COLDEAN PRIMARY SCHOOL

Learning together, inspiring each other

01273 094911

office@coldean.brighton-hove.sch.uk

  1. LEARNING
  2. Our Curriculum
  3. MATHEMATICS

Mathematics

Subject Co-ordinators:  Ms Theobald & Mr Bulmer

Link Governor: Mr Humphries

"Pupils from early years to Year 6 enjoy lessons, want to answer questions and are keen to do well. 

Teachers teach with energy and enthusiasm, using high-quality questioning to encourage pupils' mathematical reasoning. They are ably supported by teaching assistants who skilfully identify pupils' misconceptions during lessons and provide immediate intervention and support."

[Ofsted 2017]

Intent

Our mathematics curriculum is designed to develop children who are confident, agile mathematicians.

Carefully crafted teaching of mathematical knowledge, through small interrelated steps, ensures secure understanding of mathematical structures and allows deep connections to be made.

A strong focus on essential number knowledge and mathematical language allows children to become fluent and flexible problem solvers.

This knowledge is challenged and strengthened by opportunities to reason threaded throughout lessons.

We do this because it is vital to be numerate in order to participate fully in society and thinking mathematically is life-enriching.

Our curriculum is sequenced in line with the EYFS Statutory Framework (2020), Development Matters (2020) and the National Curriculum for Mathematics (2013).

 

Implementation

The principles of Teaching for Mastery, a product of our extensive research into the highly successful teaching practice in Singapore and Shanghai, are used consistently throughout the school. A whole-class teaching approach is used, keeping the class working together to secure conceptual understanding by all. This is to avoid superficial, surface learning and foster a deep, secure understanding of all the concepts taught.

The learning needs of every child are addressed through skilful questioning and appropriate, immediate intervention – this provides the necessary scaffolding or challenge for all. Opportunities are provided for children to deepen their understanding of a concept through the use of flamingo challenges.

In the Early Years, firm foundations are built as children work towards the Early Learning Goals for Number and Shape, Space and Measure. A ‘mastery’ approach to teaching is adopted in the Early Years setting, building the principles into the unique pedagogy for the EYFS.

Children have opportunities to:

·       Use mathematical representations in a variety of ways to make connections & think flexibly.

·       Engage in creative problem finding & solving activities which reinforce and build upon the concepts taught.

·       Choose their own resources and use them to record their ideas and explore their own mathematical interests.

·       Communicate their mathematical thinking through ‘talk activities’ and ‘shared thinking’ opportunities.

EYFS & KS1

 

YEAR 3 & YEAR 4

 

YEAR 5 & YEAR 6

 The Key Stage One and Key Stage Two curricula focus on four areas: number, measurement, geometry and statistics. Within these areas, concepts are taught slowly and at great depth to ensure the learning is secure and sustainable.

Included in every lesson are fluency, reasoning and problem-solving tasks, giving the children opportunities to explore the concept being taught extensively before moving on to the next.

Questions are carefully designed to provide intelligent practice, developing and embedding conceptual fluency. We believe in exposing the children to multiple representations of a concept, using concrete, pictorial and abstract examples simultaneously to support the children’s understanding.

We provide rich mathematical learning tasks, often involving project-based or problems linked to the current topic.  These real contexts help children to apply their mathematical skills whilst developing their problem-solving and reasoning skills.  We encourage children to select their own resources when solving problems.

At Coldean, we place high importance on mathematical talk. As a result, lessons include regular opportunities for the children to discuss their understanding and explain their thinking, both with the adults and their peers. Accurate use of vocabulary and terminology features prominently in our lessons, with teachers both modelling and expecting it from the children. We believe this will support our children when faced with a range of mathematical problems.

We believe that fluency of number is a key skill to becoming a skilled mathematician. Fluency in maths is about developing number sense and being able to use the most appropriate method for the task at hand and to apply a skill to multiple contexts.

In KS1, timetabled Number Sense lessons teach children how to recall and derive number facts enabling greater fluency when problem solving.

Dedicated number sense lessons continue into KS2 to ensure children have secure knowledge of multiplication facts and can use these to derive others and to support calculations with more complex numbers.

“Number of the Week” displays in KS1 and KS2 corridors reflect the number forming the focus of morning fluency sessions.

Support is offered through a variety of staff intervention, revisiting key representations and using resources to enable children to secure learning before moving on to the next step. Challenges are designed to deepen children’s understanding still further, are intended for all children and are introduced throughout lessons and across units of learning.

A wide range of assessment information collated and tracked by staff and children enables diagnosis of learning gaps, celebrates success and secures excellent progress to be made by all children.

Enhancing the teaching of Mathematics plays an important part of our School Improvement Strategy and as such staff receive regular research-based training to ensure that our children have quality first teaching. Membership of the Sussex Maths Hub, teacher research groups, Every Child Counts and South Coast Teaching Alliance supports this.

 

Impact

By the time they leave Coldean, our children:

  • Have a positive “give-it a go” attitude towards mathematics and resilience to stick with it when learning gets tricky.
  • Are fluent mathematicians, able to manipulate numbers in order to solve problems.
  • Understand a wide range of mathematical representations and can use these to support problem solving.
  • Know addition and subtraction facts for numbers up to 20 and can use these to derive others.
  • Know multiplication facts to 12 x 12 and can use these to derive other multiplication facts and associated division facts.
  • Are able to reason through describing, explaining, convincing, justifying and generalising mathematical ideas.

Training, planning and teaching our Mathematics curriculum should ensure:

  • Highly knowledgeable and skilful teachers able to formatively assess pupils’ learning through analysis of their knowledge of and fluency with number facts, their ability to reason mathematically and to apply their knowledge to solve problems efficiently and accurately.

 

Home learning

Coldean subscribes to White Rose and My Maths an interactive online teaching and homework website that builds pupil engagement and consolidates maths knowledge.

KS1 pupils can also hone their number facts with access to Numbots

KS2 pupils can hone their multiplication facts with access to Times Tables Rockstars

Login details are available from your child's class teacher.

The Mathematics Coordinators are Mrs Fadden, Ms Theobald, Mr Bulmer.  They are always happy to discuss anything mathematical!

We endeavour to provide workshops for parents to support their understanding of how we teach maths, how children learn maths and ways in which they can support their children outside of school.