Maths
Shining Together, We Reach for the Stars.
A true maths learner is one who is conversant and confident in mathematical thinking and one who is unafraid to learn mathematical language across all areas of the curriculum. Our aspiration for pupils in maths is clear through our mastery aims.
Our Christian Values: Respect, Motivation, Cooperation, Kindness, Pride, Perseverance
These Values are seen as curriculum drivers and learning behaviours to succeed and 'Shine Together, whilst we 'Reach for the Stars'. They were chosen by our church school community, with our church school community and their needs in mind. Our values are rooted in the teachings of Jesus Christ and we use our learning from the Biblical texts to inspire us in our learning, providing us with Hope (with a mind to Jesus as the light of the world) and aspiration.
The National Curriculum, 2014 shares that:
Teachers should use every relevant subject to develop pupils’ mathematical fluency. Confidence in numeracy and other mathematical skills is a precondition of success across the national curriculum.
Teachers should develop pupils’ numeracy and mathematical reasoning in all subjects so that they understand and appreciate the importance of mathematics. Pupils should be taught to apply arithmetic fluently to problems, understand and use measures, make estimates and sense check their work. Pupils should apply their geometric and algebraic understanding, and relate their understanding of probability to the notions of risk and uncertainty. They should also understand the cycle of collecting, presenting and analysing data. They should be taught to apply their mathematics to both routine and non-routine problems, including breaking down more complex problems into a series of simpler steps.
As a school we endorse the KS1/KS2 curriculum aims that :
Children 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. We have daily Number Masters to keep up these skills and a daily Skill it as part of our taught session.
Are able to REASON mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non routine. Our daily Apply it focus live this out for children in practice.
Can SOLVE PROBLEMS with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions. When children are applying and deepening their learning, they are grappling, discussing and debating maths both as an internal process and as a dialogue with their teacher and peers. Within our taught sessions children have opportunity to do this within Deepen it questions.
As a school we follow and endorse the learning aims set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Statutory Framework:
slightly in line with the characteristics of effective teaching within Early Years:
Skill it - through adult modelling and imitation, children will play and explore by giving things a go.
Apply it – children being able to say if something is right/wrong or good/bad and are actively learning where they are concentrating and willing to try out new things.
Deepen it- children use their learning in different circumstances and can change something using concrete materials to make it correct; demonstrating an ability in creativity and thinking critically to make links.
The Early Years Foundation Stage provides our children with the fundamental components to mathematics and our curriculum reflects this by ensuring the children are provided with the opportunities to develop a deep understanding within mathematics with a ‘can do’ attitude. Within Early Years, their mathematical development is hugely influenced by our children being able to explore, practice and enjoy Maths through concrete and pictorial representations to deepen understanding. To support this deepened understanding, the children will continuously be developing five key skills throughout all their learning objectives and continuous provision;
Subitising: instantly recognise small quantities.
Counting: regular opportunities to practise counting forward and back. This is broken into 5 principles:
- The one-one principle: children assigning one number name to each object that is being counted. Children need to ensure they count each object only once ensuring they have counted every object.
- The stable-order principle: children understand when counting, the numbers have to be said in a certain order.
- The cardinal principle: children understand that the number name assigned to the final object in a group is the total number in that group.
- The abstraction principle: involves children understanding that anything can be counted including things that cannot be touched including sounds and movements e.g. jumps.
- The order-irrelevance principle: involves children understanding that the order we count a group of objects is irrelevant. There will still be the same number.
Composition: recognise that all quantities are composed of smaller quantities.
Sorting and matching: notice similarities and differences as they match and sort objects in different contexts.
Compare and order: compare and order quantities and measures by noticing more than/fewer than and equal amounts.
Mastery in Maths
As a school we have developed a Bromesberrow Mastery Approach, which is consistent across the school from Early Years to Year 6. Within our classrooms you will see;
- Quality First Teaching; tailored to meet the needs of the learners in each class, and intervention being given to address any gaps in learning when necessary to,
- Resilient and motivated learners, with a learning environment that promotes a ‘can do’ attitude using 3B4ME,
- Teachers and Teaching Partners using high-quality questioning to explore children’s understanding and develop understanding further,
- Teachers using misconceptions to further understanding of key concepts,
- Learners being provided with a range of opportunities to explore key mathematical concepts that appeal to the children's different learning styles – concrete/pictorial/abstract,
- Collaborative learning,
- Learners being provided with the opportunities, through careful planning, to explore for longer and go deeper in mathematical concepts,
- Development of fluency, reasoning and problem-solving.
- Teachers and Teaching Partners explicitly modelling new learning through an episodic teaching approach.
Times Tables- There is x table practice from Y2 upwards to ensure that children know their times tables securely at the end of Y4. The school have bought into Times Table Rockstars to support children in learning their tables at home.
Maths Tool Boxes- Each class has maths toolboxes available to the children at all times. This supports our 3B4ME philosophy of encouraging independence and resilience in our learners, particularly in regards to mastery and greater depth learning.