Mathematics
The subject leader for mathematics is Mrs Carr.
Mathematics is an important part of everyday life and a subject that helps us to understand so much about what happens in the world. We want all pupils at The Mount to experience enjoyment of mathematics and develop a sense of curiosity about the subject with a clear understanding gained through positive attitudes. We believe all children can achieve in mathematics and teach for secure and deep understanding of concepts through fluency, reasoning and problem solving. We use mistakes and misconceptions as an essential part of learning and provide challenge through rich and sophisticated problems. At our school, most children will be taught the content from their year group only. They will spend time becoming true masters of content, applying and being creative with new knowledge in multiple ways so that they are able to:
- make sense of our world
- tackle real life problems with resilience
- communicate information
- develop skills which are essential in most other areas of the curriculum
- develop skills for life to achieve success in the workplace and economic well-being
In addition, and importantly, the National Curriculum for Maths aims to ensure that all pupils:
- become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics
- can reason mathematically
- can solve problems by applying their knowledge and understanding
How we teach Maths
Maths is taught on a daily basis. We follow the teaching sequence outlined by the White Rose Maths Hub schemes of learning. This ensures that a coherent, consistent approach is adopted in all year groups. These provide teachers with notes and guidance on how to enhance their teaching of the subject along with key vocabulary, questions and discussion and teaching points. The White Rose Maths Hub schemes of learning reflect the content of the Foundation Stage Early Learning Goals and the National Curriculum for Maths. Alongside the SOL, we use a range of rich resources to enhance our lessons and deepen understanding. Resources range from the Ready to Progress guidance and supporting NCETM materials to websites such as NRich, Classroom Secrets and Deepening Understanding .
The curriculum is broken down into small manageable steps in order to ensure that each lesson has a clear focus and helps children understand concepts by following a carefully planned sequence of lessons. To ensure children know more and remember more, all maths lessons begin with a brief, daily review of prior knowledge and offer the time to introduce new subject specific vocabulary. Within each lesson, children have the opportunity to acquire, practice, apply and deepen their knowledge and skills as appropriate. Pupils who understand concepts quickly are challenged by being offered rich and sophisticated problems to deepen their understanding. Concepts are revisited over time so that children can reinforce them and embed them into their long- term memory. Teachers have the flexibility to spend longer on specific skills or concepts if they feel it is necessary.
When introduced to a new concept, children have the opportunity to follow the concrete – pictorial - abstract approach. Concrete objects and manipulatives help them understand what they are doing. Alongside these, children use pictorial representations that can be used to help reason and solve problems. Concrete and pictorial representations then help support children’s understanding of abstract methods.
All children are included in whole class lessons and teachers provide scaffolding and relevant support as necessary. Children who don’t make expected progress are identified and intervention programmes are put in place to support these children. This includes same day intervention that enables children to access the learning planned for the following lesson. For those children working outside of the year group curriculum, individual learning activities are provided to ensure their progress.
Progression in Maths
Please follow this link to see the Maths Progression Document: https://wrm-13b48.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/National-Curriculum-Progression-Primary.pdf
Mathematics Curriculum Impact
Children at The Mount School understand and value the importance of Mathematics, this is evident through pupil voice and monitoring which regularly takes place by the curriculum leader.
“Maths is really cool. I love learning how numbers work.” I use maths all of the time outside school like in the shops and when I tell the time.” Isobel
“I love maths!. I love challenge. I like it when it’s hard. I especially love problem solving.” Travis
“Learning your tables is really important. I love Times Table Rockstars… I am now a Rockstar!! I use it at home and listen to songs. My favourite song is the 8 times table song. It’s really fun.” Jayden
“Maths is my favourite subject. I like all parts of maths including creative maths. I’m getting better at symmetry. I love translation – that is much easier.” Jacob
Summative assessment takes place at the end of each term and children’s progress and attainment is discussed with senior leaders in pupil progress meetings. Formative assessment takes place on a daily basis and teachers adjust planning accordingly to meet the needs of their class. Attainment and outcomes in mathematics have a prominent focus throughout our school.
Times tables
Times tables are at the heart of mental arithmetic, which in itself helps form the basis of a child’s understanding and ability when working with number. At The Mount School we will endeavour to provide our pupils with a range of strategies to deepen their understanding of number facts and help them to make connections in all areas of maths with confidence. Learning times tables is a seen as a non-negotiable and an entitlement of all pupils.
Yearly planner
Each class focus on one times table each half term…with opportunities built in to also practise those learnt previously.
Times Table Rock Stars
Out of school, children are encouraged to consolidate their learning by using the Times Table Rockstars and Numbots websites.
Times Table Stars: https://play.ttrockstars.com/
Remember…to login to TTRS:
Type 'Mount J' and our school will appear as the first option.
Remember, it uses the same username and password as Bug Club.
