Our Maths provision at the Three Saints Academy Trust aims to build a curriculum which develops learning and results in the acquisition of knowledge and skills so that all pupils know more, remember more and understand more.
When teaching mathematics, we intend to use a variety of teaching methods and resources that allow all pupils equal access to mathematics and to experience maths success and enjoyment throughout their lives. Over time, children will become more resilient learners who are able to understand that to make mistakes or become stuck is a necessary step in any learning.Children will be appropriately challenged and supported through varied fluency, reasoning and problem solving.Irrespective of personal starting points, children will explore maths in depth, and use a range of mathematical vocabulary to reason and explain their own thinking. Pupils will continue to build their knowledge by recalling and adding to previous knowledge and skills, then apply these new skills to a wide variety of contexts both within maths and across the curriculum.
We implement our approach through quality first teaching and the delivery of appropriately pitched work for all groups of learners supported by the materials from Ark Maths Mastery, NCETM and an external maths consultant.
Embedded throughout lessons are the 5 Principles of Mastery. Staff ensure that lessons are coherent; they are broken down into small, connected steps that gradually unfold the concept, providing access for all children and leading to a generalisation of the concept and the ability to apply their knowledge and skills to a range of concepts. Representations are used in lessons to expose the mathematical structure being taught, with the aim that pupils can do the maths without recourse to the representation.Mathematical thinking encourages the pupils to think, reason and discuss ideas and strategies within their classroom environment.Pupils become fluent mathematicians through quick and efficient recall of facts and procedures and the flexibility to move between different contexts and representations of mathematics. Variation is built over a sequence of lessons and representing concepts in more than one way.
Pupils in Foundation Stage will access their maths learning through daily lessons and continuous provision.Mathematical concepts are introduced and built upon through a series of direct teaching sessions. Within the provision, children have the freedom to further explore these mathematical concepts through concrete resources and creative opportunities. In addition to this, they are encouraged to follow their own mathematical lines of enquiry, which are supported through effective adult modelling and interactions.
Y1 through to Y6, Maths lessons are planned and delivered using the Ark Maths Mastery programme. It is underpinned by the concrete, pictorial, abstract (CPA) approach. Classrooms have a range of mathematical resources made available for children in each key stage. These include, but are not limited to, Numicon, Base 10, place value counters, Bead string, number lines, digit cards and hundred squares. Varied starting points and timely teacher interventions are utilised in response to teachers' ongoing formative assessments through effective deployment of teaching assistants.
In addition to daily maths lessons, EYFS use the NCETM Numberblocks program which introduces the concept of number to young children gently through engaging storylines and characters.
Y3 through to Y6 provide weekly opportunities for all children to practise their mental and calculation knowledge through regular Maths Meetings.This serves to reinforce and consolidate previous learning; increase fluency, speed and accuracy; and improve confidence. Regular use of ‘TT Rockstars’ within school and home enables children to practise multiplication and division knowledge.
Throughout each lesson, formative assessment takes place. Feedback is given to the children through marking and, where appropriate, targets are set to ensure that they are meeting the specific learning objective. Teachers then use this assessment to influence their planning and ensure that they are providing a mathematics curriculum that will allow all children to progress. The teaching of maths is monitored on a termly basis through regular book looks, learning walks and lesson observations. Each term, children from Year 1 and above complete a summative assessment to help them to develop their testing approach and demonstrate their understanding of the topics covered, using NFER.Years 2 and 6 also use previous SATs papers. The results from both the formative assessment and summative assessment are then used to determine children’s progress and attainment.
By the end of KS2 we aim for children to be fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics with a conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately. They should have the skills to solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of situations with increasing sophistication, including in unfamiliar contexts and to model real-life scenarios. Children will be able to reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry and develop and present a justification, argument or proof using mathematical language. Children will also recognise the importance of Mathematics as a facilitating subject to enable them to access other areas of learning and operate successfully is everyday life both now and in the future.
Our curriculum is focused around the following key concepts of Maths:
