Mathematics at Copmanthorpe
Intent
At Copmanthorpe Primary School we value research based practice and we are constantly improving our teaching and learning in Maths. We partake in the National Centre of Excellence in Teaching Maths (NCETM) Teacher Research Groups to ensure our teaching of maths provides a deep level of challenge to all pupils and that excellence in teacher subject knowledge is at the heart of our high quality maths teaching.
Mathematics is an interconnected subject in which pupils need to be able to move fluently between representations of mathematical ideas. The units 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. It 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, and to foster a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.
In Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 alongside our usual daily Maths sessions we also deliver the NCTEM's programme called 'Mastering Number'. This project aims to secure firm foundations in the development of good number sense for all children. The aim over time is that children will leave KS1 with fluency in calculation and a confidence and flexibility with number. Attention is given to key knowledge and understanding needed in Reception classes, and progression through KS1 to support success in the future.
Our Curriculum Aims:
● To ensure our children have access to a high quality maths curriculum that is both challenging and enjoyable, helping them to develop a positive and enthusiastic attitude towards maths.
● To embed basic skills and develop fluency of facts, concepts and procedures, through regular and varied practice.
● To develop and deepen understanding with, 'through-out for all, not just at the end for some' reasoning and problem solving activities.
● To ensure children are confident and resilient mathematicians who are not afraid to take risks.
● To fully develop independent learners with inquisitive minds who have secure mathematical foundations and an interest in self-improvement.
● To put children at the centre of their own learning, placing emphasis on nurturing skills and learning behaviours such as resourcefulness, resilience, reciprocity and reflectiveness.
Implementation
Please view our Knowledge Progression in Maths HERE
Maths on one page document HERE
The National Curriculum (2014) sets out expectations for each year group in Key Stage 1 and 2. We make use of the NCETM Curriculum Prioritisation progression and long term plans. This resource provides coherent sequencing for the primary maths curriculum. It draws together the DfE guidance on curriculum prioritisation, with the high quality professional development and classroom resources provided by the NCETM Primary Mastery PD materials. We have used these materials to create and adapt our own calculation policy. As this is a new approach for 22-23, one year group is still working with our previous scheme of learning (White Rose Maths) to ensure their KS2 coverage is not impacted; their maths teaching still follows our mastery teaching approach, building mathematicians skilled in articulating their own understanding.
Teaching across the school develops children’s mathematical ability through the stages of concrete, to pictorial and finally to abstract to ensure a deep-rooted understanding with a revisit to different stages if needed when increasing the complexity of learning. This allows pupils to have many and varied opportunities to handle concrete objects and view them in many ways to ensure they fully understand the mathematical concept being taught. Within this context, children are taught in mixed ability pairs ensuring there is no limit to their potential in achieving high outcomes whatever their starting point.
High expectations and excellent subject knowledge ensure that all children are challenged. Teachers are committed to ensure that learning is embedded into long term memory and use daily UFOs, review activities and continually make links between their prior learning. Teachers are also experts at asking the right question to challenge the pupils’ mathematical thinking and facilitate high quality discussion.
We chose to follow the NCETM Curriculum Prioritisation Materials because they offered all of this:
Whole School Curriculum Prioritisation Long Term Plan and Overview Years 1 - 6
Whole school
8.50-9.10 UFOs Useful Four Operations - this is a Maths fluency teaching session focused on basic skills and arithmetic. In all maths sessions we aim to seat children in mixed ability pairs.
Early Years
NCETM Mastering of Number is taught on a daily basis in our EYFS with extension and opportunities to apply the Early Years Maths curriculum in all their areas of provision.
Key Stage 1
In KS1 there is a daily maths lesson of around 45mins, with an additional 15 minute session of Mastering Number around this session.
Key Stage 2
In KS2, we have daily maths lessons of around 60minutes in mixed ability pairs.
Keep up not catch up
As we use whiteboards to record lots of our learning, so live feedback and teachers' formative daily assessment is used to address any misconceptions or to further challenge a group of children within the sessions. Pre-teaching is used in some groups to support pupils requiring further adult intervention.
