Maths

We all need maths

Focus

Our focus in mathematics teaching at Saltford Primary School is to encourage our children to be confident and enthusiastic mathematicians, making sense of the world around them through the development of their ability to reason, calculate and solve problems, building on skills learned in previous years.

Our long-term aim is to produce an ambitious, engaging, connected curriculum accessible to all pupils in the Futura Learning Partnership. Pupils will make rich connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence in solving increasingly sophisticated problems.The intent of our mathematics curriculum is to design a curriculum, which is accessible to all and will maximise the development of every child’s ability and academic achievement and preparation for their journey into the wider world. We aim to deliver lessons that are creative and engaging. We intend for our pupils to be able to apply their mathematical knowledge across the curriculum. Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly should be challenged through being offered rich and sophisticated problems before any acceleration through new content.

We have been working in teams across the Futura Learning Partnership to create a shared curriculum for all schools to use across a range of subjects. The document for Maths can be found within this booklet here.

Aims

The aims for our maths curriculum are:

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

For our youngest learners, we follow the Department for Education’s Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework which can be viewed here. This is implemented through our own sequenced curriculum, based on the EYFS White Rose Scheme that can be found here and the NCETM Mastering Number program.

Please see the EYFS class pages for a presentation about Early Maths development

In Key Stages 1 and 2 we follow the statutory programme of study for mathematics. Information on year-by-year objectives can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/335158/PRIMARY_national_curriculum_-_Mathematics_220714.pdf

The children have a daily mathematics lesson with a strong emphasis on arithmetic, mental maths skills and problem solving. Children learn about a wide range of mathematical subjects, such as number, shape, data handling and measures. During these lessons children may work as a whole class, in groups or individually as appropriate. A wide range of resources is used. Maths is often of a practical nature, with more formal written methods being taught at Key Stage 2. With the help of parents the children are encouraged to learn number bonds and multiplication tables. All children follow the White Rose scheme of work, which builds understanding year on year. The programmes followed can be seen in the attached documents, showing curriculum coverage for Autumn, Spring and Summer terms:

Doodle Maths:

We are using DoodleMaths, the award-winning homework programme. All children new to the system should have brought home from school a letter containing their class code. Please follow the instructions on the letter to access Doodle Maths. If you do not have the class code letter, please contact your child’s teacher or the school office.

DoodleMaths:

Has been proven to help children make big improvements in both their ability and confidence in maths – using for 10 minutes a day has helped children make 3 month’s progress in just 1 month.
Learns what your child’s strengths are, and what they need to work on, then builds a programme just for them.
Is fun and engaging!
10 minutes a day, 4-5 times per week will keep your child in their green zone and will build their confidence in maths.

It’s easy for you to be involved at home by using the Parent Connect app and the Parent Dashboard to track their progress. Please see a copy of the letter sent out to explain about Doodle Maths here.

In KS2 we have access to a site called “Times Table Rockstars” where children are able to take part in a variety of challenges. They will have been given a log in at school. You can access the site at: https://ttrockstars.com/home

Inspire Maths Session:

On 21st and 22nd January, Mr Godwin held sessions looking at the use of Doodle Maths in the school, the Y4 multiplication tables check, and the way in which maths is taught at Saltford. To see a copy of this presentation, please click here.

TT Rockstars and Numbots

We use Times Table Rockstars, a whole-school times table challenge, to encourage children to learn their multiplication facts by heart. For our younger children, we also subscribe to Numbots to promote early arithmetic skills.

Children complete fun and exciting games/activities according to their ability. Once they have improved their time taken to answer the questions their Rock Star Avatar changes. Can you aim to become a Rock legend? Further to this, the more frequently they play, then the more points they gain to spend on their Avatar.

Information for parents on written calculations

Please see the following PDF document for further information:

Progression in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division

Maths games websites

Please click here for information about calculation methods and targets for each year group:

www.mathszone.co.uk/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/primary

We recently held a maths evening for parents where we looked at different methods of calculation. The aim was to boost parents’ confidence in helping their children with maths by demonstrating and trying out some of the written methods we use in class and by doing some games to help with understanding. If you would like to see more, please see the handout here.

Multiplication Tables check

There will be a new test for Year 4 children call the “Multiplication Tables Check”. Information on this check can be located on the letter sent to all Year 4 parents. Further information for parents is also available here.