Intent

At Chiseldon Primary School, we strive to teach mathematics in a creative yet meaningful way in order to prepare our children for their future. Mathematics teaches us how to make sense of the world around us which is why we intend to deliver a high-quality maths curriculum that is both enjoyable and challenging. This supports our children to make rich connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency, reasoning and competence in solving increasingly sophisticated problems. Through their growing knowledge and understanding, children learn to appreciate relationships and patterns in both number and space in their everyday lives. 

The teaching of mathematics at Chiseldon Primary School is underpinned by the belief that all children have a deep understanding of the objectives they are learning. This mastery approach allows us to spend more time focusing on key concepts which will become rooted in the children's long term memory. Building on children's prior learning is essential whether it be year on year, term on term or week by week, which is why revisiting and reviewing children's learning is at the forefront of our practice. 

When planning, it is our intention to create opportunities for our pupils to be able to apply their mathematical knowledge to other subjects in the curriculum in order to make links across various topics. This aids our children to become inquisitive learners about the world around them whilst embedding their mathematical skills.  

Implementation

Our implementation is developed through secure understanding of the curriculum and subject area. Our long term planning follows the National Curriculum 2014 subsequently creating a curriculum map for each year group to follow. Short term planning is supported by the use of the White Rose Maths Hub, Oak Academy and our school calculation policy. By using a variety of planning resources, which build on children’s prior learning, we believe that we provide a bespoke teaching and learning experience that is designed to interest, inform and inspire our children to make good progress.

When planning, teachers ensure that they follow our learning structure made of up of a 6 day programme:

• Day 1: Teach do (practical/interactive/whiteboards/repetition)
• Day 2-4: Consolidation – fluency of skills
• Day 5-6: Variation, problem solving and reasoning

Each lesson begins with a reasoning starter to encourage pupil discussion and engagement. Differentiation is used to support all learners in the classroom so that they can master the objective they are working on. By providing differentiated learning tasks, children feel empowered to select the most appropriate opportunity for them, alongside guidance from the class teacher.

Maths assessments link to the school's assessment policy with regular assessments being carried out throughout the academic year, as well as short end of block/term assessments to monitor understanding and progress.  Live marking is used throughout daily lessons as the class teacher moves around the classroom; this provides instant feedback to the children and can help to identify misconceptions as well as moving learning on.

To develop the children’s calculation skills, each class displays a working wall which focuses on one of the four operations each term. Corresponding with the school’s calculation policy, each display has a range of methods for the children to practise in order to find one they feel confident with. Maths Working Walls allow children to see written methods for calculations, whilst absorbing the mathematical language used in a particular area of the subject. They are interactive and include differentiated challenges for children so that learning is extended for children of all abilities. This is a great way for children to embed calculation skills on a regular basis, to use as a form of revision during lessons and to work collaboratively with peers to assess each other.

Impact

A mathematical concept or skill has been mastered when a child can show it in multiple ways, using the mathematical language to explain their ideas, and can independently apply the concept to new problems in unfamiliar situations. Children's books, pupil discussion and assessment opportunities will evidence the children's progress. They will feel equipped and confident to undertake key milestones in their school life (such as KS1/KS2 statutory assessments) as well as demonstrating a sense of pride and enjoyment towards their mathematical understanding. 

We have introduced Times Tables Rock Stars which is an online programme for times tables practice. Each child will receive a login and password which will mean they can access the game from home to improve their speed of recall and, should they wish, to compete against their class and/or children around the world. Your class teacher will be able to answer any further questions or any problems with logging in and passwords. 

Times Table Rock Stars can be easily accessed with internet browsers or alternatively with phones and tablets using the Times Tables Rock Star app. 

Our maths working walls...

To develop the children's calculation skills, each class displays a maths working wall which focuses on one of the four operations each term. Each display has a range of methods which children can practise in order for them to choose the method they are most comfortable with. No child is restricted as they can progress to using whichever method they like. The children use these twice a week during the mental oral starter and they display their methods on post-its once they have checked there answer using the inverse, a calculator or peer assessment. This is a great way to embed calculation methods as the children are regularly practising them no matter what they are learning during the lesson.