Ewyas Harold Primary School

Life at Ewyas Harold Primary School Life at Ewyas Harold Primary School

Maths

 

The National Curriculum states that children should:

Become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.

Reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, to know how to develop an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language.

Solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.

 

Intent

At Ewyas Harold Primary School, we consider mathematics as far more than simply a core curriculum topic; it is central to helping children become happy, articulate, reflective and confident individuals. Developing numerical fluency prepares children to access a world surrounded by number and problem solving. It equips young people with key skills such as calculating, estimating, observing and predicting, which will be used extensively throughout their lives.

 

Some of the Articles that are most prevalent within the teaching of Mathematics are:

Article 3 The best interests of the child must be a top priority in all things that affect children.

Article 28 Every child has the right to an education.

Article 29 Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full.

 

There are certain key aims that demonstrate the intent for the teaching of mathematics in our school. We teach children that having resilience will help them to persevere when they find tasks challenging and that we learn through trial and error. At Ewyas Harold, we believe that our teaching of mathematics:

  • promotes enjoyment of learning through practical activity, exploration and discussion;
  • develops confidence and competence with numbers and the number system;
  • develops the ability to solve problems through decision-making and reasoning in a range of contexts and
  • helps children understand the importance of mathematics in everyday life.

 

 

Implementation

Ewyas Harold has adopted a mastery approach to the teaching and learning of mathematics Opportunities for Mathematical Thinking allow children to make chains of reasoning connected with the other areas of their mathematics. A focus on representation and structure ensures concepts are explored using concrete, pictorial and abstract representations, the children actively look for patterns and generalise whilst problem solving. Coherence is achieved through the planning of small, connected steps to link every question and lesson within a topic. Teachers use both procedural and conceptual variation within their lessons and there remains an emphasis on fluency with a relentless focus on number and times table facts.

 

Curriculum design and planning:

Staff use The National Curriculum in order to develop a coherent and comprehensive conceptual pathway through mathematics. The focus is on the whole class achieving and progressing together. Collaborative discussion with colleagues  across year groups is encouraged to ensure consistency.

Learning is broken down into small, connected steps, building from what pupils already know. The lesson journey should be detailed and evident and within teacher’s paper plans.

Difficult points and potential misconceptions are identified in advance and strategies to address them planned.

Key questions are planned, to challenge thinking and develop learning for all pupils (purple bubble questions).

Contexts and representations are carefully chosen to develop reasoning skills and to help pupils link concrete ideas to abstract mathematical concepts.

The use of high quality materials and tasks to support learning and provide access to the mathematics, is integrated into lessons. These may include White Rose Maths Schemes of Learning and Assessment Materials, NFER Assessment materials, SATS, visual images and concrete resources.

Opportunities for extra fluency practice (instant recall of key facts, such as number bonds, times tables, division facts, addition and subtraction facts) should be provided outside mathematics lessons (morning starters or post lunch).

 

Impact

In addition to the formative assessment undertaken in lessons, teachers will use termly summative assessments (during Assessment Week) supplied by NFER (years 2 and 6 practise SATs papers) to reinforce their judgments and provide further opportunities to identify gaps in pupil learning and tailor future lessons. Teacher judgments are then entered into Insight Tracking each term and teachers talk through the progress of their pupils at termly tracking progress meetings: this ensures targeted support can be given to those who need it.