Greenfield Primary School
Maths
Intent
We firmly believe that maths is essential to everyday life and most forms of future employment. We aim to provide a high-quality maths education, which provides a firm foundation for mathematical reasoning, an appreciation of and respect for the importance of maths and a sense of positivity and curiosity for the subject.
Our aim is that all children leave Greenfield working at the expected standard with a significant number working above. However, we also recognise that some children with SEND may sometimes be unable to meet the expected standard, which is why the use of timely and specific maths interventions is so important.
The national curriculum for mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils:
- 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.
At Greenfield we strive for our children to be aspirational and to see maths as an interconnected subject and that links are made between the different areas of maths so that children can build their knowledge and understanding of key concepts over time.
Our expectation is that all our children will move through the programmes of study at broadly the same pace. However, decisions about when to progress should always be based on the security of children’s understanding and their readiness to progress to the next stage. Children should be encouraged to master mathematical concepts by being offered rich and varied tasks before any acceleration through new content. Those who are not sufficiently fluent with earlier material should consolidate their understanding, including through additional practice, before moving on.
At Greenfield, we endeavour to teach Maths so children are taught to apply their knowledge and skills to a range of practical, real life contexts, to ensure their learning is both purposeful and meaningful. From an early age we aim to ensure a high focus on developing varied mathematical fluency. As children develop confidence and fluency we then want children to reason and rationalise in a thoughtful way to develop strong problem-solving skills. We use resources and manipulatives: visual, concrete and pictoral aids to support children in learning. We aim to produce mathematicians who are confident in using and applying mathematical concepts and vocabulary, accurately and confidently across a wide range of context. Children are also given opportunities to apply their mathematical knowledge to science and other curriculum subjects.
Implementation
Our teaching is based on the recommended National Curriculum to ensure a robust approach. This is then personalised to meet the needs of our children. Sitting behind this, is the school's calculation policy, which aims to support key subject knowledge, address common misconceptions as well as make links with other maths concepts to support an integrated approach. We follow the White Rose Scheme and resources to ensure that we have a consistent and progressive approach throughout school. However, in order to meet the needs of our children we also supplement these with other resources such as NCETM to help deepen our children’s understanding of mathematical concepts. We provide children with lots of opportunities to apply their knowledge such as ‘five a day’ activities in KS2 and through maths games to encourage a positive attitude towards maths across school. Children are given a wide range of opportunities to work both independently and collaboratively and the use of mathematical language is modelled and encouraged. As a school we encourage creativity and activities to enhance and support our children’s understanding, and enjoyment of maths. These include events such as TT Rockstars days problem solving focuses to help embed key concepts and knowledge. We formally assess maths attainment once a term and use a point in time judgement to decide if the child is working towards/at/above age-related expectation. However, it is the formative and day to day assessment of children’s understanding and application of skills that ensures the needs of our children are accurately met.
Impact
Our children leave Greenfield as confident mathematicians ready for the next stage of their education.
Maths Long Term Plans by Year Groups
White Rose Maths FS2
Maths Progression Documents by Year Group