Maths

Robert Piggott Subject Overview:  Maths

Mathematics teaches children how to make sense of the world around us through developing a child’s ability to calculate, to reason and to solve problems. It enables children to understand and appreciate relationships and pattern in both number and space in their everyday lives. Through their growing knowledge and understanding, children learn to appreciate the contribution made by many people to the development and application of mathematics.  

Curriculum Intent:

To promote enjoyment and enthusiasm for learning through practical activity, exploration and discussion.

To develop logical thinking and reasoning skills through a natural curiosity and investigative approach.

To promote confidence and competence.

To develop a growth mindset culture where children can use their mistakes to develop their learning.

To develop a thorough knowledge and understanding of numbers and the number system.

To develop the ability to solve problems through decision-making and reasoning in a range of contexts.

To develop a practical understanding of the ways in which information is gathered and presented.

To explore features of shape and space and develop measuring skills in a range of contexts.

To understand the importance of mathematical skills in everyday life. 

To develop pupils’ numeracy and mathematical fluency, reasoning and problem solving in all subjects so that they understand and appreciate the importance of mathematics. 

To teach children to apply their mathematics to both routine and non-routine problems, including breaking down more complex problems into a series of simpler steps.

To be fluent mentally at basic 4 operation number sentences.

Implementation

Our pedological approach to teaching this subject in the Robert Piggott CE Schools:

EYFS

The children are introduced to Mathematics through child-initiated play opportunities and though adult led whole class and one to one teaching. These include counting, number songs, rhymes, games, cooking activities and IT. Investigative tasks are set and explored in a variety of cross curricular ways. The children are introduced to a maths mastery pedagogy through practical activities which deepen their understanding of number.

KS1 and KS2 

The schools use a variety of teaching and learning styles in mathematics through a daily lesson that has a high proportion of whole class and group-direct teaching through a mastery approach, predominantly using the White Rose scheme. During these lessons we encourage children to ask as well as answer mathematical questions. The conversation that happens within classrooms is a 2-way conversation, promoting mathematical thinking. Children can use a wide range of resources such as; base 10, place value counters, number lines, number squares, digit cards and small apparatus such as Numicon to support their work. Children and teachers use IT in mathematics lessons where it will enhance their learning, and to assist with modelling ideas and methods. Wherever possible we encourage the children to use and apply their learning in everyday situations.

Impact

Pupils talk enthusiastically about their maths and this is evident in the conversations they have with teachers and with each other. The immediate impact of a Robert Piggott Maths lesson will be apparent within the lesson. The opportunities for discussion, engagement in talk and questioning allow teachers to quickly ascertain the pupils’ level of understanding and provide further guidance, as necessary. Much of the pupils’ work is marked “live” giving pupils instant feedback on their efforts to further their learning.

Where necessary and possible, intervention is provided as quickly as possible to help maintain the intention that the whole class is working together.

The progress that pupils make over time is clear evidence of the impact of the teaching and learning.  To measure this progress, teachers integrate a combination of formative assessment (gathered during discussions, questioning, resourced activities, paired and independent tasks) and summative assessment carried out at the end of each block.

Pupils at Robert Piggott also participate in the external assessments of SATs during Year 2 and Year 6 as well as the Multiplication Tables check at Year 4.  Although our intent is to enable learners to develop deeper mathematical understanding (rather than just meeting the requirements of tests), these assessments are an important measure of the impact of the teaching and learning. Pupils in the relevant year groups also undertake practice tests in the build-up to the external tests which provide additional evidence for the teacher’s judgement. In some cases, it may be identified that because of a pupil’s additional needs, they will not be entered for the external tests. This would be agreed with parents.