Maths
St Edward’s Values: Thankfulness, Forgiveness, Compassion, Perseverance, Courage, Friendship
‘I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.’ (John 10:10)
Mathematics Curriculum at St Edward’s
Intent
“Success in math does not depend on how many answers you know, but by what you do when you don’t know the answer.” Unknown
“Mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.” – Albert Einstein
At St Edward’s we believe that mathematics teaching is crucial because it gives opportunities for developing important intellectual skills in problem solving, reasoning, creative thinking and communication. We would like to develop and hone our pupils’ reasoning and critical thinking skills so they can engage in the world around them and feel empowered. Mathematics can give children with more career options later in life.
At St Edward’s we aim to provide children with a deep, long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of the subject through a mastery approach.
At its core, a mastery approach rejects the idea that some children can’t do maths. It recognises that by nurturing positive attitudes and building confidence in mathematics, all children can achieve.
Coverage
Children in Years 1 to 6 are taught a daily mathematics lesson using the NCETM endorsed Power Maths scheme. The curriculum is designed to enable children to work confidently with a range of mathematical concepts. The learning content is arranged into the following areas:
- Number and place value
- Addition and subtraction
- Multiplication and division
- Fractions (including decimals from Year 4 onwards)
- Measurement
- Geometry
- Statistics (from Year 2 onwards)
- Ratio and proportion (Year 6 only)
- Algebra (Year 6 only)
See the attached Year group overviews and the ‘Power Maths to National Curriculum’ documents to see the distribution of blocks for each year group.
In addition to a daily maths lesson, fluency sessions are delivered in each key stage:
EYFS and KS1 – Daily Mastering Number sessions (10 minutes)
KS2 – Daily 10 (3 times a week) and daily times tables booklets
How is our mathematics curriculum tailored to meet the needs of our children?
We have identified some core barriers that the children of our school face when they are accessing the curriculum, and we intend to deliver the mathematics curriculum with an approach that addresses these:
- Limited vocabulary – whenever a new topic is introduced, we share the relevant mathematical vocabulary and check understanding. This vocabulary is then left on display and referred to throughout the topic. We provide children with mathematical stem sentences so that they have the language with which to explain their mathematical thinking.
- Poor communication and team-work skills – In our classrooms during maths lessons, there is a ‘buzz of learning’. Children are given many opportunities to discuss and explore the mathematical concepts. Children work in talk-partners and often explain their thinking to the class as a whole. During independent sessions, children who are confident in a concept are encouraged to support other children and explain their reasoning.
- Poor resilience – Lessons emphasise the process rather than the answer. This enables children to focus on the structure of the maths rather than rushing to learn rules and quick strategies. Mistakes are valued and shared. Children frequently volunteer information about the errors that they have made – they are familiar with the mantra ‘Mistakes are expected, respected, inspected and corrected’. All children are expected to attempt the challenge questions in all lessons. The first part of every lesson is delivered using the ‘kite analogy’ – children are asked to discuss and attempt a picture and word problem without any instruction before the teacher ‘pulls the kite back in’ to share approaches and decide on the most efficient strategy.