Mathematics
An introduction to Mathematics at St Agnes’ School
Mathematics teaches children how to make sense of the world around them through developing their ability to calculate, reason and solve problems.
Mathematics is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment. A high-quality mathematics education therefore provides a foundation for understanding the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.
So at St Agnes’ we support children to:
- Become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including the varied and regular practice of increasingly complex problems over time.
- Reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, understanding relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language.
- Solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.
Our Intent
Our intent is to equip each child with the tools to understand maths. Through systematic direct teaching of learning objectives, children will develop mathematical understanding and develop a positive attitude to maths as an interesting and attractive subject in which they can gain some success and pleasure. We aim to increase confidence and the ability to express themselves and their ideas using the language of maths. We strive to develop lively, enquiring minds, and to encourage children to become self-motivated. We want children to recognise maths as being integral to all aspects of life; relevant to everyday life at school, something they will need as they move through school, and ultimately to their future in the world of employment.
At each stage of learning children are actively supported to sustain and develop a number of skills, including:
- Know by heart age appropriate number facts.
- Master fluency of mathematical skills focusing on understanding the concepts of the four operations.
- Develop an ability to express themselves fluently, to talk about the subject with assurance, using correct mathematical language and vocabulary in an atmosphere where it’s fine to make a mistake.
- Develop a range of appropriate mental strategies.
- Develop the ability to think clearly and logically with independence of thought and flexibility of mind
- Make sense of number problems and reasoning questions, identifying the operations needed to solve them and explain their methods using correct mathematical terms.
- Develop the ability to work systematically, with a careful, accurate approach
- Judge whether their answers are reasonable and have strategies for checking them where necessary.
- Develop the confidence and belief to take risks when faced with challenges.
Implementation
All teachers follow a yearly overview plan and are encouraged to design lessons using a range of resources. The school uses a range of teaching styles to cater for the variety of learning styles of pupils in maths lessons. We implement our approach through daily quality teaching and a secure understanding of the curriculum. There is an understanding of where the children need to be and how to use a range of strategies to promote progression, independence, mastery and high expectations. Basic skills are constantly reinforced through retrieval tasks.
At St Agnes’ Primary School, we follow White Rose Maths Hub planning, supported with a variety of curriculum resources. These include:
- National Curriculum Program of Study
- Nrich
- NCETM resources
- I See Reasoning
- Great North Maths Hub
- Mathletics and Mathseeds
- Times Tables Rock Stars
During lessons, there is a clear focus on direct, instructional teaching, and interactive oral work with both the whole class and smaller ability groups. We build on prior learning and help our children to develop a deep conceptual understanding of each topic. Children are encouraged to both ask and answer mathematical questions, and have opportunities to use a range of hands on resources, such as number lines, number squares and digit cards, to support their work and understanding of mathematics. Teaching assistants are regularly used to provide appropriate support to individuals and small groups, and are an important ‘asset’ to the teaching and learning.
Misconceptions are addressed during lessons and through focused feedback allowing for any errors to be identified and appropriate interventions to be put in place to enhance a child’s understanding. In KS2 self and peer marking may be used to allow children to identify errors they have made and work through corrections. End of unit assessments are used to allow staff to gather data, view progress and identify each child’s areas of strength and development.
Throughout the whole curriculum opportunities to extend and promote mathematics should be sought. Links are made between other subjects allowing children to utilise their maths skills in other areas such as Geography, Science and Computing.
Impact
The impact of our Maths curriculum is that children make good progress in maths each year and upon completion of Year 6 pupils will be fully prepared and equipped to successfully continue their mathematical journey into secondary school and their later lives.
- Fluency in the recall of key number facts and procedures
- Ability to independently apply knowledge to a range of increasingly complex problems and identify the correct strategy to use.
- The ability to reason mathematically is developed with increased confidence and resilience.
- An increasing positive and confident attitude towards maths.
- A clear sense of enjoyment and curiosity for Maths.
- Regular and ongoing assessment informs teaching to support and enable the success of every child.
At St Agnes’, All children are provided with equal access to the maths curriculum, regardless of ability or individual need, gender, ethnicity or home background. We strive hard to meet the needs of those pupils with special educational needs, those with disabilities, those with gifts and talents, and those learning English as an additional language.
Children with additional needs are supported by using practical resources and differentiated activities where needed. They are also further supported by additional support staff whenever possible.
To help you understand what the Maths Curriculum looks like in each year group, please see our progression maps below
Policies and Information
Year Group Objectives
