Progression in Mathematics
Mathematics is one of life’s essential skills; a solid foundation of which is essential in everyday situations as well as the world of work. Our aim is to nurture a desire for knowledge and understanding and equip pupils with the mathematics they need to become numerate, applying skills learnt in other areas of the curriculum. We believe in making learning fun and use lots of practical resources and strategies in mathematics lessons.
The White Rose Curriculum for Mathematics
Our Curriculum Intent for Mathematics
At Thurnham Glasson C of E Primary School, we firmly believe that every child is a mathematician, and through supportive, engaging and creative teaching, we strive to help children realise this quality in themselves. We foster a love of ‘thinking mathematically’, which enables pupils to reason, solve problems and assess risk in a range of contexts. The basic skills of mathematics are vital for the life opportunities of our children and we want every child to achieve excellence in mathematics.
Mathematics is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment. 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.
Mathematics is an interconnected subject in which pupils need to be able to move fluently between representations of mathematical ideas. The programmes of study are, by necessity, organised into apparently distinct domains, but pupils should make rich connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence in solving increasingly sophisticated problems. They should also apply their mathematical knowledge to science and other subjects.
The expectation is that the majority of pupils will move through the programmes of study at broadly the same pace. We take time to deliver new concepts to the children, ensuring that they master the necessary areas before moving on to new content; this ensures deeper learning. However, decisions about when to progress should always be based on the security of pupils’ understanding and their readiness to progress to the next stage. 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. Pupils constantly revisit and build upon prior learning so that they can recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately. We recognise that the quality and variety of language that pupils hear are key factors in developing their mathematical vocabulary. Pupils are encouraged to follow lines of enquiry, make links and justify their ideas. We create classroom environments where pupils feel safe to have a go and make mistakes.
Developing this resilience enables them to reason and problem solve with increased confidence.
Mathematics at Thurnham Glasson C of E Primary School is about equipping every one of our children with the skills they need to solve problems in their everyday lives, both now, and in the future.
Teaching and Learning of Mathematics (Implementation)
At Thurnham Glasson C of E Primary School, children study mathematics daily covering a broad and balanced mathematical curriculum (following the national curriculum) including elements of number, calculation, geometry, measures and statistics. We focus not only on the mathematical methods but also focus on mathematical vocabulary and to use Maths Mastery to broaden and deepen mathematical understanding. We believe that our Mathematics curriculum needs to ensure that all children know and remember more. Our curriculum is based on mastery principles using the White Rose scheme where pupils acquire a deep, long term, secure and flexible understanding of mathematics. Our long term plan is based on a blocked curriculum to ensure children develop a strong understanding of the mathematics that has been taught so that they are able to move on to more advanced material.
White Rose resources are supplemented with the spine documents from the NCETM, NRICH and the ‘I see Reasoning’ resources written by Gareth Metcalfe. We also encourage the use of practical activities, games and use of ICT, using resources from Mathletics to continue to inspire a love of mathematics. We encourage the use of the concrete, pictorial and visual approach and develop a knowledge of mathematical concepts as well as emphasise mental calculation and the use of correct mathematical vocabulary including Stem Sentences. We believe that applying mathematical knowledge is vital and as well as a daily mathematics lesson, children are encouraged to develop their mathematical reasoning in all activities in order to encourage connections within and between subjects.
Our Mathematics teaching starts in Early Years where foundations for numbers and mathematical concepts begin to be built. We aim to ensure that all children develop firm mathematical foundations in a way that is engaging, and appropriate for their age and teaching focuses on learning 6 main areas: Cardinality and Counting; Comparison; Composition; Pattern; Shape and Space; and Measures.
