Maths
At Weston Favell, inspiring children to learn is at the heart of what we do so progress in maths is both achievable and engaging for children and teachers. We support our children to develop the skills they need to tackle problems through questioning, deep thinking and all children’s contributions and suggestions are valued. Mistakes are seen as useful and help us to learn. Being stuck is seen as honourable, with children learning from shared discussion with the teacher, other adults and peers. We encourage the children to believe in themselves and to challenge themselves to reach their potential.
Weston Favell CE Primary School follows the National Curriculum programs of study for the teaching of mathematics and aims to excel in its three core areas:
- Fluency
- Reasoning
- Problem solving
Fluency is when the children are secure with the fundamental workings of the number system, so that they are able to flexibly and efficiently apply their number skills to other areas of maths. Being fluent with the number system is important as this feeds into all number based work and wider problem solving activities that children will face throughout their maths education and beyond.
Reasoning is when the children are able to make generalised statements about the mathematical knowledge they are working on. They are able to make suggestions as to why a problem may be correct or incorrect, as well as being able to prove it by making a generalisation – a rule that is true for all cases. Whilst reasoning, the children are taught to design or pursue a line of enquiry by applying their new knowledge with their prior learning. This supports an explicit understanding of relationships and connections within the mathematics curriculum.
Problem solving is something the children will be exposed to when they are able to fluently use their knowledge and reason with it appropriately. They can then use these skills and apply them to a wide range of everyday problems; they will be able to break problems down into smaller steps to solve them.
Throughout Weston Favell CE Primary School, children will be exposed to fluency, reasoning and problem solving within their maths lessons at an appropriate level for their age.
In Reception and Pre-school, children are given a strong grounding in number so that they can count confidently, have a deep understanding of numbers to 10 and the relationships and patterns within these. We provide frequent and varied opportunities to build and apply this understanding, starting with concrete resources which can be manipulated by children, before moving onto pictorial and abstract representations.
Children are informally assessed throughout their time in Early Years to ensure they meet the age expected level. At the end of the Reception year, children are assessed against the Early Learning Goals for Number and Numerical patterns and this is reported to parents.
Our staff from Years 1 – 6 plan using the National Curriculum to sequence and pitch lessons at an appropriate level. High quality resources (eg: White Rose Maths Hub) are used to support and supplement teacher planning. Children learn, practise and aim to master skills, to gain a greater depth of key concepts in mathematics. At Weston Favell CE Primary School, we follow a CPA (concrete – pictorial – abstract) approach to ensure effective teaching and learning of maths in order for them to build mental models which they can continue to build on. The CPA approach is used throughout school, across all concepts and children are encouraged to work flexibly through it.
Developing key skills in maths is the foundation to our curriculum so that our children can apply them to real life situations. The children are given a range of practical based activities and open-ended challenges that equip them with the necessary skills in mathematics for them to succeed in the future.
Intention
Children receive a consistently high standard of maths teaching throughout school to allow them to become confident and enthusiastic mathematicians. Throughout their time at school, they will become fluent in their number facts and arithmetic skills, building a strong foundation to support them in manipulating numbers, noticing patterns and reasoning mathematically.
Implementation
High standards of mathematical teaching are ensured through regular professional development opportunities and support given for planning and resources. Teachers have access to modelled lessons and use high quality resources to inform their lesson plans - White Rose. Children access 5 lessons a week which include breaking learning down into small steps to ensure lessons are accessible for all. In addition to regular fluency lessons, Times Tables Rockstars and NumBots help to support and monitor children’s knowledge and understanding of key skills.
Impact
When talking to children in school, they show positive attitudes towards maths and can articulate their learning. Teachers are confident in using high quality resources and feel their medium-term plans are informative and supportive. Learning walks have shown a consistent use of concrete and pictorial resources and methods are being used throughout school to support the accessibility of maths lessons. Lessons being taught are of a high standard with opportunities for challenge for all.
How you can help your child at home:
Please see the calculation guide for each year group, which will help parents to support their children with maths at home. It shows a range of methods used to solve calculations in each year group.
Please find below some videos which will help you to support your child with their maths learning:
Information on maths across school - fluency, reasoning and problem solving/CPA:
https://www.loom.com/share/e234858058fe4944a1eca87c89da3bb9
How to use Numbots. (This is primarily aimed at KS1, however, EYFS may use this and some children in lower KS2 may still need to practise using this.)
https://www.loom.com/share/df79fa1abfe647db903d5bd71c7fef37
Manipulatives and online resources for maths - using maths bot: