Maths
Our Vision In Maths
Our vision in Maths is to provide a maths curriculum which enables all children to achieve mastery in the key concepts of mathematics. We ensure that we are providing exciting, meaningful and challenging learning experiences for all of our children. We want our children to ask questions and be inspired, motivated and engage in the joy of discovery.
Statement of intent
Sankey Valley St James CE Primary School recognises that maths is both a key skill within school, and a life skill to be utilised through everyday experiences. A high-quality maths education provides a firm foundation for understanding how maths is used in everyday life and activities, developing pupils’ ability to reason mathematically.
Through the teaching of maths, we aim to develop:
A positive attitude towards maths and an awareness of the relevance of maths in the real world.
A process of enquiry and experiment.
An ability to solve problems and think logically in order to work systematically and accurately.
An ability to work both independently and in cooperation with others.
Competence and confidence in pupils’ maths knowledge, concepts and skills.
An appreciation of the creative aspects of maths and an awareness of its aesthetic appeal.
Early Years Foundation Stage
Activities and experiences for pupils will be based on the seven areas of learning and development, as outlined in the DfE’s ‘Early years foundation stage statutory framework: For group and school-based providers’.
Activities will provide pupils with the opportunity to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems, and describing shapes, spaces and measurements.
Children will be taught how to:
Count confidently.
Develop a deep understanding of the numbers to 10.
Understand the relationship between the numbers to 10 and the patterns within those numbers.
Develop a secure base knowledge and vocabulary from which mastery of mathematics is built.
Develop their spatial reasoning skills across all areas of mathematics including shape, space and measures.
Develop positive attitudes and interests in mathematics.
Look for patterns and relationships.
Spot connections.
Talk to adults and peers about what they notice and not be afraid to make mistakes.
Teaching staff will utilise the early learning goals (ELGs), which summarise the knowledge, skills and understanding that all children should have gained by the end of the EYFS. For the ELG for numbers, children at the expected level of development will:
Have a deep understanding of numbers to 10, including the composition of each number.
Subitise (recognise quantities without counting) up to 5.
Automatically recall (without reference to rhymes, counting or other aids) number bonds up to 5 (including subtraction facts) and some number bonds to 10, including double facts.
For the ELG for numerical patterns, children at the expected level of development will:
Verbally count beyond 20, recognising the pattern of the counting system.
Compare quantities up to 10 in different contexts, recognising when one quantity is greater than, less than or the same as the other quantity.
Explore and represent patterns within numbers up to 10, including evens and odds, double facts and how quantities can be distributed equally.
The national curriculum
The national curriculum for mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils:
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 non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions
Teaching and learning
Pupils will be taught to describe key characteristics and associated processes in common language, as well as understand and use mathematical vocabulary.
Pupils will undertake independent work, and have the opportunity to work in groups and discuss work with fellow classmates.
Lessons will allow for a wide range of mathematical, enquiry-based research activities, including the following:
Questioning, predicting and interpreting
Pattern seeking
Collaborative work
Problem-solving activities
Classifying and grouping
All staff use the White Rose structure of lessons and White Rose schemes of learning. Each year group is split into terms and each term comprises individual blocks. Each block of knowledge is divided into small steps which staff use to deliver daily maths lessons.
The classroom teacher, in collaboration with the subject leader, will ensure that the needs of all pupils are met by:
Setting tasks which can have a variety of responses.
Providing resources of differing complexity, according to the ability of the pupils.
Setting tasks of varying difficulty, depending on the ability group.
Utilising teaching assistants to ensure that pupils are effectively supported.
A Teaching for Mastery approach is taken to the curriculum, in which fluency comes from deep knowledge and practice. This means that structured questioning is used to ensure that pupils develop fluent technical proficiency and think deeply about the underpinning mathematical concepts.
Recording
In Years 1-6, all children use White Rose printed maths workbooks as a method of recording during maths lessons. This allows consistency throughout the school and children are familiar with the format of the workbooks. In addition to the WR printed workbooks, Children have their own maths books with squared paper for additional/extension tasks.
How can I support my child at home?
We welcome parental support to secure key Maths knowledge and skills in our pupils.
Please speak to your child's teacher if you have any questions about Maths at Sankey Valley St James Primary School.
