Our Mission, ‘Inspire, Challenge and Support through Faith’

Intent

The 2014 National Curriculum for Maths aims to ensure that all children:

• Become fluent in the fundamentals of Mathematics
• Are able to reason mathematically
• Can solve problems by applying their Mathematics

At Runnymede St. Edward’s Catholic Primary School, these skills are embedded within challenging Maths lessons and developed consistently over time – striving for excellence. We are committed to ensuring that children are able to recognise the importance of Maths in the modern world, becoming resilient in their approach and that they are also able to contextualise their mathematical skills and knowledge. We want all children to respect and love Mathematics and to experience success in the subject, with the ability to reason mathematically. We are committed to developing children’s curiosity about the subject, as well as an appreciation of the beauty and power of Mathematics.

Implementation

Our Maths curriculum provides breadth and balance, is relevant and engaging and is differentiated to match the needs and abilities of all our children to ensure that all pupils are able to excel. As a school, we believe in the importance of following the concrete-pictorial-approach as a means to developing a solid understanding of mathematical concepts which can be applied in a variety of contexts through reasoning and problem-solving challenges.

From Year 1 to Year 6, we adhere to our calculation policy which outlines the progression of strategies and methods to be taught and we have an accompanying vocabulary progression document which we also follow. We follow medium-term plans in line with Power Maths Scheme of Work, but alter the order and depth to suit and benefit the needs of our children so that connections between units of learning are easier to recognise.

Reception plan bespoke lessons according to Development Matters and use NCETM which supports children in learning the fundamentals behind the meanings of numbers and before exploring other key mathematical areas.

Within daily teaching, children will be reminded/taught fact sentences linked to previous/current learning which will constantly be referred to within the lesson. Through the use of basic skills, they will have many opportunities to apply these fact sentences; modelling will support children in developing their ability to reason and explain their answers using them.

Times tables play an important part in our maths learning, with children developing their fluency in rapid recall of tables up to 12 x 12 by the end of year 4. While the rapid recall of times tables are being developed, children are also learning how to apply and manipulate their understanding of this to reason and solve problems. Children from Y2 – Y6 have the opportunity to consolidate and apply their times tables knowledge through the use of TTRockStars.

Maths at Runnymede St. Edward’s Catholic Primary School: 

• Basic Maths skills are taught daily. Focussing on key mathematical skills including place value, the four operations and number.
• A range of reasoning resources are used to challenge all children and give them the opportunity to reason with their understanding.
• Lessons use a Concrete, Pictorial and Abstract approach to guide children through their understanding of mathematical processes. 
• Revise and Review consolidation lessons are used to revisit previous learning and ensure Maths skills are embedded.
• Homework is set to develop and review children's learning. 
• Where possible, links are made with other subjects across the curriculum.

Impact

The impact of our mathematics curriculum is that children understand the relevance and importance of what they are learning in relation to real world concepts. We aspire that a Young Edwardian mathematician will have developed a bank of efficient and accurate skills that can be used to calculate effectively. These will have been underpinned by the C-P-A process so children understand rather than just do, which ultimately will allow children to identify when answers do not make mathematical sense. Children will be able to apply these calculation skills and understanding of other areas to become confident and resilient problem-solvers with the ability to reason and articulate their ideas mathematically. Children have a positive view of maths due to learning in an environment where maths is promoted as being an exciting and enjoyable subject in which they can investigate and ask questions; they know that it is OK to be ‘wrong’ and that this can strengthen their learning because the journey to finding an answer is most important. Due to the embedding of fact sentences, children will have the language to be able to justify, reason and explain their answers.

Power Maths

Since we have returned this September, we have been working on adopting and embedding a maths scheme called Power Maths. All children from Year 1 to Year 6 will follow the scheme developed to support maths mastery! Please see the information below and other attached documents to give an overview of the scheme.

What is Power Maths?

Power Maths is a resource that has been designed for UK schools based on research and extensive experience of teaching and learning around the world and here in the UK. It has been designed to support and challenge all pupils, and is built on the belief that EVERYONE can learn maths successfully.

How does this support our approach to teaching?

The philosophy behind Power Maths is that being successful in maths is not just about rote-learning procedures and methods, but is instead about problem solving, thinking and discussing. Many people feel they were taught maths in a way that was about memorising formulas and calculation methods, then having to apply them without any real understanding of what or how these methods actually work. Power Maths includes practice questions to help children develop fluent recall and develop their conceptual understanding. Power Maths uses growth mindset characters to prompt, encourage and question children. They spark curiosity, engage reasoning, secure understanding and deepen learning for all.

How will the lessons work?

Each lesson has a progression, with a central flow that draws the main learning into focus. There are different elements, informed by research into best practice in maths teaching, that bring the lessons to life:

• Discover – each lesson begins with a problem to solve, often a real-life example, sometimes a puzzle or a game. These are engaging and fun, and designed to get all children thinking.
• Share – the class shares their ideas and compares different ways to solve the problem, explaining their reasoning with hands-on resources and drawings to make their ideas clear. Children are able to develop their understanding of the concept with input from the teacher.
• Think together – the next part of the lesson is a journey through the concept, digging deeper and deeper so that each child builds on secure foundations while being challenged to apply their understanding in different ways and with increasing independence.
• Practice – now children practice individually or in small groups, rehearsing and developing their skills to build fluency, understanding of the concept and confidence.
• Reflect – finally, children are prompted to reflect on and record their learning from each session and show how they have grasped the concept explored in the lesson.

What if my child needs a confidence boost, or wants to be challenged further?

Power Maths is based on a ‘small-steps’ approach, sometimes called a mastery approach. This means that the concepts are broken down so that your child can master one idea without feeling over-whelmed. There are a range of fluency, reasoning and problem-solving questions in each lesson that are designed to support the different needs and confidence levels within a class, while at the same time fostering a spirit of working and learning together. Each lesson includes a challenge question for those children who can delve deeper into a concept.