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Mathematics

A high-quality mathematics education therefore provides a foundation for understanding the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.’

National Curriculum Maths (2014)

Intent

At Eastbury Community School we recognise that Mathematics is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment.

We aim to provide a high-quality mathematics education with a mastery approach so that all children:

Become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.
Reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language
Can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and nonroutine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.

Implementation

The majority of pupils will move through the programmes of study at broadly the same pace.... Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly should be challenged through being offered rich and sophisticated problems before any acceleration through new content. Those who are not sufficiently fluent with earlier material should consolidate their understanding, including through additional practice, before moving on (NC, 2014, p.3).

The ‘Maths - No Problem!' scheme is a researched informed approach to teaching mathematics. A large emphasis of our teaching and curriculum design is centred around ensuring children retain the concepts they have been taught. Eastbury delivers all maths using the CPA (concrete, pictorial and abstract) approach and our Maths No Problem scheme gives us the opportunity to do from EYFS – KS2.

The concrete aspect of the CPA approach is using real life objects or mathematical manipulatives whilst the pictorial stage is represented through a diagram, this is usually based on the concrete materials that the children have used. Manipulatives and representations can be powerful tools for supporting pupils to engage with mathematical ideas.

The concrete and pictorial stages are designed to help the children understand the abstract mathematics.

The abstract stage is the area that most people consider ‘the maths.’ The ultimate aim is for the children to understand the maths abstractly and the concrete and pictorial stages are stepping stones to achieve this goal.

The text book scheme 'Maths - No Problem!' alongside White Rose premium resources are used to support the implementation of our curriculum. Through the use of these we ensure:

Teachers introduce new concepts in a logical sequence.
Concepts are taught through high quality mathematical models and images.
Mathematical models are consistently used through school.
Teachers are supported with their subject knowledge.

The large majority of pupils progress through the curriculum content at the same pace. With this teachers reinforce an expectation that all pupils are capable of achieving high standards in mathematics. Pupils are taught through whole-class teaching, where the focus is on all pupils working together on the same lesson content at the same time.

Teaching is underpinned by a small-steps curriculum design philosophy and supported by carefully crafted lessons and curated resources to foster deep conceptual and procedural knowledge. Differentiation is achieved by emphasising deep knowledge and/or through individual support and intervention. If a pupil fails to grasp a concept or procedure, this is identified within the lesson structure and timely intervention ensures the pupil is best placed to move forward.

Key facts such as multiplication tables and addition facts within 10 are retained through retrieval practice to develop automaticity; this avoids cognitive overload in the working memory and enables pupils to focus on new concepts.

Impact

The impact of our mathematics curriculum is that children understand the relevance and importance of what they are learning in relation to real world concepts.

Children know that maths is a vital life skill that they will rely on in many areas of their daily life. Children have a positive view of maths due to learning in an environment where maths is promoted as being an exciting and enjoyable subject in which they can investigate and ask questions; they know that it is OK to be ‘wrong’ and that this can strengthen their learning because the journey to finding an answer is most important.

Children are confident to ‘have a go’ and choose the equipment they need to help them to learn along with the strategies they think are best suited to each problem. Our children have a good understanding of their strengths and targets for development in maths and what they need to do to improve. Our maths books evidence work of a high standard of which children clearly take pride; the range of activities demonstrate good coverage of fluency, reasoning and problem solving. Our feedback and interventions support children to strive to be the best mathematicians they can be, ensuring a high proportion of children are on track or above.

How is the curriculum sequenced?

A spiral approach to learning is fundamental to the maths mastery approach, with one key difference. The first time you teach a topic, you do it slowly and spend a lot of time exploring all aspects of a concept. Learning is reinforced by using it to reason and problem solve. If a child masters a topic first time around, they have a stronger foundation to work with when they revisit their learning in the future.

A maths mastery approach like the Maths — No Problem provides small steps for us. When the small steps in a lesson or lesson sequence have been constructed for learners based on research and in-class refinement, the process of learning becomes significantly easier.

How are you building on prior knowledge and skills?

As learners are taught new topics, their memory of previous learning can get a little hazy. Cognitive neuroscience reinforces the importance of regularly reviewing previous learning. Practice makes permanent. When we revisit something we’ve already covered, it helps our learners to retrieve the knowledge stored in their memories.

Not only does revisiting topics help to keep learners on their toes, but seeing topics alongside new learning helps children make connections between different areas of maths. The more connections learners create, the more secure their learning will be.

Each time a learner is asked to revisit a topic, they strengthen their memory. And over time, the gap between each time a topic is revisited becomes longer as their memories become stronger.

Following Maths No Problem gives us the opportunity to do this. Topics are taught at similar times across the year and throughout the years, topics are revisited to the appropriate challenge level.

How to access TimesTables RockStar (TTRS)

This video provides a tutorial on guiding your child through the process of logging into TTRS and using the platform effectively. Additionally, it highlights the various play modes and offers insights into why each mode is beneficial.

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Maths Skills Progression

/docs/Progression_of_Skills_Maths_No_Problem.pdf

/docs/National_Curriculum_-_Maths.pdf

Years 5-8 Curriculum Progression Map

/docs/5-8_Maths_Curriculum_Skills_Map_.pdf

Maths Calculation Policy

/docs/calculation-policy-maths-no-problem_.pdf

Useful Links

Key Stage 2 Bitesize Maths - This website is great for helping your child in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 practise Mathematics at home and the pages and games follow the work that we do in school.

Key Stage 1 Bitesize Maths - This website is great for helping your child in Years 1 or 2 practise Mathematics at home and the pages and games follow the work that we do in school.

Maths No Problem - This website will provide more information about how we facilitate Maths in our school.

Maths Chase - This website provides a simple way for children to learn their times tables.