Lowton West Primary SchoolMaths
MATHS STATEMENT
Aiming High Together
Intent
At Lowton West Primary School we value a Maths curriculum that is creative and engaging. Our children need to develop the necessary skills to make them ‘deep thinkers’, acquiring mathematics skills that can be recalled quickly and transferred and applied in different contexts. They need to be able to make rich connections across the areas of mathematics and use their knowledge in other subjects, in a range of different contexts. Maths is the foundation for understanding the wider world and we want our children to know the purpose behind their learning and to apply their knowledge to their everyday lives. At Lowton West, we want pupils to:
- Become fluent in the fundamentals of Mathematics
- Reason mathematically
- Solve problems by applying their Mathematics
Implementation
The Mathematics curriculum is delivered through the White Rose Maths Scheme of Work in order to ensure that our children have full coverage of the Maths National Curriculum. This allows children to revisit topics several times over the year, allowing their knowledge to embed. Emphasis is also placed throughout the week on the development of arithmetic, through regular access to Key Skills sheets and other skill based tasked with the focus on their ability to recall and apply their knowledge rapidly and accurately. Times table knowledge and fast, accurate recall is also vital, therefore children are encouraged to practise through TT Rockstars with weekly times table battles across Key Stage Two celebrated in our weekly Achievement Assembly.
As well as developing fluency, teachers use White Rose Maths and I See Maths Reasoning materials to develop reasoning, investigative skills and problem solving. Emphasis is placed upon creating fluent and efficient mathematicians, incorporating a range of concrete apparatus and resources into everyday maths. Mathematical vocabulary is an essential part of the Maths curriculum. Children need to be able to understand this within the mathematical area they are studying and make rich connections across the other areas within this subject. Children are provided with the opportunity to reason through their ideas integrating the language of reasoning – with links to Describe, Explain, Convince, Justify and Prove.
Teachers reinforce an expectation that all children are capable of achieving high standards in Mathematics. The large majority of children progress through the curriculum content at the same pace. Differentiation is therefore achieved by emphasising deep knowledge and through individual support and intervention.
Practice and consolidation play a central role. Carefully designed variation within this builds fluency and understanding of underlying mathematical concepts.
Teachers use precise questioning in class to test conceptual and procedural knowledge and assess children regularly to identify those requiring intervention, so that all children make progress.
Impact
The school has a supportive ethos and our approaches support the children in developing their collaborative and independent skills. As a result, we have a community of enthusiastic mathematicians and problem solvers who enjoy showcasing their developing Mathematics skills. They love to discuss and share their ideas.