Maths Progression Documents
Intent
At St. William’s, we have adopted a mastery approach to help deliver the three aims of The National Curriculum for mathematics. These three aims are 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 St. William’s Primary School, these three elements are embedded within Maths lessons and are developed over time. Maths is a rich and interconnected subject, and our aim is to support children to move fluently between different concepts and different representations of mathematical ideas, through both procedural and conceptual variation. Maths is a journey and children achieve their goals through exploration, clarification, practice, and application over time. At each stage of learning, children should be able to demonstrate a deep, conceptual understanding of the topic and be able to build on this over time.
Underpinning our pedagogy is a belief that all children can enjoy and achieve in Maths at St. William’s.
Our Curriculum intent is underpinned by:
- High expectations - All children are expected to achieve relevant to their starting points.
- Modelling - Teachers teach the skills needed to succeed in Mathematics, providing examples of good practice and having high expectations.
- Fluency - Children have regular opportunities to develop number sense and develop confident calculation skills that can be applies across a variety of situations. This allows our pupils to tackle more complex problems with greater confidence and resilience.
- Vocabulary - Mathematical vocabulary is modelled and taught explicitly and is expected to be applied in everyday situations.
Implementation
We implement our maths curriculum through:
- Daily Maths Practice - Maths is taught daily, so children become fluent and efficient in all previous learning. A carefully planned learning journey of small steps will be taken to ensure that all children master the concepts before moving on and that no child is left behind. Lesson design ensures that the three aims of the National Curriculum are covered: fluency, reasoning and problem solving. Mental arithmetic is also regularly and routinely taught to develop fluency.
- A Concrete, Pictoral and Abstract Approach - We recognise the Concrete Pictorial Abstract (CPA) approach as a highly effective methodology in teaching Mathematics and to develop conceptual understanding. This approach will vary between year groups and the individual abilities of children within each class.
- A quality Research Based Curriculum -White Rose Maths materials are used to assist with planning and delivering our mastery approach, but we also believe that teaching should be adapted to best meet the needs of all our pupils and we use a range of other planning resources and activities to do this.
- Promoting Maths across the Curriculum - Where appropriate, opportunities to develop, use and apply maths skills are taught across the curriculum. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics and we encourage the use of maths skills in STEM Projects (e.g. Atom Bank Challenge, Computing Club).
- Teaching for Depth - At St. William’s Primary School, we follow a teaching for depth approach to mathematics, which is sometimes termed as ‘mastery’. This approach enables all children to master the mathematics curriculum and draws inspiration from a range of sources. It draws heavily upon research conducted by the EEF (Education Endowment Fund) and their recommendations.
- Classroom Organisation - We teach maths as whole class lessons, so that all children have access to the age-related skills and knowledge contained in the National Curriculum.
- Classrooms have access to a range of manipulatives that the children are encouraged to use more independently as they progress. Maths displays further promote the correct use of appropriate vocabulary and challenge.
- Working in Partnership -St. William’s is a proactive member of several working parties including The Bishop Hoggarth Trust, Peterlee Partnership and The Archimedes Maths Hub. Through our involvement with Maths Hubs; we keep our curriculum under review and ensure continuous improvement for our pupils and best practice for teaching. This is evident through our involvement in various research projects across all phases.
- Formative and Summative Assessment -Feedback and marking should be completed, where possible, within the lesson or shortly after. Children should then be given time to respond to the feedback and make corrections. At the end of each term or teaching block, teachers use their professional judgement to determine whether a child is working within age related expectations, above or below. These summative assessments are entered into the school’s SIMS data system. Teachers assess progress at the end of each block and refer to the NCTEM ‘Ready To Progress’ documents to help close gaps
- Extra Curricular and Whole School Events - Enjoyment is promoted within school by our participation in events such as World Maths Day, Theme Weeks and competitions (such as Times Table Rockstars, Bishop Hogarth Academy Trust mathematics competitions, Carmel Challenge etc.) We promote Maths skills as we encourage children to participate to worthwhile projects (such as using Statistics for RSPB birdwatch, proportion for Fairtrade and money skills for charity enterprise). Maths skills are also promoted through extra curricula clubs such as Maths Magicians and Times Table Rock Stars.
Impact
We monitor the impact of our maths curriculum, through:
- Pupil Voice -Through discussion and feedback, children talk enthusiastically about mathematics and understand the importance of this subject. They develop resilience and can talk with confidence about the improvements they have made using appropriate vocabulary.
- Monitoring -Termly, teachers moderate pupils work in school and with those in other schools to ensure accurate assessments are made. The quality of Mathematics lessons and pupil work is evaluated by learning walks, observations, teacher and pupil conferencing and work scrutinies. These inform future areas for improvement and the impact of any new initiatives.
- Assessment - We use National Summative testing to assess pupils’ outcomes as part of the Statutory Assessment Tests (SATs for Year 2 and Year 6 pupils), Multiplication Checks and termly summative assessments that enables pupils’ progress to be tracked and reviewed. Teachers track arithmetic progress through programmes such as Schofield and Sims and TTRS. The impact of the curriculum can be seen through pupils’ national assessment results and St William’s children make good progress with the majority of children meeting national expectations or better.
Calculations Policies
Year 4 Multiplication Check
Children in Year 4 will have to complete a multiplication check in June. Mr Bostock has prepared a presentation providing parents with information about this:
Online Learning - Parent Guides
At St William's, children have access to a number of online learning resources which they can use at home. Please find below some helpful guides for parents about these apps.
Online Learning: Parent Guides
Bring Your Parent to School Day
Please find below the presentation used by Mr Bostock and our Maths ambassadors for World number Day
Bring Your Parent to School Day - Presentation
Small Steps
At St William's we use the White Rose scheme of maths. Below you can find information about what areas of maths children will be covering each term.
Autumn Term
Small Steps - Autumn Term
Spring Term
Small Steps - Spring Term
Summer Term
Small Steps - Summer Term