TEACH              NURTURE           CELEBRATE 

INTENT

At St James CE Primary School we believe that Mathematics is a key skill that helps us to make sense of the world around us. It enables children to understand and appreciate relationships and pattern in both number and space in their everyday lives. Through their growing knowledge and understanding, children learn to understand and apply their knowledge to solve real life problems.

At St James CE Primary School we also believe that Mathematics equips children with a uniquely powerful set of tools to understand and change the world. These tools include logical reasoning, problem-solving skills and the ability to think in abstract ways.

Mathematics is important in everyday life, many forms of employment, science and technology, medicine, the economy, the environment and development and in public decision-making. Different cultures have contributed to the development and application of mathematics. Today, the subject transcends cultural boundaries, and its importance is universally recognised.

AIMS

• Have a sense of the size of a number and where it fits into the number system
• Know by heart number facts, such as number bonds, multiplication tables
• Use what they know by heart to figure out answers mentally
• Calculate accurately and efficiently, both mentally and with pencil and paper, drawing on a range of calculation strategies
• Recognise when it is appropriate to use a calculator, and be able to do so effectively
• Make sense of number problems, including non-routine problems, and recognise the operations needed to solve them
• Explain their methods and reasoning, using correct mathematical terms
• Judge whether their answers are reasonable, and have strategies for checking them where necessary
• Suggest suitable units for measuring, and make sensible estimates of measurements
• Explain and make predictions from the numbers in graphs, diagrams, charts and tables.

IMPLEMENTATION

We have adopted the Maths mastery approach at St. James using Deepening Understanding’s small steps to progression and sequencing of concepts. In all classes there are children of differing mathematical ability. We recognise this fact and provide suitable learning opportunities for all children by matching the challenge of the task to the ability of the child. We achieve this through a range of strategies – in some lessons through differentiated group work and in other lessons by organising the children to work in pairs on open-ended problems or games. We use classroom assistants to support targeted groups and to provide in situ feedback to ensure that work is matched to the needs of individuals.

At St. James CE Primary School we do this through careful planning and preparation, ensuring that throughout the school,

• children are given opportunities for: practical activities, role play and mathematical board games
• the development of mental and oral strategies with an emphasis on speed recall of number bonds and multiplication tables
• the development of mathematical vocabulary
• problem solving
• individual, group and whole class discussions and activities
• open and closed tasks
• a range of methods of calculating e.g. mental, pencil and paper
• understand mathematics through a process of enquiry and experiment
• regular use of ICT games to reinforce, develop and enthuse learning e.g. TTRockstars

IMPACT

Throughout St. James Primary School, the most powerful and formative tool to assess and support progress is our teachers’ expert use of assessment for learning. In each mathematics lesson, teachers identify and quickly address misconceptions, enable the forging of connections between concepts, and recognise opportunities for challenge and in-depth reasoning.
Teachers and teaching assistants deliver targeted maths interventions to address specific learning needs and to provide additional greater depth learning experiences. Children are tested on their taught content each term and careful and detailed gaps analysis then supports targeted interventions to allow children to keep up rather than catch up. In addition, to shorter    low-stakes assessments within each unit of learning. Pupil progress and attainment are carefully analysed, and the data is used formatively to direct access arrangements, teacher planning and content revision.