Maths

Maths

Albert Einstein:

‘Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.’

Intent

At Newton Ferrers, we aim to equip all pupils with the skills and confidence to solve a range of problems through fluency with numbers and mathematical reasoning.  Children are encouraged to see the mathematics that surround them every day and enjoy developing vital life skills in this subject.

We identify every child as a mathematician and therefore offer a curriculum, which gives all children the opportunities to master age appropriate skills. We believe that making connections between skills is a key element to children understanding Maths and being able to use it widely.

Maths makes a significant contribution to modern society and we believe that the basic skills of Maths are vital for the life opportunities of our children. We aim for our children to be able to think mathematically enabling them to reason and solve problems across a range of contexts. Throughout their Maths journey at school we want our children to develop a positive attitude towards the subject and to be able to build upon and make links between their prior experiences. By the end of KS2 we want children to have developed an ability to use and apply Maths across the curriculum and in real life.

At Newton Ferrers, we regard a mathematician as someone who:

• Understands concepts
• Is flexible with their thinking
• Can work in an organised manner
• Can show their understanding in different ways
• Can see relationships between ideas and generalise these
• Can make logical leaps throughout their learning
• Is reflective of their own learning
• Is creative and asks their own questions.

Implementation

At Newton Ferrers,  a ‘Teaching for Mastery’ approach to achieve the aims of the 2014 National Curriculum is securely embedded throughout the school..

Planning

Staff plan small, progressive steps in which prior learning is explicitly linked to new learning , developing a coherent ‘journey’ through both a unit of work and within a lesson. Lessons are planned to support all children to master a skill and to move children forwards with their learning together. Planning is informed through the assessment of

pre-requisite skills and formatively through a lesson.

Teaching

At Newton Ferrers, maths is taught daily in single year group lessons.

Children have a dedicated Number Fact Fluency session (see Newton Ferrers’ Number Facts Fluency Approach below), to develop accuracy and efficiency, in addition to their main maths session.

A consistent lesson structure runs across the school. All lessons start with a recap/retrieval of past learning. To begin each new ‘small step’ of learning, an opportunity to ‘Explore’ a concept is given, initially independently, allowing the children to become immersed in their new learning and consider links to past learning. This also provides the opportunity for teachers to assess current understanding and a chance to identify any misconceptions. A teaching input then follows that unpicks the concept exposed through the ‘Explore’ and leads into opportunities for students to ‘do’ within a guided environment – Guided Practise. This may include using manipulatives to represent the maths, verbally rehearsing the language to explain or opportunities to take part in a range of practice activities. 

Independent Practice - ‘DO’ tasks, appropriate to secure the days learning follow, with opportunities for all children to dive deeper into content provided. 

Language and dialogue are a key part of Maths lessons at Newton Ferrers Primary School, high quality discussion is valued, children are supported through targeted questioning, and the use of sentence stems to structure talk. Children are encouraged to answer in full sentences, using sentence stems for support, to ensure they can verbalise their thinking.

Mathematical thinking is promoted through teacher questioning, for example:

What do you notice? What is the same? – What is different?

Children in EYFS, are taught through the Mastering Number programme set out by the NCETM. The programme does not cover shape, space and measure so this is taught through planned directed sessions and continuous provision. The continuous provision is available for the children to access daily and includes a wide range of mathematical resources for children to explore and play with. Examples of this include; loose parts, puzzles and games.

Assessment

A series of pre-requisite assessments and end of block assessments are used in order to ensure all children are keeping up with the content. 

Rigorous formative assessment is in place within lessons to ensure all children keep up within the lesson and to inform next steps planning. Should a child not keep up with the lesson’s content, timely consolidation opportunities across the school are in place to enable the child to be ready for the next lesson.    

SEND

At Newton Ferrers, all SEND children have an ambitious curriculum. Where a SEND pupil is maintaining pace with the class’s learning journey, they would continue with appropriate in class support where necessary.  

Should a child be significantly behind the class’s curriculum, small group work outside of the lesson would take place to allow the pupil to move on from their starting point. This teaching would take place by a highly trained teaching assistant with the focus being for the child to work through and achieve each year’s ‘ready to progress’ criteria.  

Our Curriculum

Below is an overview of the topics taught over the course of each year group. You can also find reference to the key indicators that we use in school to support our understanding for whether your child is meeting the Age-Related Expectation.

Maths in the Early Years

Children’s understanding of number during preschool is consistently associated with their mathematical achievement in primary and secondary school. Mathematical achievement in turn is consistently found to be the strongest predictor of children’s overall school achievement and their success in entering the workforce.

(Early Intervention Foundation, 2018)

We are due to publish our EYFS curriculum shortly - watch out for this! 

Please see below some useful resources to support your child.

Calculation and Representation Guidance

We are continuing to develop our Calculation and Representation Guidance that teachers use as a guide to support them in allowing children to make sense of the mathematical concepts taught. This can also be a useful document for parents should they wish to support their child from home, ensuring consistency with how concepts are taught using representations that are familiar to the children. 

Newton Ferrers' NUMBER FACTS Fluency Approach

A key feature of our mathematics curriculum is the need to ensure all children have a secure and rapid recall of number facts, which will go on to support their future mathematics.