Intent

The intention of the maths curriculum at Canklow Woods Primary School is that children are taught to become competent mathematicians; we strive to embed the skills and processes necessary to enable children to use and apply their Maths learning in a variety of contexts.  All teachers we instill the belief that no child had be 'bad' at maths but instead, all children have the ability to enjoy and succeed at maths. We aim to develop children’s enjoyment of maths and provide opportunities for children to build a conceptual understanding of maths before applying their knowledge to everyday problems and challenges. Our approach to the teaching of mathematics develops children's ability to work both independently and collaboratively as part of a team. Through mathematical talk, children will develop the ability to articulate and discuss their thinking. By the end of Key Stage Two, children will leave our academy prepared for the next step in their mathematical education.

Implementation

Maths Lessons

As a school we follow the White Rose Maths Hub planning schemes from Foundation to Year 6, however planning may be adapted or resources changed whenever teachers believe it to be necessary. These schemes are based on the National Curriculum and include all of the learning objectives for each year group.  

White Rose Maths Schemes of Learning

Children are encouraged to talk more in mathematics lessons so they use and extend their mathematical vocabulary and verbally reason how to answer a question and discuss whether an answer is correct or incorrect.

• We aim for all children to ‘keep up, not catch up’ meaning that instead of pupils falling behind, they may have pre-learning sessions before the maths lesson so that they already have some knowledge and skills so they are more confident in lessons. Also children who have struggled in a lesson will work with an adult or confident child the next morning to ensure they don’t fall behind. Children are taught the same concept together then are differentiated when necessary which means that whoever needs particular resources or closer adult support receives it. 

• We try to make maths lessons as enjoyable and beneficial as possible by keeping children actively involved and applying maths to real life.

• The teachers nurture the children’s confidence whilst encouraging them to respond positively to difficult learning challenges (sometimes referred to as ‘the pit’).

• We try to instill the belief that it is ok to make mistakes in maths as a lot of learning can be achieved from figuring out why they are incorrect.

• Concepts are taught with concrete objects initially then with images before moving onto abstract learning where equipment isn’t used. In addition to this, if at any point children feel they need images or equipment to help them then they are available. 

• Lessons follow the sequence of frequency questions (eg.5 x 9), Reasoning discussion and questions (eg. Always/sometimes/or never – when you multiply a number by 5 the answer will have a 5 in the ones column), then problem solving (eg. If I had 9 sweets in each packet and 5 packets, how many individual sweets would I have altogether?).

Additional Mathematics

In addition to our daily maths lessons, children from Year 1 to Year 6 have Morning Maths sessions where work from the previous maths lesson may be edited, particular children may have close adult support, some children will be further challenged or an area of maths may be revised.

Maths Magic sessions happen daily in Foundation where the basic maths skills needed for that year group are revised in a fun and fast paced verbal only session. 

Children with Special Educational Needs

All children are offered the same broad curriculum where every child has the chance to succeed in a lesson and no boundaries are ever put in place therefore all children can move onto more challenging tasks. We are very mindful of the learning needs of all of our children and those with Special Educational Needs are supported well within Mathematics via effective planning, teaching and assessment, suitable resources and recording formats. All learners are catered for fully in their daily mathematics lessons. All children benefit from the emphasis on oral work as well as using equipment and images but this is particularly valuable for children with special educational needs. By all children working on the same activity, they can learn from other children demonstrating and explaining their methods as well as the teacher or teaching assistants. Learners who have particular needs in relation to literacy will receive direct adult support in reading and recording.

Gifted and Talented Pupils

Some children will be able to achieve mastery at a higher level. This means that they are able to apply their understanding of a concept in a wider variety of contexts, some of which are more difficult. They can manipulate the facts they know and the skills they possess in order to solve more complex problems. More developed forms of mathematical reasoning are central to this process, and enable the recognition of a link between operations and processes. All children also have the opportunity to challenge themselves and move onto deeper learning.

Impact

To ensure our maths curriculum and the teaching of maths is having a positive impact on the children’s knowledge and skills in the subject, teachers will use:

• Daily marking of work done within the lesson where possible so children can edit work or move onto challenges.
• Termly PUMA assessments.
• Assessments at the end of every block of learning. 
• Questioning.
• Observations.

These formal and informal assessments are used to support teachers in making judgements about children’s level of understanding and if the current approach is working. It also informs whether future lessons need to be adapted and if particular children need more support or challenge.

Long term Assessment

Year 2 and Year 6 complete the national tests (SATs) in May. Year 4 children will all take part in the new multiplication tables check which is designed to help ensure children in primary school know their times tables up to 12 off by heart. We use TTRockstars to practise for this test which our pupils absolutely love playing on. 

https://play.ttrockstars.com/auth/school/student/3383 

To ensure high standards in the teaching of maths, teachers and the maths subject leader will continuously monitor the subject and engage with CPD activities which will be shared with all staff.