Kirkbymoorside Primary School

School Curriculum - Maths

Intent

At Kirkbymoorside Primary School, our intent for mathematics is to teach a rich, balanced and progressive curriculum which caters for the needs of all children through a mastery approach. Our curriculum allows children to reason, problem solve and develop fluent conceptual understanding in each area of mathematics. The structure of the mathematics curriculum across school shows clear progression in line with age related expectations, where a mixture of concrete, pictorial and abstract approaches are used to support, strengthen and deepen all children’s understanding of mathematics knowledge. Our curriculum places mathematics as a high profile subject, where we aim to provide all children with the necessary skills and knowledge to succeed in their future adventures.

Our curriculum mirrors the intentions of the Mathematics National Curriculum by ensuring that all children:

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. Mathematics is an interconnected subject in which pupils need to be able to move fluently between representations of mathematical ideas.

At Kirkbymoorside Primary School, children are required to explore maths in depth, using mathematical vocabulary to reason and explain their answers. A wide range of mathematical manipulatives, structures and representations are used and children are taught to show their mathematical workings in a concrete, pictorial and abstract form wherever suitable. They are taught to explain their choice of methods, digging deeper into the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of mathematics to further develop their mathematical reasoning skills. We encourage resilience, adaptability and acceptance that ‘struggle’ is often a necessary step in learning. Our curriculum allows children to better make sense of the world around them relating the pattern between mathematics and everyday life.

Implementation

At Kirkbymoorside Primary School resources and equipment are audited regularly so that children have materials of high quality and accuracy to support their learning. Our resources allow us to better use models and images to support learning in each area and enable the progression from concrete to pictorial to abstract. Children are familiar with these resources and can access them independently to support their mathematical understanding.

At Kirkbymoorside Primary School, we have adopted a mastery approach to teaching and learning in mathematics. Mastery in maths is not just the ability to memorise key facts, but involves being able to explain how and why the mathematics works whilst applying and using mathematics knowledge in new and unfamiliar situations. This approach is used to both support and challenge children’s understanding of mathematics through a range of fluency, reasoning and problem solving questions, where stem sentences and a range of pictorial, concrete and abstract methods are used to consolidate learning. They are taught to explain their choice of methods and deepen their mathematical knowledge and reasoning by explaining ‘why’ and ‘how’ the method and mathematics works. Maths Mastery consists of the four components:

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Our mathematics curriculum design ensures a coherent and detailed sequence of essential content to support sustained progress over time, where lessons links to prior learning and identify carefully sequenced steps in progression to build a secure understanding. To support children’s mathematical achievements, we use a combination of ‘NCETM’ and ‘White Rose Maths’ materials during our lessons. In addition to this, EYFS and Year 1 children use the ‘NCETM’ materials alongside ‘Numberblocks’ to introduce the concepts of number to support early mathematical understanding. Reception and KS1 children also partake in daily ‘NCETM Maths Mastery’ sessions, which have a high focus on the use of stem sentences and mathematical language with small steps in learning. Additional to their daily maths mastery lessons, KS2 children take part in daily times tables practise. We also provide pre-teach sessions for children that are finding the mathematics more challenging, allowing all children to achieve their full potential.

In EYFS, mathematics is taught through a number based approach. In Nursery, children engage in short, focussed sessions with adults, following ‘Master the Curriculum’, as well as embedding maths in number rhymes, stories, jigsaws and maths equipment in the environment. In Reception, children follow the ‘Mastering Number’ approach to explore a wide range of concepts such as 1 more/1 less, addition, subtraction, shape, money, time and measure for a given number over a 2-week period. Adults use resources that deepen children's knowledge and there are opportunities for reasoning and problem solving through adult questioning both in taught sessions and in play. Throughout EYFS, there are regular and frequent opportunities for exploring with numbers as well as shape, space and measure in the areas of provision, where adults regularly encourage and model mathematical concepts. 

Impact

At Kirkbymoorside Primary School we want our children to become confident, fluent mathematicians, who can reason and problem solve with understanding. We aim:

To provide well-planned lessons that enable children to build on prior learning and deepen understanding, while promoting children’s enjoyment of mathematics.
To develop children’s mathematical thinking and conceptual understanding by: using carefully selected concrete manipulatives, pictorial representations and abstract symbols; providing children with opportunities to explain or justify their mathematical reasoning with the correct mathematical vocabulary; providing children with plenty of opportunities to solve a variety of problems.
To teach through whole-class interactive teaching, enabling all to master the concepts for the next part of the curriculum sequence while deepening the mathematical understanding of all. In a typical lesson, the teacher leads back and forth interactions, including questioning, explanations, demonstrations and short tasks, enabling all children to think, reason and apply their knowledge to solve problems.
To develop procedural fluency and conceptual understanding together because each supports the development of the other.

To provide high-quality teaching and learning that is engaging, challenging and inclusive for all learners.
To use precise mathematical language and stem sentences to enable all pupils to communicate their reasoning and thinking effectively.
To develop children’s confidence and resilience in mathematics by improving their growth mindset so they can reach their full potential.
To use regular formative assessment to track all children’s progress and understanding to then identify areas of further support and challenge within each lesson.
For teachers to continually develop their specialist knowledge of teaching maths mastery, working collaboratively to refine and improve their teaching.