Mathematics teaches children how to make sense of the world around them through developing their ability to calculate, reason and solve problems. It enables children to understand relationships and patterns in both number and space in their everyday lives. Through their growing knowledge and understanding, children learn to value the contribution made by many cultures to the development and application of mathematics. Our Mathematics curriculum provides breadth and balance and is relevant and adapted to suit the needs of all children in the modern world, and focuses on maths mastery. It is flexible, motivates pupils and encourages success at all levels.  

Intent

• At St Mary's, our intent is to equip all children with basic numeracy skills for life, promoting confidence and competence with numbers and the number system.  It is important to us to promote enjoyment of learning through practical activities, exploration and discussion, creating a positive attitude towards mathematics.  we want our children to develop a practical understanding of the ways in which information is gathered and presented, to explore features of shape and space, and develop measuring skills in a range of contexts. We aim to use and apply Maths skills across the curriculum, promoting the ability to solve problems through connecting ideas, decision-making and applying mathematical skills in a range of contexts and subjects. We promote mathematical reasoning by following a line of enquiry, developing an argument and making justifications using mathematical language.  Our children will develop the correct use and understanding of a range of mathematical vocabulary and understand the importance of Mathematics in everyday use, especially in relation to essential life skills, such as telling the time and understanding money.

Implementation

The curriculum has been reviewed by all staff and long term planning includes all of the programmes of study from the National Curriculum.  Medium term plans take a mastery approach based on the Power Maths scheme of learning. Through careful planning and preparation, we aim to ensure that throughout the school the children are given opportunities for problem solving and reasoning, practical investigations using concrete resources, mathematical songs and rhymes to promote retention of learning and questions that are carefully crafted to expose learning.  We prioritise conceptual variation - the opportunity to work on different representations of the same mathematical idea, and procedural variation - the relationships between procedures.

Alongside the Power Maths Mastery programme, the EYFS teachers use the Statutory Framework for the Early Years to support their teaching of Mathematics in the Foundation Stage.  EYFS and KS1 teachers deliver Mastering Number sessions. This aims to secure firm foundations in the development of good number sense for all children from Reception through to Year 2. The aim, over time, is that children will leave KS1 with fluency in calculation and a confidence and flexibility with number.  Cross-curricular links will be made wherever possible to enhance and reinforce mathematical skills.

A wide range of concrete and visual equipment is available in every class to support the Power Maths Mastery programme. Numicon, tens and ones, place value counters, arrow cards, tens frames, part whole models, number lines, number squares, digit cards and small apparatus are used to support learning. All teachers will use KIRFS (Key Instant Recall Facts) to teach mental recall.  New KIRFS will be given to the children every half term. These are taught as oral starters on a daily basis.

EYFS - Teachers in the Early Years Foundation Stage base their teaching on “Development Matters” to ensure that the children are working towards the “Early Learning Goals for Mathematical Development”. Additional documentation provided by Power Maths is also used. The EYFS staff deliver some whole class teaching and adult focus led Maths activities each day. The children also access a range of Maths activities within continuous provision; and investigate number problems.

Key Stage 1 - The National Curriculum (2014) states that the principal focus of mathematics teaching in Key Stage 1 is to ensure that pupils develop confidence and mental fluency with whole numbers, counting and place value. This should involve working with numerals, words and the four operations, including practical resources (e.g. concrete objects and measuring tools).  At this stage, pupils should develop their ability to recognise, describe, draw, compare and sort different shapes and use the related vocabulary. Teaching should also involve using a range of measures to describe and compare different quantities such as length, mass, capacity/volume, time and money.  By the end of Year 2, pupils should know the number bonds to 20 and be precise in using and understanding place value. An emphasis on practice at this early stage will aid fluency.   Pupils should read and spell mathematical vocabulary, at a level consistent with their increasing word reading and spelling knowledge at Key Stage 1.

Key Stage 2 - The National Curriculum (2014) states that the principal focus of mathematics teaching in lower key stage 2 is to ensure that pupils become increasingly fluent with whole numbers and the four operations, including number facts and the concept of place value. This should ensure that pupils develop efficient written and mental methods and perform calculations accurately with increasingly large whole numbers.    At this stage, pupils should develop their ability to solve a range of problems, including with simple fractions and decimal place value. Teaching should also ensure that pupils draw with increasing accuracy and develop mathematical reasoning so they can analyse shapes and their properties, and confidently describe the relationships between them. It should ensure that they can use measuring instruments with accuracy and make connections between measure and number.   

By the end of year 4, pupils should have memorised their multiplication tables up to and including the 12-multiplication table and show precision and fluency in their work.  Pupils should read and spell mathematical vocabulary correctly and confidently, using their growing word reading knowledge and their knowledge of spelling.

Adaptive Practice  All staff will have high expectations of all children, irrespective of ability, and will encourage them to be successful and achieve their full potential. Adaptive teaching and learning is incorporated into all Mathematics lessons and can be achieved through varying learning tasks, or the variation of support through the use of concrete, pictorial and abstract methods.

Impact

We want our children to be confident in making quality connections across mathematical ideas, as a result of their developing fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence in solving problems during their time at our school.  Our children will be able to apply their mathematical knowledge across the curriculum and to realise that mathematics has been developed over centuries. As our children progress further in their education, we intend for them to be able to understand the world, have the ability to reason mathematically and to have a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.

Through first quality teaching, guidance and effective feedback, our children will:

• Clearly explain their reasoning and justify their thought processes.

• Quickly recall facts and procedures.

• Have the flexibility and fluidity to move between different contexts and representations of mathematics.

• Have the ability to recognise relationships and make connections in mathematics.

• Be happy, confident, articulate and autonomous learners with a life-long passion for learning.

• Leave our school at the end of Year 4 prepared for the next step in their mathematical education.

Maths Policy 

EYFS key vocabulary list

Year 1 key vocabulary list

Year 2 key vocabulary list

Year 3 key vocabulary list

Year 4 key vocabulary list