All learners have the capability to develop a foundation for understanding the world, with an ability to reason mathematically, appreciate the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.
~ National Curriculum, 2014
At Hethersett Woodside, we believe that children should leave primary education as confident, resilient mathematicians with a deep conceptual understanding of the skills required to approach any maths problem. All stakeholders are invested in enabling our children to see themselves as mathematicians with a positive attitude towards the learning of mathematics and an enjoyment of the challenge it can pose. We want all children to aspire to be complete mathematicians who not only learn to solve problems but also value the journey to the answer and are fluent and confident in their reasoning. Our mission is to enable all learners to enjoy and succeed in mathematics.
We understand that maths is a lifelong skill and discipline that children will continue to need to use throughout their school lives and beyond. Therefore, we want learners to think about maths beyond what is tested in national examinations and to be equipped with an understanding of mathematics that will be relevant and useful in their future studies and in the world of work.
The Aims of our Mathematics ‘Curriculum for Depth’
- To make the teaching and learning of Mathematics an enjoyable and satisfying experience which inspires confidence in the subject.
- To develop a Growth Mindset and positive attitudes towards Mathematics.
- To become confident and proficient with number, including fluency with mental calculations and look for connections between numbers.
- To become problem solvers, who can reason, think logically, work systematically and apply their knowledge of mathematics.
- To develop their use of mathematical language.
- To become independent learners and to work co-operatively with others.
- To appreciate real life contexts to learning mathematics.
- To give children the knowledge and skills to prepare them for what comes next in their lives.
Rationale
Mathematics at Hethersett Woodside Primary School is taught using the aims and expectations from the 2014 National Curriculum. Providing a balanced curriculum, the Programmes of Study is delivered in full by the end of the Key Stages, although the content is taught at an age appropriate for our children. This is enhanced by having identified missing objectives, providing skill objectives for the three aims of the National Curriculum and using the NCETM Ready to Progress Criteria for each year group. We also provide curriculum time to running a Week of Inspirational Maths (YouCubed) and for the discrete teaching of Mulitplication Bonds.
Teaching for Mastery
Taking the NCETM’s 5 big ideas of ‘Teaching for Mastery’, at the heart of our teaching is the use of cohesion: the use of small steps teaching across a unit of work, as well as within each individual lesson. Through providing these steps, our children are able to take and connect their learning, reasoning along the way. We aim to use intelligent practice when planning practice tasks. These integrate the development of fluency with the deepening of conceptual understanding through drawing attention to the mathematical structures and relationships.
Our ‘Teaching for Mastery’ Principles
- It is achievable for all – we have high expectations and encourage a positive ‘can do’ mindset towards mathematics in all pupils, creating learning experiences which develop learner’s resilience in the face of a challenge and carefully scaffolding learning so everyone can make progress.
- Deep and sustainable learning – lessons are designed with careful small steps, questions and tasks in place to ensure the learning is not superficial.
- The ability to build on something that has already been sufficiently mastered – the learning of concepts is seen as a continuum across the school.
- The ability to reason about a concept and make connections – learners are encouraged to make connections and spot patterns between different concepts and use precise mathematical language, which frees up working memory and deepens conceptual understanding.
- Conceptual and procedural fluency – teachers move mathematics from one context to another (using objects, pictorial representations, equations and word problems). There are high expectations for learners to learn times tables, key number facts (so they are automatic) and have a true sense of number. Learners are also encouraged to think whether their method for tackling a given calculation or problem is Appropriate, Reliable and Efficient.
- Problem solving is central – this develops learners’ understanding of why something works so that they truly have an appreciation of what they are doing rather than just learning to repeat routines without grasping what is happening.
- Challenge through greater depth – rather than accelerated content, (moving onto next year’s concepts), teachers set tasks to deepen knowledge and improve reasoning skills within the objectives of their year group.