Mathematics

Maths enables all children to develop fluency, procedural knowledge, problem solving and reasoning skills across the curriculum. Learning is presented using CPA methods (concrete, pictorial and abstract) in all or most lessons.

Intent

At Aspley Guise Village School, we enable all children to develop and master fluency, Declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge and problem solving/ reasoning skills (otherwise known as Conditional knowledge) across the maths curriculum. In short, children are taught to:

Know that… e.g. 56=7x8 (aide memoire- 5,6,7,8)
Know how...e.g. To find 3/8 of 24
Know when e.g. to use additional rather than subtraction or us a metre stick rather than a 30cm ruler.

We believe that maths is an important skill for life, which will enable our pupils to become well-rounded members of their community.

Maths is taught through a clearly sequenced curriculum, allowing children to master concepts and deepen their learning at each stage.

At the heart of our maths curriculum is the belief that all children can succeed and have the opportunity to become experts. This is achieved by addressing misconceptions and providing opportunities to undertake challenging activities.

Implementation

Children are encouraged to be independent learners and have opportunities to make choices of how they want to solve calculations or problems. These choices will gradually be streamlined so that all children are utilising formal written methods as per our cluster calculation policy, agreed with local lower and middle schools and through our main school teaching resource, “Essentials.” This is supplemented by a range of other resources to develop problem solving skills e.g. Mathematical Challenges, I See Maths, NRich.

We take a mastery approach to teaching maths, which focuses on children developing their mathematical fluency, procedural skills, reasoning and problem solving. The key to mastery is to develop a deep, long-term and adaptable approach to maths through lessons that are inclusive of all children. When teaching maths, teachers reinforce an expectation that all children are capable of achieving high standards, with individual support and intervention used to help any child that needs it. Pupils work on the same objectives, and engage in common discussions, exploring concepts together, often through collaborative activities, to strengthen their understanding using mathematical language.

Scaffolding supports children who find the task challenging, and more demanding problems are given to more-able pupils to deepen and broaden their knowledge. The mastery approach focuses heavily on creating a deep understanding through linking concrete (e.g. materials and resources) to abstract (e.g. calculations/ procedures) to pictorial representations (diagrams and drawings). Learning opportunities provide consolidation and practice, which helps to develop deep and sustainable knowledge in our children.

The development of fluency occurs through teachers teaching techniques for learning/memorising number facts along with online resources for practice and reinforcement e.g. Times Tables Rock Stars or Purple Mash

Key methods of implementation at different stages:

In EYFS, children will:

Begin recognising and using numbers to 10.

Find more and less with quantities

Use stories to contextualize number, including pictorial representations

Follow their own interests in choosing time activities, inside and outside, to develop their problem solving and reasoning

In KS1/KS2, children will:

Be taught mainly via the Essentials planning resources

Recap and build on their counting and number fluency skills with short starter activities in each lesson

Use concrete, pictorial and abstract methods

Have access to a range of online resources, including IXL

Work towards Multiplication checks at the end of Year 4