Intent
At Asquith Primary School, we believe mathematics is an important part of children’s development throughout school, right from an early age. In line with our curriculum drivers, values and ethos, we intend on delivering a curriculum which:
Implementation
As a school, we are developing our teaching into a mastery approach using CPA to build understanding. The curriculum is designed to develop children's knowledge and understanding of mathematical concepts through a small step approach from the Early Years through to the end of Y6.
Teaching and Learning, Content and Sequence
· In school, we follow the national curriculum and use White Rose Schemes of Work, supplemented with a subscription to White Rose Premium resources and White Rose CPD videos to support teachers with their planning and assessment.
· The calculation policy is used within school to ensure a consistent approach to teaching the four operations over time.
· All lessons start with a ‘pre-load’ activity that reviews prior learning that will be applicable to that topic/lesson. This is then followed by a ‘discover task’ which provides a visual stimulus, usually a real world problem, for the children to ‘notice’ maths.
· At the start of each new topic, key vocabulary is introduced and revisited regularly to develop language acquisition, embedding as the topic progresses. The use of STEM sentences is beginning to develop across the school to aid children with the recall/ skill of reasoning tasks.
· Children are taught through clear modelling and have the opportunity to develop their knowledge and understanding of mathematical concepts. The mastery approach incorporates using objects, pictures, words and numbers to help children explore and demonstrate mathematical ideas, enrich their learning experience and deepen understanding at all levels.
· Use of the part-part whole model is introduced in foundation stage, allowing children to develop their understanding of number sense. This develops into using this model alongside the bar model in KS1/KS2.
· Reasoning and problem solving are integral to the activities children are given to develop their mathematical thinking. The opportunity to reason mathematically is intertwined throughout our curriculum and is a key feature of lessons.
· Concrete resources are readily available to assist demonstration of securing a conceptual understanding of the different skills appropriate for each year group.
· Children are encouraged to explore, apply and evaluate their mathematical approach during investigations to develop a deeper understanding when solving different problems / puzzles.
· Children with additional needs are included in whole class lessons and teachers provide scaffolding and relevant support as necessary. For those children who are working outside of the year group curriculum, learning activities are provided to ensure their progress. TA support may be used to support these children where needed.
· A love of Maths is encouraged through engaging lessons and additional practise they can do at home, such as timestable rockstars/Numbots.
· Timestable Rockstars/ Numbots is used daily in the classroom to develop fluency and fact recall as well as developing number sense in KS1.
Leadership, Assessment and Feedback
· Assessment informs the teaching and learning sequence, and children work on the objectives they are assessed as being at. The use of the feedback sheets allows teachers to look back at previous units, which inform AfL.
· Feedback is given on children’s learning in line with our feedback policy. We recognise that the use of live, verbal feedback is the most effective response, therefore long written comments in Maths books should not be seen.
· In order to support teacher judgments, children are assessed using current and reliable tests in line with the national curriculum for maths.
· Summative assessments are decided in planning teams to ensure consistency across the year groups. These results are used as part of teacher assessment.
· The maths leader has a clear role and overall responsibility for the progress of all children in maths throughout school. Regular monitoring is undertaken to ensure the implementation of the mathematics curriculum is consistent across school, with support given where necessary.
· Asquith has been part of a NCETM maths hub work group for developing the mastery approach in school (2023-24 academic year).
Impact
Curriculum Documents
Calculation Policies
These documents have not been published by Asquith Primary School. Full credit is given to White Rose Maths for the publication of the calculation policies used at Asquith. Our thanks is also given to White Rose Maths for giving permission for us to use these policies and upload them to the website. No White Rose Maths logos have been removed.