Southville Primary School

Definition

Maths is the study of is the study of numbers and how they are related to each other and to the real world. Everyone uses math every day—to tell time, to play games, to cook, to build things, and to do almost any kind of work.

Intent

Here at Southville Primary School we recognise the value that a high quality mathematics curriculum can offer to our pupils. We aim to develop a love of maths, along with enabling our pupils to confidently solve real life problems and use maths in the real world, helping children to learn today for the world of tomorrow. This is taught to children following The Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework and the principles of the Maths No Problem scheme.

All pupils are entitled to a maths curriculum, enabling them to become competent and independent mathematicians. At Southville we help all children develop the skills and processes necessary to use Maths as part of their everyday lives. We deliver lessons that deepen an understanding of a range of strategies, enabling pupils to be confident problem solvers. We teach skills through context, providing purpose and meaning, making mathematical experiences enjoyable, practical, relevant and realistic. This helps children to develop a positive attitude towards Maths and develop the ability to work independently with confidence in their work.

When teaching mathematics at Southville, we intend to provide a curriculum which caters for the needs of all individuals. We incorporate sustained levels of challenge through varied and high quality activities with a focus on fluency, reasoning and problem solving. Pupils are required to explore maths in depth, using mathematical vocabulary to reason and explain their workings. A wide range of mathematical resources are used and pupils are taught to show their workings in a concrete fashion, before establishing ways of pictorially and formally representing their understanding. They are taught to explain their choice of methods and develop their mathematical reasoning skills. We encourage resilience and acceptance that struggle is often a necessary step in learning. We want pupils to build a deep conceptual understanding of concepts which will enable them to apply their learning in different situations.

As our pupils progress, we intend for them to be able to understand the world, have the ability to reason mathematically, have an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.

Implementation

In the early years, our Maths curriculum is about deepening understanding of concepts – rather than moving on to more complex numbers; for example, teachers ensure that children have a thorough understanding of numbers they already know, by being able to use them in their play to set and solve problems. This is done through carpet sessions, group work and resources and activities set up in the environment.

In Year 1 to Year 6 Maths is taught based on the scheme Maths No Problem, which is a series of textbooks and workbooks written to meet the requirements of the 2014 Maths National Curriculum. The Maths No Problem Primary Series was assessed by the Department for Education’s (DfE’s) expert panel, which judged that it met the core criteria for a high quality textbook to support teaching for mastery. As a result, the Maths No Problem Primary Series are recommended textbooks for schools. The Maths No Problem approach is at the heart of our maths curriculum but adapted to suit our pupils.

Maths is taught through a concrete-pictorial-abstract (CPA) method, which encourages children to use and discover through the use of equipment (concrete – such as cubes or tens and ones blocks), then they progress to representing this in picture form (pictorial) and finally moving on to the concrete stage which uses equations and mathematical symbols(abstract). The CPA approach allows all children to access maths and deepens their understanding of key topics, enabling them to make crucial links between topics and develop their mathematical thinking, ability and confidence.

Maths lessons typically are broken into five parts.

The parts to a lesson are:

1. Anchor Task – the entire class spends time on a question guided by the teacher. The children are encouraged during this time to think of as many ways as possible to solve the question as possible. Their ideas are then shared with the class.

2. Let’s Learn – this focuses on the concept introduced during the in focus task and is the direct teaching time for that concept.

3. Guided Practice – the children practice new ideas guided by the teacher. They have access to any concrete resources they require or choose to use a more pictorial or concrete approach. This practice is usually recorded in maths books.

4. Further Practice – if children are understanding the new ideas, they then complete a further practice activity in their books, it may be the same idea but presented in a different way.

5. Journaling – a reflection part of the lesson where children develop their reasoning and problem-solving skills reflecting on the learning that has taken part. This is an extension and challenge activity for those who are secure with the new ideas.

Where can I find out more about MNP?

More information can be found on the Maths No problem parent videos using this link: https://mathsnoproblem.com/en/parent-videos

Impact