Maths lead: Simone Curry

INTENT

As a Catholic school, the principles of Catholic education remain at our core. This includes the pursuit of excellence and preparing our children as world citizens for the 21st Century. To achieve this, out children need high levels of literacy and numeracy. Our curriculum is based on the National Curriculum and Early Years Framework; we have high expectations of all of our children (including SEND and disadvantaged children) so that they may master age-related expectations. Mathematics is important in everyday life and, with this is mind, the purpose of Mathematics at St Augustine’s School is to develop an ability to solve problems, to reason, to think logically and to work systematically and accurately. All children are challenged and encouraged to excel in Maths. The intention is to provide a classroom environment where all pupils are encouraged to participate and contribute, and where they are supported to develop an understanding of the Maths being explored through depth, not acceleration. This mastery approach is underpinned by the 5 Big Ideas (NCETM), which are: Mathematical Thinking, Variation, Fluency, Coherence, and Representation and Structure.

IMPLEMENTATION

In school, we follow the national curriculum and use White Rose Schemes of Work as a guide to support teachers with their planning and assessment. The calculation policy is used within school to ensure a consistent approach to teaching the four operations over time. At the start of each new topic, key vocabulary is introduced and revisited regularly, to develop language acquisition, embedding as the topic progresses. Children are taught through clear modelling and have the opportunity to develop their knowledge and understanding of mathematical concepts. The mastery approach incorporates using objects, pictures, words and numbers to help children explore and demonstrate mathematical ideas, enrich their learning experience and deepen understanding at all levels. Children who have shown their understanding at a deep level within the unit, will have opportunities to apply these skills in a GREATER DEPTH activity. This should be challenging and ensure that children are using more than just one skill to be able to answer the mathematical problems. We uphold and nurture the following underlying principles for the teaching and learning of mathematics in our school, aiming 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 and procedural 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, e.g. “Convince me that…” or “I know that…so…”

● 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 simplersteps and persevering in seeking solutions. The Bar Model device is used throughout the school to support problem solving.

● Are taught through the Concrete → Pictorial → Abstract sequence to ensure pupils gain a thorough understanding of the mathematical concepts/skills they are learning.

● Should be given the opportunity for every relevant subject to develop their mathematical fluency and mathematical skills.

IMPACT

The curriculum enables children to develop themselves as learners and encourage them to be as independent as possible. Children demonstrate a quick recall of facts and procedures, this includes the recollection of the times tables, which are nationally assessed in year 4. Children show confidence in believing that they will achieve. Each child achieves objectives (expected standard) for their year group. The flexibility and fluidity to move between different contexts and representations of maths, allows them the chance to develop the ability to recognise relationships and make connections in maths lessons. Mathematical concepts or skills are mastered when a child can show it in multiple ways, using the mathematical language to explain their ideas, and can independently apply the concept to new problems in unfamiliar situations. Children show a high level of pride in the presentation and understanding of the work