Maths

Mathematics is a powerful tool and a key life skill for everyone. We recognise the importance of this and so our aim is for all pupils will be competent and confident mathematicians, secure with mathematical knowledge, concepts and skills. Children will be able use their knowledge mental flexibility to creatively analyse and tackle unfamiliar tasks and real-life problems.

Our intent

At Swainswick Primary School, we understand that Mathematics is a life-long skill that supports children to access, understand and develop core life skills.

Where appropriate, our curriculum drivers (well-being, effective communication, creativity and expression and global responsibility) are woven throughout our Mathematics curriculum to enhance learning and promote positive attitudes to learning which reflects the values and skills needed to promote responsibility for life-long learning and success.

Our aim is to instil a positive mind-set about maths and build a deep conceptual understanding, which encourages mental flexibility .

We aim to teach children how to make sense of the world around them by developing their ability to calculate, reason and solve problems, including real world problems.

Our maths curriculum is designed to be flexible and fully inclusive for all the pupils we teach, using a range of resources. The aim for our pupils is to develop curiosity, to think critically and creatively; challenging their individual thought processes and that of others. We want children to be able to explain their reasoning and be perceptive in their questioning.

Curriculum

In each year group, children taught to be fluent in the fundamental workings of the number system as this feeds into all number-based work and wider problem-solving activities. This is supported by our calculation policy.

Teachers at Swainswick use the White Rose Maths Hub scheme to support their planning and teach mathematics. The curriculum is sequenced to meet the needs of the pupils we teach.

We also ensure that children are supported and can explore concepts through the use of a range of ‘concrete’ and pictorial resources, such as Numicon, Base 10, number lines, part-whole models and place value counters. Lessons will enable children to move between concrete, pictorial and abstract approaches to content. Representations and Structures also allow pupils to make connections between learning with the aim being that can do the maths without the need for a visual representation.

Key vocabulary, that is topic specific, develops pupils mathematical talk and links into our Voice 21 work. We encourage children to explain their understanding of concepts using key vocabulary, STEM sentences and mathematical talk. This will be evident and at the forefront of dialogue within the classroom.

Within lessons, teachers will use variation to offer concepts in more than one way and to sequence learning over the course of a lesson or lessons, drawing attention to mathematical relationships.

The impact of our Mathematics education curriculum at Swainswick is that children develop the skills needed for everyday life. We expect that by the time children leave us in Year 6 they will:

Be happy, confident and competent mathematicians, who demonstrate mental flexibility and are effective communicators who use mathematical terminology and reasoning.
Be fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics to master the content they are taught.
Apply both mental and written methods, and fluency facts to a range of problems where they will show perseverance and demonstrate the ability to break problems down into simpler, smaller steps.