Intent

At Newdigate Primary and Nursery School, we aim to offer pupils a rich and enjoyable experience in mathematics by providing the knowledge, skills, concepts and processes that are appropriate to each individual and that relate to the world around them. Mathematics is essential to daily life and through our maths curriculum, we provide a foundation for understanding the world and promote an enjoyment of the subject.

We intend on delivering a curriculum which:

• allows children to enjoy creative and engaging lessons that include a range of opportunities to explore mathematics
• engages ALL children and enables ALL children to achieve their potential
• enables children to make connections across mathematics to develop fluency, problem solving and reasoning
• enables children to talk about mathematics and reason using mathematical vocabulary
• promotes a growth mindset approach to the teaching and learning of mathematics, where children can develop confidence, resilience and perseverance when faced with mathematical challenges
• provides opportunities for children to make mathematic links within other subjects
• is in line with the National Curriculum (2014) expectations

Implementation

• In school, we follow the National Curriculum (2014) and follow the ABBC progression map to support the effective progression of skills and knowledge across school.
• Mathematics teaching in Reception takes place daily in a fully integrated EYFS curriculum. In Nursery, we introduce practical concepts of maths that continues through to Reception to ensure good progress in basic number skills and prepare children well for Key Stage 1.
• In Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, there are normally five dedicated maths lessons per week. In additional to this, each day there is a shorter Big Maths session which is dedicated to developing number fluency - including number bonds and times tables facts.
• The calculation policy is used across school to ensure a consistent approach to teaching as the children progress through school.
• Practical resources are readily available in each classroom allowing children to deepen their understanding of mathematical concepts through visual representations.
• Children are taught through clear modelling, and are encouraged to explore and demonstrate mathematical concepts using concrete, pictorial and abstract representations.
• For each topic, children are taught and modelled the relevant vocabulary and sentence stems to enable them to talk about their learning and to reason mathematically.
• Reasoning and problem-solving activities are integral to the children’s learning in order to develop their mathematical thinking.
• Content is taught in short blocks that provide a spiral curriculum, which allows children to revisit topics within a short time span.  This supports children to build their confidence with mathematical skills and embeds learning.

National Curriculum

The national curriculum for mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils:

• become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately
• reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language
• can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions

Multiplication Tables Check

From the 2019/20 academic year onwards, schools in England will be required to administer the online multiplication tables check (MTC) to year 4 pupils. The purpose of the MTC is to determine whether pupils can recall their times tables fluently, which is essential for future success in mathematics. It will help schools to identify pupils who have not yet mastered their times tables, so that additional support can be provided.

To support the children with their multiplication practice we use ‘MathsShed’ which we promote children to also access at home.  Each child has their own login, which can be found in their reading diary, and are allocated targeted assignments to enable them to progress at their own pace.