The aim of the Mathematics National Curriculum is to ensure that all pupils develop fluency in the fundamentals of the subject. This will lead to the children being able to develop their understanding and their ability to recall and apply their knowledge accurately.  Children will be able to see patterns and relationships and will be able to explain their answers using the necessary mathematical vocabulary.  Through practical experiences, use of manipulatives and various strategies the children will be able to solve problems by applying their mathematical skills and understanding.

Our Mathematics Subject Leaders have engaged with the Maths Hub for several years to access high-quality training and research. This alongside school self-evaluation and liaison with our School Adviser has informed our mathematics teaching.

We implement a fully inclusive curriculum that meets the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum adapting the curriculum to meet the needs of our learners. We use NCETM to inform our planning alongside NRich, Master the Curriculum for EYFS, Learning by Questions, Hands On Maths and Third Space Learning as rich resources.

At the beginning of each Maths lesson, children complete a ‘Review and Do’ related to previous learning, to strengthen children’s retention of knowledge and a mental oral starter. A series of stimulating lessons are planned, with clear learning objectives, to develop fluency, reasoning and problem solving and the use of subject-specific vocabulary.

Our Maths curriculum is delivered through high quality teaching. All children, when introduced to a key new concept, have the opportunity to build competency in this topic. Children are encouraged to physically represent mathematical concepts using concrete resources, pictorial (models and images) to demonstrate and visualise abstract ideas, alongside numbers and symbols.

Fluency is a fundamental of mathematics, ensuring that pupils have conceptual understanding and are able to recall and apply their knowledge rapidly and accurately. 

Children become confident in the two types of fluency:

Conceptual fluency, e.g. exploring the five strands of place value, (counting, recognition of cardinal numbers, knowing what each digit in a number represents, understanding our base-10 structure and exchanging), what an equivalent fraction is and identifying key features of different representations of data.

Procedural fluency, e.g. +- x ÷ calculation methods linked to whole numbers, fractions and decimals and exploring step by step mental and written methods.

Children are given regular opportunities to recall known facts, develop number sense, know why they are doing what they are doing and know when it is appropriate and efficient to choose different methods and will apply skills to multiple contexts e.g. multiplying and dividing by 10 to convert units of measurements.

Reasoning and problem solving is planned and interwoven into the mathematics curriculum.

Reasoning questions are explicitly taught and modelled through the use of discussion, maths partner talk, manipulatives, written words using ‘stem sentences. Reasoning activities could include ‘spot the mistake’, ‘alike and different’, ‘odd one out’, ‘always, sometimes and never’ and ‘true and false’.

Teachers formatively assess the children each time they take part in mathematics activities, based on the lesson learning question. Work is marked in line with the school’s Marking and Feedback Policy. This information is used to inform future planning. ‘Live’ marking and use of the Marking Log enable misconceptions to be dealt with at the time, or shortly after. During each term, teachers will formally assess pupils, in terms of the children being in line with, above, or below expectations for their year group. Class and Learning Lounge-based individual or group sessions are used to support children struggling to meet their targets.

The impact of our teaching on children is the developing of the pupils’ enthusiasm and confidence and greater maths fluency skills, with sharper mental/oral skills. Children gain a greater bank of strategies, which they can use to solve problems, when investigating maths.  This will lead to the children using these skills and confidence as they use maths in their everyday lives.  

Parents receive notification of their child’s progress in the three written reports and three Parents’ Evening opportunities. feedback on the different activities their child’s class are involved in, through the Class Facebook and Class Web Page. Governors are kept informed through verbal reports from the Mathematics Link Governor, verbal and written reports from the Mathematics Subject Leaders and in the annual Subject Presentation Evening.