Loading

Maths Curriculum "Mathematics is the music of reason"

Lead: Mrs A Lancashire

MATHEMATICS INTENT

Mathematics is a creative and highly inter-connected discipline that has been developed over centuries, providing the solution to some of history’s most intriguing problems. It is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment. A high-quality mathematics education therefore provides a foundation for understanding the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.

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 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

Mathematics is an interconnected subject in which pupils need to be able to move fluently between representations of mathematical ideas. The programmes of study are, by necessity, organised into apparently distinct domains, but pupils should make rich connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence in solving increasingly sophisticated problems. They should also apply their mathematical knowledge to science and other subjects.

The expectation is that the majority of pupils will move through the programmes of study at broadly the same pace. However, decisions about when to progress should always be based on the security of pupils’ understanding and their readiness to progress to the next stage. Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly should be challenged through being offered rich and sophisticated problems before any acceleration through new content. Those who are not sufficiently fluent with earlier material should consolidate their understanding, including through additional practice, before moving on.

At DCP, we endeavour to teach Maths so children are taught to apply their knowledge and skills to a range of practical, real life contexts, to ensure their learning is both purposeful and meaningful. Skills are linked and taught together to maximise teaching and learning time to give context to learning. From an early age we aim to ensure a high focus on developing varied mathematical fluency. As pupils develop confidence and fluency we then want pupils to reason and rationalise in a thoughtful way to develop strong problem solving skills.

Three aims of the NC should be addressed each day: Fluency, Reasoning and Problem Solving

We aim to equip all pupils with the skills and confidence to solve a range of problems through fluency with numbers and mathematical reasoning.

Targeted children to be tracked through school to make accelerated progress by the time they leave Y6.

Resources and manipulatives to be used: visual, concrete and pictoral aids to help support children in learning – evident in lessons

Mathematicians who are confident in using and applying mathematical vocabulary, accurately and confidently across a wide range of context

To follow a progressive curriculum with opportunity for skills and key learning to repeat and build over time – revisit and review throughout each year group

MATHS IMPLEMENTATION

Our teaching is based on the recommended National Curriculum to ensure a robust approach. This is then personalised to meet the needs of our learners. 'White Rose Maths' has been used to help sequence the objectives for each individual year group and to ensure pace and progression within skills throughout school. Sitting behind these is the school's calculation policy which aims to support key subject knowledge, address common misconceptions as well as make links with other maths concepts to support an integrated approach.

We assess maths attainment at least once a term and use a point in time judgement to decide if the child is working below/at/above age related expectation. To validate teacher assessments we also use a termly test to obtain a standardised score. This helps us identify whether pupils are where they should be for that point of the year and if any additional support is required such as additional tuition or intervention.