INTENT

Mathematics is an important, creative discipline that helps us to understand and change the world. We want all of our pupils at St Anselm’s to experience the beauty, power and enjoyment of mathematics and develop a sense of curiosity about the subject with a clear understanding.

At St Anselm’s, we foster a growth mindset and positive attitude towards maths. We believe all children can achieve in maths, and teach for secure and deep understanding of mathematical concepts through manageable steps. We use, and celebrate, mistakes and misconceptions as an essential part of learning and provide challenge through rich and sophisticated problems. At our school, the majority of children will be taught the content from their year group only. They will spend time becoming true masters of content, applying and being creative with new knowledge in multiple ways.

We aim for all pupils to:

• become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics so that they develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.
• be able to solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of problems with increasing sophistication, including in unfamiliar contexts and to model real-life scenarios
• reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry and develop and present a justification, argument or proof using mathematical language.
• have an appreciation of number and number operations, which enables mental calculations and written procedures to be performed efficiently, fluently and accurately to be successful in mathematics.

IMPLEMENTATION

Our Maths curriculum provides breadth and balance, is relevant and engaging and is differentiated to match the needs and abilities of all our children to ensure that all pupils are able to excel. As a school, we believe in the importance of following the concrete-pictorial-abstract (CPA) approach as a means to developing a solid understanding of mathematical concepts which can be applied in a variety of contexts through reasoning and problem-solving challenges. Children receive a minimum of 5 hours of maths learning each week, with some receiving additional time devoted to number proficiency and times tables.

From Year R to Year 6, children follow the scheme of ‘White Rose Maths’ which supports children in learning the fundamentals behind the meanings of numbers and exploring other key mathematical areas. We also follow our calculation policy which outlines the progression of strategies and methods to be taught and an accompanying vocabulary progression document. Our long-term and medium-term plans are in line with the White Rose Maths small steps.

White Rose use ‘small steps’ to break down the teaching sequence into small achievable steps. Where children require additional support, scaffolds are used to support children further to ensure that they have secured the small step before moving on. These scaffolds may be in the form of returning to concrete resources or pictorial representations. For children who understand a concept quicker, challenges are used to deepen and challenge learners further within the curriculum area. Progression documents such as our knowledge and skills progression and calculation policy are carefully used to ensure that children are not being stretched outside their year group but rather deepened within it.

Within daily teaching, the majority of children’s learning will include:

• recall/repetition/retrieval practice of key number skills e.g. number bonds, times tables, counting forwards/backwards in 10s, 100s, 1000s etc.
• direct teacher input on new learning
• opportunity for practice and discussion
• split inputs (this allows some children to start working before others, depending on their level of confidence and proficiency of skill)
• fluency, problem solving and reasoning

Assessment

Daily assessment is incorporated throughout the lesson through live and verbal feedback. Where children require additional support, ‘Closing the Gaps’ are used to support children ensuring that they are ready for the next ‘small step’. Termly assessments are used as a diagnostic tool to ensure that teachers are adapting learning to meet the needs of all children and ensure that any necessary interventions are targeted specifically to meet the needs of children.

Times Tables

Times tables play an important part in our maths learning, with children developing their fluency in rapid recall of tables up to 12 x 12 by the end of year 4. While the rapid recall of times tables are being developed, children are also learning how to apply and manipulate their understanding of this to reason and solve problems. Children from Y1 – Y6 have the opportunity to consolidate and apply their times tables knowledge through Times Tables Rockstars, both through the app as intervention work or homework, and on paper through discrete class sessions.

Arithmetic

Once the majority of the key number skills for the year have been covered, children in Year 1 – Year 6 begin weekly (4-6) or fortnightly (1-3) arithmetic tests to ensure spaced retrieval of these skills, and to identify any gaps that need to be addressed. These may be used to inform further intervention and lesson planning.

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
• independently applying the concept to new problems in unfamiliar situations
• demonstrating quick recall of facts and procedures (including the recollection of the times tables)
• showing the flexibility and fluidity to move between different contexts and representations of mathematics
• recognising relationships and making connections
• showing confidence and believing that they will achieve
• showing a high level of pride in the presentation and understanding of the work

At St. Anselm’s we expect that by the end of Y6 our children:

• become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics
• reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations
• solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication