastic mathematicians who are willing to take risks and value mistakes that they make when learning. learning.

Our mathematics teaching is delivered through a daily maths lesson to implement the requirements of the National Curriculum. We aim for the children to become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, be able to reason mathematically and solve problems by applying their learning. Children’s mathematical learning is ongoing and extends beyond the parameters of the lessons.

The school follows the NCETM’s Mastering Number in Reception and the Meridian Primary Scheme of Work in Years 1-6. This scheme has been collaboratively created by staff from across our primary schools within the Trust– they have been at the heart of its creation and continue to be central to its ongoing development. Our maths lessons take children on a journey of small steps and use concrete and pictorial representations to support children’s understanding of the maths that they are learning about. At the heart of Maths teaching and learning at our school is the fundamental belief that all children can make progress and achieve in this subject. The ‘Five Big Ideas’ of Teaching for Mastery from the NCETM Five Big Ideas in Teaching for Mastery | NCETM are the underlying principles which we use to teach Maths. Our ongoing involvement with our local Maths Hub ensures that our practice is evidence based and continuously evolving.

Our vision:

At West Town Primary Academy, we believe that the basic skills of mathematics are vital for the life opportunities of our children. We want all our children to think mathematically, enabling them to reason, solve problems and assess risk in a range of contexts.

We strive to enable fascination and an excitement to discover mathematical concepts and to broaden children’s knowledge and understanding of how mathematics is used in the wider world.

At West Town Primary Academy, we ensure children have transferable mathematical skills, the ability to reason and solve problems, and a well-developed vocabulary. We believe that the language of mathematics is international, the subject transcends cultural boundaries and its importance is universally recognised. We provide children with the opportunity to explore mathematics using a range of concrete, abstract and pictorial resources.

Solving problems using numerical fluency is the basis of our mathematical lessons. We hope children experience a sense of awe and wonder as they solve a problem for the first time, discover a more elegant solution and make links between different areas of mathematics. We strive to ensure that children leave West Town Primary Academy with a logical and creative number fluency and with an ability to recall key number facts such as multiplication tables. We know that this is the strongest foundation we can give our children as their use of mathematics becomes more sophisticated.

Intent:

We believe that all children should have:

A deep understanding of maths and number.
A positive and resilient attitude towards mathematics and an awareness of the fascination of mathematics.
Competence and confidence in mathematical knowledge, concepts and skills.
An ability to solve problems, to reason, to think logically and to work systematically and accurately.
A range of learning strategies – working both collaboratively and independently.
Fluency in mathematics where children can express ideas confidently and talk about the subject using mathematical language.
An understanding of the importance of mathematics in everyday life.
Opportunities to become independent learners who take responsibility for their own learning.

Our maths curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils:

Become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics through placing number at the heart of our curriculum with daily practice to ensure fluency of number facts.
Reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry through ensuring discussion plays a vital role in all lessons. Children are actively encouraged to discuss with peers and teachers, How? Why? using mathematical language.
Can solve problems by ensuring problem solving is embedded in every lesson and variation of questions are used to enable children to apply their knowledge to different situations.
Rich connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency are encouraged through variation of questions which can be seen in every lesson and evidenced in the maths books.
Challenge is built into every lesson for pupils who grasp concepts rapidly through sophisticated problems and an opportunity for children to demonstrate their understanding creating their own problems.

Implementation:

Our mastery approach to the curriculum is designed to develop children’s knowledge and understanding of mathematical concepts from the Early Years through to the end of Year 6.

In school, we follow the national curriculum and use a Mastery approach Programme of Study as a guide to support teachers with their planning and assessment.
The Calculation Policy is used within school to ensure a consistent approach to teaching the four operations over time.
To learn mathematics effectively, some things have to be learned before others, e.g. place value needs to be understood before working with addition and subtraction, addition needs to be learnt before looking at multiplication (as a model of repeated addition).
Our emphasis is on number skills first, carefully ordered, throughout our primary curriculum.

What does maths look like inside the classroom?

At West Town Primary Academy, we strive to make our children fluent in solving calculations involving the four mathematical operations and to equip them with the tools to solve a variety of problems during their maths lessons. The programmes of study are, by necessity, organised into distinct areas, but pupils will make rich connections across mathematical ideas. Developing problem solving and reasoning skills is a thread that runs through all our maths lessons. Children are constantly challenged to explain why, to prove how they know, to convince that they are correct, or to find all possible outcomes. In order for pupils to understand abstract concepts, they have the opportunity to use the CPA (concrete, pictorial and abstract) approach. A wide range of resources are utilised to support their learning such as: hundred squares; number lines; Dienes; bead strings; cubes, place value cards and other small apparatus. It brings concepts to life as children have the opportunity to be hands on and use physical objects to aid them in developing their understanding.

What does the maths lesson look like outside the classroom?

We believe that an important part of teaching maths is to recognise the opportunities the natural world provides. Such opportunities include mark making (with the younger children), teaching measurement, statistics, position and direction.

Supporting your child’s math learning at home:

Times Tables Rockstars

Please remember to practice Times Table Rockstars. This is an exciting resource that supports children in learning their times tables. Each pupil has their own login and their own Rockstar Avatar. Children progress at their own pace, earning virtual coins to spend on upgrading their Avatar and certificates as their recall speed and accuracy improve.