Maths
An introduction
Maths is loved by all at St Michael's School and the love is shown through the enthusiasm in lessons by both staff and pupils. We are very proud of our maths teaching and learning and especially our progress and attainment in calculation skills, fractions and times tables. This year we want to involve the family more so watch out for fun family friendly maths activities coming home! Read below to find out a little bit more about what St Michel's believes in when teaching maths!
Maths Intent, Implementation and Impact at St Michael's Intent
Maths is an important part of everyday life, and with this in mind, the purpose of Mathematics at St Michael’s Primary School is for children to develop an ability to calculate, solve problems, reason, think logically and work accurately. All children are encouraged to work to their potential and teachers adopt a mastery approach. Maths is taught daily to ensure concepts are embedded and children can recall information and make links between concepts. Children of all ages have the chance to learn through concrete resources and pictorial representations which will enable children to fully understand concepts and principals when presented with abstract calculations and questions. We want the children to be confident mathematicians who are resilient and not afraid to take risks. We want them to be independent learners with inquisitive minds who have an interest in self improvement and to love maths and have no limits to what their ambitions are. We aim for them to leave St Michael’s with secure mathematical understanding which will assist them in whichever career path they take.
Implementation
· Mathematics is taught on a daily basis throughout the school – EYFS to Year 6. Each class in KS1 and KS2 provide a minimum of 1 hour of mathematics per day and are taught by specialist maths teachers.
· The use of White Rose long term and medium term planning are adapted to create a bespoke curriculum designed to meet the needs of our children and to allow for opportunities for revisit and retention, ensuring full coverage of the national curriculum for mathematics and providing a broad and balanced spread of all areas of the curriculum. Teachers are confident to manipulate this planning in the short term in order to meet the needs of all of our children. Teachers plan daily and base lessons on the previous learning.
· Using White Rose’s small steps, the teaching of mathematics year to year builds progressively on the skills taught in previous year groups.
· Children are assessed regularly using low stakes testing of taught content to recall and apply concepts taught. Children are formally tested termly and teachers analyse results to make sure gaps are addressed and the learning is moving forward.
· Children regardless of their ability, in KS1 and KS2 are provided with opportunities to become more fluent in their learning, to reason mathematically and to solve a range of problems. This is done using a range of sources such as White Rose Maths, NRICH, Twinkl, CPG and Classroom Secrets.
· Teacher’s implement the long term planning for teaching multiplication facts and use Times Table Rock Stars to enthuse the children in learning times tables. This is manipulated by teachers to ensure each year group meets their multiplication targets.
· Mathematics homework is provided on a weekly basis to help embed the week’s learning and share the learning with parents/carers through our WEDUC App.
· Calculation is taught during the Autumn Term and practice is provided regularly to ensure children’s fluency in calculation methods is embedded.
· Interventions are put in place to support children where necessary.
· Opportunities for peer and self-assessment are provided daily so children are given instant feedback in their learning.
· Quality first teaching is provided throughout the school along with effective teacher modelling along with effective assessment for learning to make sure children are moved on in their learning or supported when finding it difficult,
· Mathematics 'working walls' are in each classroom to provide key information and vocabulary with modelled examples to support learning. The WOW wall showcases children's work to give a sense of pride.
Here are some links to websites that will help you child:
Click on the words -
Impact
The impact of our mathematics curriculum is that children understand the relevance and importance of what they are learning in relation to real world concepts. Children know that maths is a vital life skill that they will rely on in many areas of their daily life. Children have a positive view of maths due to learning in an environment where maths is promoted as being an exciting and enjoyable subject in which they can investigate and ask questions; they know that it is OK to be ‘wrong’ and that this can strengthen their learning because the journey to finding an answer is most important. Children are confident to ‘have a go’ and choose the equipment they need to help them to learn along with the strategies they think are best suited to each problem. Our children have a good understanding of their strengths and targets for development in maths and what they need to do to improve. Our maths books evidence work of a high standard of which children clearly take pride; the range of activities demonstrate good coverage of fluency, reasoning and problem solving. Our feedback and interventions support children to strive to be the best mathematicians they can be, ensuring a high proportion of children are on track or above. Our school standards are high, we moderate our books and children are achieving well.
Please find the yearly overviews for each year group below.
If you require any more information about Maths, please do not hesitate to contact myself or your child's class teacher.
Mrs Nicola Waite
Maths Manager
Maths Governor - Mr J Daren