Maths
Intent- Vision and Aims
At St Robert Southwell we aim to develop curious, confident and resilient mathematicians, who enjoy a challenge. Pupils are encouraged to approach mathematical problems with an open-mind – excited to delve into problems, absorb new learning and accept and celebrate mistakes as an opportunity to learn. We aim to enthuse children with engaging lessons to develop inspired mathematicians, ready to apply their knowledge and skills to real life contexts.
We aim to equip children with mathematical fluency including confidence in understanding and using a rich mathematical vocabulary. Furthermore, in line with our inclusive ethos, we ensure all children are exposed to and involved in a range of reasoning and problem solving activities where appropriate.
Implementation
Curriculum
The Mathematics Curriculum at St Robert Southwell follows the objectives outlined in the National Curriculum for England and is carefully planned and tailored to meet the needs of our children. In line with the National Curriculum, we aim to ensure that all pupils:
- 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.
- 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 problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.
Curriculum objectives are mapped out in long term and medium term planning which can be accessed in yearly overviews. At our school, we believe lessons should be tailored to suit the needs of our children and therefore we use a range of schemes and resources to support our planning. To support our whole school overview, as a school we use the WhiteRose resources which supports a mastery approach to learning. Children are taught in ‘blocks’ of topics so that they have the opportunity to explore, practise and strengthen their knowledge and understanding of a specific mathematical area in depth. Blocks are sequenced at the beginning of the year but are subject to change at the discretion of the teacher in line with what is best for the needs of the class.
To ensure children have a secure understanding of a topic, as a school we are developing the use of the ‘concrete, pictorial, abstract’ method. All pupils, when introduced to a key new concept, should have the opportunity to build competency in this topic by taking this approach. Pupils are encouraged to physically represent mathematical concepts. Objects and pictures are used to demonstrate and visualise abstract ideas, alongside numbers and symbols.
Concrete – children have the opportunity to use concrete objects and manipulatives to help them understand and explain what they are doing.
Pictorial – children then build on this concrete approach by using pictorial representations, which can then be used to reason and solve problems.
Abstract – With the foundations firmly laid, children can move to an abstract approach using numbers and key concepts with confidence.
Please see an example below taken from the WhiteRose Calculation Policy which we use to support our teaching as a school.
Home Learning
To support our implementation of mathematics, we encourage and celebrate parental engagement including their support with homework and of online maths resources we use as a school.
We encourage and celebrate home-learning and therefore have a range of online resources that children can access from home:
TTrockstars – a website that children can practise their timetables facts.
MyMaths – a website accessible to years 1 – 6 to access a range of tasks as part of set homework optional additional work.
Impact – Outcomes
Outcomes are measured through a variety of methods including both formative and summative assessment, learning walks, discussions with children, classroom observations, book scrutinies and external reviews.
We believe our impact is evident in our outstanding results at the end of each phase and our success in securing external maths awards and developing confident mathematicians. At the end of the academic year 2018-2019, we have much to celebrate:
- First place at the Junior Maths Challenge at St Gregory’s March 2018
- First place as the Junior Maths Challenge at St Gregory’s – March 2019
- 92% of children achieved expected in their End of Key Stage 2 SATs 2019
- We were recognised for our outstanding implementation of the teaching of basic skills across the school and were awarded with the Quality Mark.
