Mathematics

Maths Subject Leader: Sarah Appleyard (*plus additional trust leadership capacity)

At Rushton Primary School, we aim to deliver a high-quality mathematics education. We adopt a mastery approach for teaching maths, in line with the National Curriculum. Through the teaching of Effective Maths – a progressive scheme of work, our intention is that all of our pupils become fluency in the fundamentals of maths, develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.

We want our pupils to be confident and competent in using and applying basic skills of counting and written and mental calculation. We want our pupils to be able to reason mathematically, developing and argument, justification or proof using mathematical language. As well as developing mathematics in the classroom, we intend to link our knowledge to real life situations. The curriculum allows for the children to build on prior knowledge through small steps. Effective Maths is also designed to ensure fluency skills are fully embedded by age expectation.

At the end of EYFS

Children count confidently and have a deep understanding of the numbers to 10, the relationships between them and the patterns within those numbers. They can count beyond 10. Children will have developed their spatial reasoning skills across all areas of mathematics including shape, space and measures and will have positive attitudes and interests in mathematics.

At the end of Key Stage 1

Pupils have developed their confidence and fluency with whole numbers, counting and place value. Pupils work fluently with number facts to 20 and have explored all four operations. Pupils describe properties of shapes, and also compare and describe different quantities such as length, mass as well as time and units of money. Children recognise coins.

At the end of Key Stage 2

Pupils have extended their knowledge of the number system and place value to larger integers. Pupils make connections between fractions, decimals, percentages and ratio which builds on from their multiplication knowledge in LKS2. Pupils use efficient written and mental methods for calculation when solving problems. Pupils also use mathematical vocabulary correctly, when articulating and explaining how they solved the problem.

Pedagogy: How the Curriculum is Taught

Our mathematics curriculum is taught using the following key components:

Whole class teaching (classes split into year groups to ensure they are exposed to their age-related expectations
Work is not differentiated by task, but extra support is given to them through teacher support, use of resources, pre-teaching of topics and same day interventions

Effective Maths:

To develop pupil’s mastery of the subject we use the Effective Maths scheme of work for mathematics lessons. This is a comprehensive programme, which has a strong emphasis on partner work (enabling children to communicate clearly and fluently about maths) and the whole class being taught together, with high-quality, engaging and visual learning.

An Effective Maths lesson improves pupil’s procedural and conceptual understanding, provides pupils with opportunities to reason mathematically, enables pupils to identify mathematical patterns, relationships and make connections between different areas of maths. It also uses the concrete, pictorial, abstract approach to support understanding of key concepts. It is carefully designed to ensure pupils are exposed to variation which supports picking up on any misconceptions and deepens understanding.

Fluency has dedicated teaching time – EMF is being taught to fill any gaps that the children may have developed. Our aim in using this is to increase efficiency and accuracy, as well as supporting the children in finding relationships between numbers.

Times Tables Rockstars:

To support children in becoming confident in the fundamentals of maths, all pupils from Y2 onwards have a Times Tables Rockstars account. This provides them with an opportunity to practise their times tables both in school and at home. Opportunities in class are given throughout the week for our pupils to use Times Tables Rockstars, and the children take part in a ‘Gig’ each term to inform their teacher of their progress. The use of TT Rockstars works well for preparation for the Year 4 multiplication tables check.

Assessment

We use a multi-faceted approach to assessment within mathematics.

End of unit assessment quizzes
Regular retrieval practice
Assessment for learning within each lesson through skilful use of questioning and live feedback
Mid-year and End of year assessments
Regular low-stakes times tables tests
PiXL testing at the appropriate times over the year – this enables teachers to provide extra tuition to fill the gaps children may have

Cultural Capital

Enrichment is an essential part of our mathematics curriculum which provides pupils with discrete time to deepen their learning. They provide opportunities for new experiences as well as nurturing and developing a thirst for learning.

We use a multi-faceted approach to enrichment within mathematics:

Maths group – includes 1 child from each year group

Career Professional Development

We develop strong subject knowledge amongst all staff which is achieved through comprehensive middle leadership development, a focus on developing all teachers’ subject knowledge and mathematical pedagogy. All staff benefit from implementing the high-quality planning resources provided by the Trust which is amended to meet the needs of all pupils.

Below is a summary of the CPD activities bespoke to mathematics:

Sharing knowledge from trust-wide meetings
Bespoke training videos
1:1 discussions with staff about lessons
Skill specific meetings to support teachers
Bespoke mentoring programme
Team teach in Maths
External Effective Maths training