Mathematics

Curriculum Statement: Mathematics

‘Excellence, Truth and Grace’

Mathematics Intent

At Middleton Parish Church School, we believe that mathematics is a fundamental skill and is essential for developing confident 21st century citizens. As a result, our curriculum is ambitious and aims to provide our children with a deep, long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of the subject, which empowers them to become independent and resilient mathematicians. We aim to nurture positive attitudes and build confidence in mathematics so that all children can achieve and strive for excellence.

Our curriculum offers coherently planned and developed units of work to support teachers in ensuring that pupils’ mathematical knowledge and skills within the three fundamental aims of the National Curriculum: fluency, reasoning and problem solving are developed. Within these units of work, concepts are broken down into small-steps of learning which are planned and sequenced so that children can develop deeper understanding and master concepts so they can apply knowledge rapidly and accurately. Reasoning and problem solving is a key focal point of our learning in mathematics lessons, and arithmetic and recall of key number facts are practised daily to ensure key mathematical concepts are embedded and children can recall this information to see the links between topics in mathematics.

Excellence, Truth and Grace are at the heart of everything we do at Parish, including the intentions for our pupils as mathematicians. We aim for excellence and developing children who have a positive attitude towards mathematics where they use their prior learning and secure recall of key number facts to develop their skills in reasoning and problem solving. We strive for excellence - not only in the presentation of children’s work, but in how they work with peers to explore their understanding and tackle tasks. Children will understand the importance of mathematics in the wider world and how it is a fundamental skill in life, as well as in many fields of work. They will develop resilience when reasoning and problem solving in a variety of contexts and develop a love of mathematics. Using the key questions ‘What do you notice?’ and ‘What do you know?’ they will seek to establish links, make connections and build resilience as mathematicians. Along the way, they will make mistakes however, through grace they will learn through these mistakes and understand that there are many ways in which problems may be approached.

Mathematics Implementation

In the Early Years and Foundation stages, children develop their mathematical knowledge and skills with at least four adult guided sessions a week. Opportunities to practise and develop these skills are planned for within daily continuous provision where areas of the curriculum are also regularly re-visited. Mathematical vocabulary is very much embedded within daily routines and is therefore a core part of the learning and development in EYFS. In Key Stages 1 and 2, children take part in daily mathematics lessons. We are part of the NCETM’s Mastering Number project, so KS1 also take place in an additional number-based session each day to develop a secure and deep understanding of numbers. This is because we understand the importance and impact that number and place value have on many other strands of the mathematics curriculum. A sense of mastery within number provides children with the key foundations to develop and build upon as mathematicians.

Our curriculum maps are based on the White Rose yearly overviews which set the curriculum out in blocks enabling children to get to grips with different areas of maths through extended periods of time. This is also supported by the objectives set out in the National Curriculum; the EYFS Framework and expectations within the Early Learning Goals. Alongside the White Rose materials, we use other resources to ensure that our offer is rich and varied. These include NCETM and Testbase and are used across KS1 and KS2 allowing children to be exposed to concepts presented in a variety of ways and contexts, and to ensure coverage of fluency, problem solving and reasoning in different formats.

Each day children have the opportunity to practise their re-call of key mathematical facts. Addition facts within 10 and 20 are known as ‘Learn Its’ and feature from EYFS through to KS2: children in KS1, and those who may not be accessing their year group curriculum, also have access to Numbots to support this. Multiplication and related division facts are practised through the Times Table Rockstars programme from Y2 onwards. Arithmetic skills are also practised daily in the form of early morning work in KS2. In mathematics lessons, concepts are broken down into small steps to enable children to get to grips with the learning and deepen their understanding.  A ‘Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract’ approach further supports this. Guided practice forms a key part of our teaching before the children are given the opportunity to apply skills independently. As a school, we have established that reasoning and problem solving is a key area of development for our pupils and as a result, this is something that is explored regularly throughout units of work.

As a school, we have adopted a mastery approach to the teaching of mathematics. This means that children move through their learning broadly at the same pace and children who require further support or challenge are targeted according to their needs. Units of work and individual lessons are designed with children’s prior learning in mind. Lessons begin with a ‘Flashback’ activity based on prior learning followed by an ‘Anchor’ task to secure them back into the current unit of work. When introducing new learning, children are asked to consider what they already know about concepts with the key questions ‘What do you notice?’ and ‘What do you know?’ featuring regularly in our teaching to further support children making links with prior learning.  Misconceptions are addressed in the moment where possible and short, same day intervention in the form of rapid response ensures that all children continue to move through learning at the same pace.

The mastery approach to teaching recognises that by nurturing positive attitudes and building confidence in mathematics, all children can achieve. For those children who often grasp concepts more rapidly than others, we provide extension or challenge tasks designed to deepen their learning within that unit. Where possible, links across the curriculum will be made such as with science and design technology and links with the wider world are explored through real-life contexts when reasoning and problem solving. Children will be inspired by their knowledge of mathematics as a fundamental life skill and strive for themselves.

Mathematics Impact

At Middleton Parish, we use both formative and summative assessment information in mathematics to ascertain the impact of our curriculum design and approach to teaching mathematics on outcomes. Assessment informs learning to ensure that all pupils achieve highly and acquire the knowledge, skills and concepts they need to succeed in life. At the end of each term, summative assessments are used to enable staff and senior leaders to determine if children are working below, towards, on-track or exceeding age-related expectations by the end of the academic year. Throughout units of work, staff also use formative assessment to identify children who need further support or challenge. Staff use assessment information to inform their short-term planning and address misconceptions. This helps us provide the best possible support for all of our pupils. The end points for each phase have been carefully mapped out and further broken down. This means that the essential knowledge, skills and concepts in mathematics are progressive and build year on year. Our approach to assessment ensures that we have a clear understanding of what is expected for all of our children, including those who are disadvantaged and with SEND so that we can continue to work together to strengthen our offer and improve outcomes for all.

Curriculum - Mathematics.