Shay Lane Primary School
Shay Lane Primary School
Maths
Intent
We aim for all children at Shay Lane Primary School to understand that mathematics is a vital part of life. As a school, we strive to provide opportunities for all children to deepen their mathematical knowledge, fluency and skill. A curriculum based in problem solving and reasoning gives our children experience of using mathematics in a variety of real-life contexts.
Our curriculum allows children to develop their working memory and understanding of subject disciplines as they progress through school. We build upon prior learning, allowing children to expand their skills and vocabulary, while developing their ability to reason with confidence, determination and flexibility.
We intend to do this by aiming for all pupils:
- To be good communicators
- To celebrate difference and diversity by working together
- To be successful regardless of their background
- To be experiential learners
- To enjoy learning and positively learn from mistakes
Curriculum Drivers
Five Big Ideas in Teaching for Mastery
Shay Lane Primary School are partnered with the Outwood Maths Hub to continuously develop our knowledge of teaching for mastery through the Five Big Ideas:
Coherence - Teaching is designed to enable a coherent learning process through the curriculum, providing access for all pupils to develop a deep and connected understanding of mathematics that they can apply in a range of context.
Representation and structure - Teachers carefully select representation of mathematics to expose mathematical structure. The intention is to support pupils in 'seeing' the mathematics rather than using the representation as a tool to 'do' the mathematics. These mental representation become mental images that students can use to think about mathematics, supporting them to achieve a deep understanding of mathematical structures and connection.
Mathematical Thinking - Mathematical thinking is central to how pupils learn mathematics and includes looking for patterns and relationships, making connections, conjecturing, reasoning, and generalising. Pupils should actively engage in mathematical thinking in all lessons, communicating their ideas using precise language.
Fluency - Efficent, accurate recall of key number facts and procedures is essential for fluency, freeing pupils' minds to think deeply about concepts and problems, but fluency demands more than this. It requires pupils to have the flexibility to move between different contexts and representations of mathematics, recognise relationships and make connections and to choose approriate methods and strategies to solve problems.
Variation - The purpose of variation is to draw closer attention to a key feature of mathematical concept or structure through varying some elements while keeping others constant.
Conceptual variation involves carying how a concept is represented to draw attention to critical features. Often more than one representation is required to look at the concept from different perspectives and gain comprehensive knowledge.
Procedural variation considers how pupils will 'proceed' through a learning sequence. Purposful changes are made in order to that pupils' attention is frawn to key features of the mathematics, scaffolding students' thinking to enable thereason logically and make connections.
NCETM 2017
Implementation
Long, medium and short term planning is progressive and cohesive across the year groups and provides opportunities to revisit. Teachers teach lessons that are designed on the principle of “Pictorial, Concrete, Abstract” and we provide quality first teaching in line with the teaching standards
All teachers:
- ‘Know where their children are’ through the use of concise summative assessment, prior learning assessment and maths talk
- ‘Understand where their children need to be’ through a secure understanding of year group expectations and/or pre keystage expectations and incisive, ongoing, formative assessment
- ‘Know how they are going to get them there’ through the use of a range of strategies to promote independence, mastery and high expectations of ALL.
- Plan for progression during and between lessons.
How do we teach for Mastery in the Early Years?
In EYFS, the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and the non-statutory guidance of Development Matters provides the guidance for our long term planning in the EYFS. To support further with planning, teachers have access to the White Rose Maths materials for reception.
Nursery
In Nursery, children learn through playing and exploring, active learning experiences and creating and thinking critically. Pupils develop mathematics through Number and Shape, Space and Measure. Children have access to both the indoor and outdoor learning environment where children can explore and learn through play. The children’s interests are a powerful catalyst for mathematical enquiry and adults in school scaffold and support children’s play, mathematical interests and thinking through collaborative dialogue.
Reception
In Reception, there are two Early Learning Goals for mathematics which are Number and Numerical Patterns. Teachers follow the White Rose Maths small steps schemes of learning for EYFS and Mastering Number. Pupils are introduced to maths concepts through whole class teaching, before moving on to continuous provision.
Pupils in both Reception and Nursery are taught the following key skills;
· Fluency- children learn and remember basic number facts such as 1 and 4 make 5.
· Representing numbers and recognising amounts – children use different objects and pictures to represent a number in many different ways.
· Counting - saying one number for each object, knowing the final number is how many altogether and counting objects in any order.
· Reasoning – opportunities to explain what has happened and why, true or false activities.
· Problem Solving – allowing children to seek solutions, considering the best approach to use. This might involve; spotting patterns, estimating, predicting and finding many different ways to do things.
How do we teach for Mastery in KS1 and KS2
Children are taught mathematics in blocks of learning following the White Rose Maths schemes of learning throughout their time in Key Stage 1. Each block is taught beginning with a concrete approach, moving on to pictorial representations, before moving on to abstract maths.
· Concrete – Pupils are first provided the opportunity to explore concepts practically using manipulatives to model their mathematical thinking.
· Pictorial – Pupils are then encouraged to draw pictures or diagrams to model their understanding of concepts.
· Abstract – Pupils then move on to more formal mathematical representations and symbols once they have a good understanding of concrete and pictorial.
In additional to this, pupils' secure firm foundations in the development of good number sense in KS1 through NCETM Mastering Number, progressing to short daily arithmetic sessons in KS2.
Impact
To measure impact we will ask; What impact has the above had on:
Quick recall of facts and procedures
The flexibility and fluidity to move between different contexts and representations of mathematics.
The ability to recognise relationships and make connections in mathematics.
A mathematical concept or skill has been mastered when a child can show it in multiple ways, using the mathematical language to explain their ideas, and can independently apply the concept to new problems in unfamiliar situations.
This will be assessed through assessment, tracking, pupil progress meetings, performance management, moderation and standardisation.
Policies
Please click here to access our maths policy.
We are unable to publish our calculation policy due to copyright. Paper copies of the White Rose Calculation Policy can be obtained from the school office.
Progression Document
A copy of our progression document and vocabulary list can be obtained from the school.
What our children think of maths
Year 6 "I enjoy maths because I can use it outside school." "Maths is important because we need it every day."
Year 5 "Sometimes I need help but I always use the class display and then I help my friends." "I enjoy maths and enjoy fractions."
Year 4 "Maths is brilliant and I am always trying my best." "Maths is important because I use it when I am going out."
Year 3 "I like maths because it challenges me and I have to use it to solve problems." "Maths makes me think and I set myself targets."
Year 2 "I like that Tiny gets things wrong. I like to help him fix probelms." "I help Tiny when he makes mistakes."
Year 1 "I like using white boards to show my answers." "Maths is so much fun!"
Reception "I like to make numbers and I like counting!" "I like counting, I can can to 100!" "I like making shapes in the maths area."
Useful Resources
Recommended Reads
Websites
Links
National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics
Learning & Teaching with Learning Trajectories
Erikson Institute - Early Maths Collaborative
Education Endowment Foundation - Improving Mathematics in the Early Years and Key Stage 1