Maths
Our Vision
At Rothwell St Mary’s, our vision is for all children to develop a deep interwoven network of mathematical skills. We envisage all our children leaving as mathematicians, ready to understand the world of number and apply this in their future endeavours.
Curriculum and Pedagogy
From our EYFS curriculum to Year 6, we adopt a ‘Teaching for Mastery’ approach aligned with the “5 big ideas” identified by the NCETM. We often host “open classroom” events for West Yorkshire Maths Hub to demonstrate how the principles of ‘Teaching for Mastery’ can be used effectively in the classroom. We believe that with expert teaching and a growth mindset, every child can be successful in Maths. Through systematic teaching of number bonds within 20 and multiplication and division facts, we build children’s fluency in core facts which give the children the firm foundations needed for success in Key Stage 2 and beyond. Alongside developing fluency in number, we use careful representations to expose mathematical structures which are key to developing children’s conceptual understanding.
In EYFS and Key Stage 1, we use the NCETM’s Mastering Number programme to support our teaching of addition and subtraction facts within 20. In 2023/24 we will also be using the NCETM’s Mastering Number programme for Key Stage 2 to support our teaching of multiplication and division facts. To ensure coverage of the full National Curriculum Mathematics objectives, our Long Term Plan is based on the progressive and sequential White Rose Maths Scheme of Learning.
A curriculum designed to meet the needs of our learners
Although the Long Term Plan remains broadly the same each academic year, teachers use adaptive teaching to ensure that the curriculum taught meets the needs of the cohort they are teaching. Pre-unit assessments are used to assess the knowledge and understanding of prior year group’s National Curriculum content and this is used to adapt the small step progression prior to teaching a unit. This ensures that all children are able to keep up rather than needing to catch up in the future. Post-unit assessments are used at the end of the unit to identify any gaps in learning so that these can be addressed. As the Long Term Plan is adapted in response to the needs of the current cohort, the DfE guidance on curriculum prioritisation is used by teachers (with support from a Primary Maths Mastery Specialist) to prioritise curriculum content when significant changes to the Long Term Plan are required. Responsive teaching and the effective use of questioning, ensures that children with high prior attainment are challenged.
Our curriculum aims to ensure all children can:
- 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.
- 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.
Helping children to know more and remember more
To support children in developing instant recall of key facts, children have access to NumBots and Times Tables Rockstars which they use at home to embed their knowledge of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts.
In order to combat Ebbinghaus’ “forgetting curve”, regular opportunities to re-visit previously learnt content, as well as content which teachers have identified as not yet secure, is provided for all children by making links across the curriculum and through daily fluency sessions.
Supporting documents/links
Rothwell St Mary’s Calculation Policy
Progression in number facts – intervention resource for Key Stage 2
Intent:
Accelerated progress for lowest 20% of learners
Implementation:
Maths Implementation Plan Sept 2023 (1)
Impact:
Data to be collated and analysed at pupil progress meetings by Miss Leonard and Mrs Sweeney