Mathematics

Mathematics Statement of Intent

For every child to develop mathematical fluency and confidence in numeracy, equipping them with the skills of calculation, reasoning and problem solving that they need in all subject areas and in life beyond school.

Mathematics at Sylvester

At Sylvester Primary Academy, Mathematics is taught in accordance with the Mathematics programmes of study set out in the National Curriculum for Key Stages 1 and 2. In the Foundation Stage, teachers follow the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. In all classes, we aim to develop lively, enquiring minds, encouraging pupils to become self-motivated, confident and capable in order to solve problems that will become an integral part of their future.

At Sylvester, Mathematics is taught as a subject in its own right, and skills are developed through their application in other curriculum subjects. As a result, children receive five daily Mathematics lessons each week, but also gain regular opportunities in the other core and foundation subjects to practise, revise and further develop their mathematical and numerical skills. Mathematical talk is promoted in all year groups to allow children to share and develop their mathematical understanding and reasoning at different stages in lessons.

Key Stages 1 and 2

At Sylvester, teachers closely follow the National Curriculum programmes of study as well as using the White Rose Maths Hub schemes of learning as a basis for planning to ensure complete coverage and reinforcement of curriculum statements. Teachers use a wide range of resources in the teaching of mathematics to enhance learning, including: NCETM Teaching for Mastery materials, White Rose ‘Maths: Everyone Can’ materials, White Rose ‘Mastery Professional Development’ PowerPoints, Power Maths, ICT programmes, games and puzzles. The school has adopted the mastery approach to mathematics: teaching for depth of understanding rather than ‘coverage’ of objectives.

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 have conceptual understanding and are able to recall and apply their knowledge rapidly and accurately to problems;

• 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.

Numeracy for Life

At Sylvester, we firmly believe that it is essential our children make strong links between mathematics and real life situations hence why numeracy for life is at the heart of problem solving and reasoning within mathematics lessons as well as across the curriculum. We believe relating mathematics to real life situations is imperative in ‘bringing maths to life’ and ensuring children find mathematical experiences meaningful.

A Cross-Curricular Approach

Whenever appropriate, teachers aim to use subjects across the curriculum to develop pupils’ mathematical fluency. Confidence in numeracy and other mathematical skills is a precondition of success across the national curriculum. At Sylvester, pupils are taught to apply their mathematics to both routine and non-routine problems, including breaking down more complex problems into a series of simpler steps.

Progression in Mathematics

At Sylvester, teachers follow the White Rose Maths schemes of learning as a basis for planning to ensure complete coverage and reinforcement of curriculum statements. The White Rose schemes of learning provide a comprehensive progression document of mathematical skills and problem-solving, fully linked to the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum programmes of study for KS1 and KS2.

Primary SOL and Progression Resources

Examples of formal written methods for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division