Mathematics

Maths at Malvern Wells places the learning journey at the heart of all of our pupils. We believe that children should leave primary education as confident, resilient mathematicians with a deep conceptual understanding of the skills required to approach any Maths problem. We build children’s aspirations as mathematicians by demonstrating possibilities for their future life and the rigour of our curriculum tries to support this aim. Our values underpin all that we do in Maths fostering courage, commitment, community and compassion. We understand the importance of communication and language and ensure this underpins our planning. This focus strengthens our pupils’ ability to learn at a deeper level, allowing them to articulate their learning. Additionally, our curriculum allows for our pupils to demonstrate high quality thinking and to apply skills and knowledge confidently and competently.

Our mission is to enable all learners to enjoy and succeed in mathematics. We would like our learners to:

1. Calculate fluently and manipulate numbers.

2. Think logically, reason and solve problems in a range of contexts.

3. Confidentially communicate using precise mathematical language while becoming mathematical thinkers.

4. Develop a positive attitude towards Maths and be able to use it effectively in real-life scenarios.

To ensure whole-school consistency and progression, Mathematics at Malvern C of E Primary School is planned and sequenced using White Rose Maths. This is fully aligned with the National Curriculum. Mathematical topics are taught in blocks, to enable the achievement of ‘mastery’ over time. Independent work provides the means for all children to develop their fluency further, before progressing to more complex related problems. Practise and consolidation play a central role with carefully designed variation which builds fluency and understanding of underlying mathematical concepts.

Within maths, pupils will develop a deep understanding of Key concepts and Second order concepts. These key concepts have been carefully considered and identified as the core knowledge and skills required to successfully achieve in Maths. The key concepts are revisited and developed as the pupils move through the school to ensure their knowledge and skills are firmly embedded within their long term memory. The expectation is that, by the end of Primary School, children will know and understand these key concepts and will give them a solid foundation to enter the maths curriculum at KS3.

In addition to first order key concepts, the subject leaders have identified subject specific second order concepts. These can be used across all aspects of a subject to organise the substantive knowledge and skills taught.

Key concepts:

• Number and Place Value
• Addition and Subtraction
• Multiplication and Division
• Geometry
• Statistics
• Shape
• Measures
• Fractions, Decimals and Percentages

Second order concepts:
These can be used across all aspects of a subject to organise the substantiative knowledge taught.

• Arithmetic Skills
• Fluency
• Application
• Reasoning and Problem Solving

By the end of EYFS children will:

Have a secure understanding of Number and Numerical Patterns across the EYFS Framework. Children will have a deep understanding of numbers to 10, being able to develop their skill of subitising up to 5 as well as automatically recalling number bonds up to 5 and even 10. Furthermore, children will be able to verbally count beyond 20, recognising the counting system, comparing quantities up to 10 in various contexts and exploring and representing numbers within 10, including odds, evens and doubles. The EYFS children will use every day language to talk about size, weight, capacity, position, distance, time and money to compare quantities and objects in order to help them solve problems. They will recognise, create and describe patterns, exploring characteristics of everyday objects and shapes, using their mathematical language to describe them.

By the end of Key Stage 1 children will:

Develop confidence and mental fluency with whole numbers, counting and place value. This should involve working with numerals, words and the four operations, including with practical resources, e.g. concrete objects and measuring tools. Pupils should develop their ability to recognise, describe, draw, compare and sort different shapes and use the related vocabulary. They should also use a range of measures to describe and compare different quantities such as length, mass, capacity/volume, time and money. By the end of year 2, pupils should know their number bonds to 20 and be precise in using and understanding place value. An emphasis on practice at this early stage will aid fluency. Pupils should read and spell mathematical vocabulary at a level consistent with their increasing word reading and spelling knowledge at key stage 1.

By the end of Lower Key Stage 2 children will:

Become increasingly fluent with whole numbers and the four operations, including number facts and the concept of place value. They will develop efficient written and mental methods and perform calculations accurately with increasingly large whole numbers. Pupils should develop their ability to solve a range of problems, including with simple fractions and decimal place value. Pupils will have the opportunity to draw with increasing accuracy and develop mathematical reasoning so they can analyse shapes and their properties and confidently describe the relationships between them. It should ensure that they can use measuring instruments with accuracy and make connections between measure and number. By the end of year 4, pupils should have instant recall of their multiplication tables up to and including the 12 multiplication table and show precision and fluency in their work. Pupils should read and spell mathematical vocabulary correctly and confidently using their growing word reading knowledge and their knowledge of spelling.

By the end of Upper Key Stage 2 children will:

Extend their understanding of the number system and place value to include larger integers. This should develop the connections that pupils make between multiplication and division with fractions, decimals, percentages and ratio. Pupils should develop their ability to solve a wider range of problems, including increasingly complex properties of numbers and arithmetic, and problems demanding efficient written and mental methods of calculation. With this foundation in arithmetic, pupils are introduced to the language of algebra as a means for solving a variety of problems. Teaching in geometry and measures should consolidate and extend knowledge developed in number. Pupils will classify shapes with increasingly complex geometric properties and that they learn the required vocabulary they need to describe them. By the end of year 6, pupils should be fluent in written methods for all four operations, including long multiplication and division, and in working with fractions, decimals and percentages. Pupils should read, spell and pronounce mathematical vocabulary correctly.

Any child working below their age-related expectation, will receive a tailored curriculum with personalised objectives taken from the Curriculum Assessment Toolkit. This will enable all children to build the skills and knowledge needed to bridge the gap between themselves and their peers enabling them to reach their full potential.

Implementation:

The academic year is broken down into strands of work which form the key concepts. Each strand and unit builds upon prior learning, within the current year group and from previous year groups.