Mathematics

Intent, Implementation and Impact Statement: Mathematics

Intent

We value a maths curriculum that is challenging and engaging giving pupils the opportunity to build on learning in lesson. Our pupils need to develop the necessary skills to make them “deep thinkers” acquiring maths skills that can be recalled quickly, transferred and applied in different contexts. We aim for pupils to be able to make rich connections across the areas of maths and use their knowledge in other subjects. Maths is the foundation for understanding the world and we want our children to know the purpose behind their learning and to apply their knowledge to their everyday lives. We encourage pupils to develop their knowledge and understanding of mathematics and aim for all pupils to enjoy, achieve and become confident mathematicians.

The school’s overarching intent based in nurture and diversity, this is embedded into the curriculum to ensure that the curriculum is reflective of our school community and all teaching is delivered using a nurturing approach.

At William Bellamy Primary School we empower our children with a ‘Growth Mind-set’ attitude, through our learning without limits ethos. We believe all children can achieve in mathematics, and teach for secure and deep understanding of mathematical concepts through manageable steps. We use mistakes and misconceptions as an essential part of learning and provide challenge through rich and sophisticated problems. They will spend time becoming true masters of content, applying and being creative with new knowledge in multiple ways.

The curriculum for mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils:

become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics so that they develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.
be able to solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of problems with increasing sophistication, including in unfamiliar contexts and to model real-life scenarios.
reason mathematically by logically following a line of enquiry and develop and present a justification, argument or proof using mathematical language.
make considered decisions as to the most efficient methods to make mathematics more functional. They need to choose the most appropriate, fluent, efficient and accurate method to do a particular calculation.

Implementation

Our whole curriculum is shaped by our school vision which believes that every pupil regardless of their social and economic background, religion, ethnicity or Special Education Need has the right to a high quality education. We provide a highly inclusive environment where learners enjoy their education. We follow the principles behind ‘mastery in mathematics’- believing that all pupils need a deep understanding of the mathematics they are learning so that future mathematical learning is built on solid foundations. Whilst the majority of pupils are taught the same content at the same pace, pupils are still appropriately supported with their learning to fill gaps or challenged in their learning to gain depth of understanding and proficiency. Teacher/pupil interaction explores in detail how answers were obtained, why the method/strategy worked, and what might be the most efficient method. Fundamentally our curriculum is based on the Power Maths scheme and the planning and teaching is supported using White Rose.

At William Bellamy we aim to achieve this using the following techniques:

Developing fluency, knowledge and understanding of a skill whilst encouraging a “Learning Without Limits” attitude
Using manipulatives to enhance understanding and provide visual representation
Providing opportunities for pupils to use the Concrete, Pictorial Abstract approach
Applying the concept to a variety of problems with increasing sophistication, including in unfamiliar contexts and to model real-life scenarios
Mastering the concept

Our mathematics curriculum complies with The 2019 Primary National Curriculum in England. To ensure that there is adequate time for developing mathematic skills mathematics is taught for a minimum of 1 hour per day as a focus session and other opportunities throughout the curriculum are provided to develop mathematical skills. Immediate intervention and SEND interventions are planned and monitored appropriately to support progress.

Teachers at William Bellamy aim to ensure that throughout the school pupils are given opportunities for:

practical activities and mathematical games
problem solving
investigations
individual, paired, group and whole class discussions and activities
open and closed tasks
a range of methods of calculating
working with computers as a mathematical tool

Impact

The impact of our curriculum on pupils’ development of mathematical knowledge and skills is measured formatively and summatively. Regular and ongoing assessment by teachers and the use of Nationally benchmarked assessments informs teaching, as well as intervention, to support and enable progress and outcomes. Summative assessments are undertaken termly in mathematics and in-school moderation of teachers’ assessments is conducted by year group teams, the Maths Lead and SLT. SLT rigorously monitor teaching and learning to ensure that pupils make good progress across the school. In Early Years, a mixture of child-initiated and quality teacher-led learning enables pupils to progress to achieving the Early Learning Goals in mathematics. At the end of KS2 we aim for pupils to be fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics with a conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately. Pupils should have the skills to solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of situations with increasing sophistication, including in unfamiliar contexts and to model real-life scenarios. Pupils will be able to reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry and develop and present a justification, argument or proof using mathematical language. Upon completion of Year 6, our curriculum enables pupils to be fully prepared and equipped to successfully continue their mathematical learning journey at secondary school and in their later lives.