Sherwood Park Primary School

‘Every child has an enquiring mind about the world and their place in it.'

At Sherwood Park the intent of our Maths curriculum is to promote enjoyment of learning through practical activity, exploration and discussion as this allows children to make sense of the world around them in a way that is memorable and meaningful. We aim to develop confidence and competence with numbers and the number system through rapid recall as well as developing their conceptual understanding in order to solve problems through decision-making and reasoning in a range of contexts. We intend to help children understand the importance of mathematics in everyday life in order for them to become global citizens who are equipped with the skills and knowledge to succeed in future life.

Intent

• At Sherwood Park Primary School, our intent for mathematics is to teach a rich, balanced and progressive curriculum using Maths to; reason, problem solve and develop fluent conceptual understanding in each area. Teachers and governors are kept regularly informed of developments in our frequently reviewed curriculum. Teachers are supported and aided in their roles ensuring confidence in the skills and facts they are required to teach. Lessons are child focused and maths is kept fun and current in school.
•  Our curriculum allows children to better make sense of the world around them relating the pattern between mathematics and everyday life. Our policies, resources and schemes support our vision e.g. our calculations policy, White Rose Maths, NCETM Teaching for Mastery.
• The mapping of Mathematics across school shows clear progression in line with age related expectations. Pupils are challenged and we believe in a child led approach whereby pupils can take ownership of their learning, choosing their own level of task whilst those who are identified as SEND or underachieving are supported completely, revisiting learning where needed.
•  Mathematics in our school is enhanced by our class working walls designed to aid children through each topic and through our TT Rockstars competitions outside of school.

Implementation

• Subject expertise allows the intentions of our mathematics curriculum to be executed successfully. CPD is important in maths and all staff are being encouraged to raise any issues they have within mathematics in order to ensure everyone is confident in what they teach.  Good practice is always shared between staff and all CPD is used to inform teaching and learning across school.
• Staff have several materials to refer to for short-term planning including White Rose Maths and NCETM Teaching for Mastery – these are used across KS1 and KS2 allowing children to be exposed to a variety of different types of learning and problems. Teachers also implement the schools agreed calculations policy for progression in written and mental calculations. Our year group Assertive Mentoring tests, as well as KAS (Knowledge and Skills) checks, help teachers to gather an understanding of their pupil’s existing understanding of topics. Formative assessment is incredibly important at Sherwood Park Primary School where we focus on challenge questions, extension work, mini plenaries and discussion with peers.
• Children are given opportunity to reason and solve problems regularly; learning is varied and allows for deep and secure understanding. Both greater depth and struggling learners are given small group, 1-2-1 and/or timetabled intervention in order to ensure every child is reaching their full mathematical potential. Our monitoring is reviewed regularly and target children are selected for further support.
• Parents are informed of and encouraged to be involved in our school mathematics implementation through maths homework, TT Rockstars challenges, parent’s evenings and yearly reports. Teachers are also all available for parents to speak to both before and after school.
• Teachers develop fluency through practicing key skills, repeating, reinforcing and revising which is all built in to formal planning across school. Children are given time to practice and perfect their calculation strategies including giving pupils opportunity to make appropriate decisions when estimating, calculating and evaluating the effectiveness of their chosen methods.
• Feedback is given to ensure pupils are well informed and making visible progress. Investigative tasks are designed to allow pupils to follow lines of enquiry and develop their own ideas, justifying and proving their answers. Children work both collaboratively and independently solving problems, which require them to persevere and develop resilience.

Impact

• The impact of our mathematics curriculum is that children understand the relevance of what they are learning in relation to real world concepts. We have fostered an environment where Maths is fun and it is OK to be ‘wrong’ because the journey to finding an answer is most important.
• Our children have a growth mindset and they make measurable progression against their own targets. Our maths books demonstrate a range of activities showing evidence of fluency, reasoning and problem solving. Our feedback and interventions are supporting children to strive to be the best mathematicians they can be ensuring a greater proportion of children are on track and working at greater depth.
• Children ‘have a go’ and choose the equipment they need to help them to learn along with the strategies they think are best suited to each problem. Children are developing skills in being articulate and are able to reason verbally, pictorially and in written form.