Our children learn from a high-quality mathematics education to provide ‘a foundation for understanding the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.’ (Primary National Curriculum 2014)
We want our children to recognise and understand relationships and patterns in numbers in the world around them and to use mathematics as a tool beyond the daily mathematics lesson and the classroom.
- A positive attitude to mathematics so children are confident and competent in their ability to apply their skills and are not afraid to take risks.
- Cross curricular links with topics, our local area and current affairs.
- Mathematical language as a means of communication.
- A range of mathematical opportunities to enable children to make the connections required to enjoy greater depth in learning.
- Independent, inquisitive minds and the motivation towards self-improvement.
How does this happen?
Every child has the opportunity to learn about maths at least once every day. Teachers plan a sequence of lessons so that new knowledge and skills build on what has been taught before. Lessons follow the aims of the National Curriculum for mathematics, which develops fluency, reasoning and problem-solving.
Fluency enables children to know basic number facts and to be able to access them swiftly. Children begin by learning to count; exploring the number line forwards and back, in varying or increasing hops and jumps to add, subtract, multiply and divide. They explore the spaces in between the numbers and enter the world of fractions and decimals.
Upper school children are signed up to and encouraged to use Times Tables Rockstars regularly to develop fluency in multiplication and division facts. Lower school children are added when appropriate.
Children are encouraged to use what they know to make links and follow new lines of enquiry:
I know that 4 + 6 = 10, what is 6 + 4 = ?
If 8 + 2 = 10, what is 80 + 20 = ?
Children who are fluent in number skills and used to reasoning about them can begin to solve problems. They begin simply with single steps and simple vocabulary, but progress to problems with multiple steps which require a greater depth of comprehension of mathematical vocabulary.
What do our children learn in maths?
All children in Reception have daily opportunities to develop their mathematical understanding, primarily through play, to meet the needs of Development Matters. The two strands of mathematics taught are Numbers and Shape, space and measure.
Children in Years 1-6 are taught about six areas of mathematics (see below) across the school. Coverage and progression conforms with the Ready-to-progress criteria Year 1 to Year 6 set out in Guidance for Teaching Mathematics in Primary Schools (July 2020).
Calculation methods and strategies are progressive and can be viewed in the documents below:
How do they learn?
Our pupils are encouraged to physically represent mathematical concepts. Objects and pictures are used to demonstrate and visualise abstract ideas, alongside numbers and symbols.
Concrete – children have the opportunity to use concrete objects and manipulatives to help them understand and explain what they are doing.
Pictorial – children build on the concrete approach by using pictorial representations, which can them be used to reason and solve problems.
Abstract – with the foundations firmly laid, children can move towards an abstract approach using numbers and key concepts with confidence.
Our scheme of work provides engaging interactive opportunities to introduce new concepts and develop further understanding. We also have a wealth of practical resources to support learning and we encourage pupils to talk to each other to develop and consolidate their understanding, and to ask for help.
We recognise that peer-support is a valuable resource. Some Year 6 pupils volunteer to become Times Tables Trainers and regularly work with younger children to develop their fluency.
Opportunities are provided outside of maths lessons for children to practice and consolidate their skills and knowledge, to develop and extend their techniques and strategies, and to prepare for their future learning. These may be through early morning work, out-of-class activities or homework. These activities will be short and focused and will be referred to and valued in future lessons. Our scheme provides interactive games and worksheets that can be used for homework.
How can I help my child at home?
This is not always easy. Most adults have forgotten those early building blocks of mathematical learning; replacing them with the efficient methods they will have learnt at secondary school. Reaching back into your memory for strategies not used in years is hard and for those who found maths difficult at school, this can be a challenge.
Showing an interest in your child’s learning is valuable, as is supporting them with completing tasks set outside of school. This might be simply by making sure homework has been completed, but what if your child is stuck?
- Check the homework book to see if an example has been included.
- Look on your child’s Activelearn account to see if a video has been allocated for support.
- Refer to the relevant calculation methods and strategies below, which sets out work in the same way that your child will have been taught.
- Contact your child’s teacher who will be happy to offer support to you and your child.
There are a number of sites online which offer games and activities that will help to develop fluency with numbers and calculations, which are the backbone of mathematical learning. There are some suggestions below, but of course there are many more:
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button Interactive maths game with quick fire questions on number bonds, times tables, doubling and halving, multiples, division facts and square numbers. The games which are against the clock challenge and develop a child’s mental maths skills. Suitable for ages 5-11
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/3-5-years Click on different areas of maths to explore
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years You can use this link to explore games linked to different areas of maths
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/7-11-years/ordering-and-sequencing-numbers There are options to explore other areas of maths from this link.
You can also find tutorials online that present learning of maths concepts in different ways. These can be helpful for both you and your child.
https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/fraction-matcher/latest/fraction-matcher_en.html great for matching fractions