Broseley C of E Primary School

Mathematics

At Broseley C of E Primary we want to nurture a love and enjoyment of mathematics in all of our children so that they are keen to explore different concepts and so discover the wonder of mathematics and how it links to their every-day world.

Our curriculum follows the NCETM Teaching for Mastery approach and the Mastery Number programme. Based on effective research, the mastery approach plans for small steps which allows children to make connections in their thinking in order to build a deeper understanding – using a range of manipulatives to support our pupils. We want our children to understand that it’s the process that matters, not just the winning answer.

Our maths curriculum sequence is cumulative and allows for consolidation of learning to ensure children make connections and remember more. We offer an ambitious curriculum that provides the children with the skills and knowledge to become confident mathematicians. Language development is key in all our maths lessons, and by using precise mathematical vocabulary and stem sentences, this offers the children a scaffold to broaden and articulate their mathematical thinking.

Please do have a look at our Long Term Plan for Maths: Maths Long Term Plan 2024-2025

Mastery in Number – Fluency focus

Mastery in Number aims to secure firm foundations in the development of good number sense for all children from EYFS through to Year 1 and Year 2. The aim over time is that children will leave KS1 with fluency in calculation and a confidence and flexibility with number. Attention will be given to key knowledge and understanding needed in EYFS classes, and progression through KS1 to support success in the future.

In KS2, knowledge of multiplication and division and its applications forms the single most important aspect of the KS2 curriculum and is the gateway to success at secondary school. Mastery in Number enables pupils in Years 4 and 5 to develop fluency in multiplication and division facts, and a confidence and flexibility with number that exemplifies good number sense.

Year 3 will have key number fact times table sessions while Year 6 will have focused arithmetic sessions.

Expert Reasoner

We want our children to become ‘Expert Reasoners’ following the NRICH progress in reasoning model. Having a real focus on mathematical thinking and reasoning, using effective representation, models and images to help us. We aim to expose the maths structures through different representations and encourage children to develop their own representations and models of proof so that all children embed the depth in conceptual understanding as well as being confident with the procedural fluency.

Maths in the Early Years

In EYFS children are taught daily maths lessons. Maths is also integrated into continuous provision and staff follow the children’s interests to apply mathematical skills throughout the day. This means that some children will access different skills in different circumstances depending on the child’s interests and will be through 'in the moment' planning.

Support for Pupils with SEND

At the beginning of each unit of work, key pieces of knowledge for the unit are selected and work takes place to ensure that pupils with SEND are retaining and building on this. In addition, scaffolding ensures that pupils can meet the same learning objective as their peers. Adult support, more extensive access to manipulatives, pre-teaching of a concept or ‘work-shop’ style immediate interventions are regularly in place for children who need further support before moving on.

Assessment

At the beginning of each lesson, pupils complete a ‘knowing more and remembering more’ task which assesses the knowledge they have retained from previous lessons and reactivates the knowledge that they will need to access the new teaching/learning. These can be simple directed questions, quizzes or activities. Throughout lessons, teachers and TAs are constantly discussing, correcting and furthering children’s understanding through direct questioning and instant intervention. When whole class issues or misconceptions are discovered, teachers refocus the class and reteach or rephrase the learning.

At the end of each Spine, children are given a ‘Ready to Progress’ assessment to assess their knowledge and understanding of the content of that spine. At the end of each term, children carry out NfER assessments to track their progress. This will be used as a diagnostic to inform future teaching.

Summative assessments are completed at the end of the academic year and reported to parents in the end of year report. National assessments are carried out at the end of KS1 and KS2, with a Multiplication Tables Check at the end of year 4 - results from these are reported to parents in our End of Year Reports.