Aspiration
Knowledge
Achievement

Maths – curriculum information

Intent:

At Bricknell Primary School, the teaching of maths has been carefully considered to enable our pupils to become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, through varied and frequent practice and with the challenge of increasingly complex problems over time. Developing mathematical reasoning skills, children follow lines of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations and develop arguments and justification based on their mathematical knowledge.

At Bricknell Primary School, our maths curriculum follows the sequence of White Rose. This sequence has been refined by our highly skilled subject leaders in order to meet the needs of every child at the school. The subject leaders have then carefully worked to create a Progressive Skills Document where objectives for each year group are progressively mapped out to ensure our pupils are given the acquired skills and knowledge to further enhance their education journey into mathematics at KS3.

Our aim is to provide inclusive and aspirational environments and learning experiences where pupils thrive and build the cultural capital they need to make aspirational choices about their own futures, overcoming any barriers. In order to achieve this, our curriculum is underpinned by the principles highlighted in our Aspiration Curriculum.

Bricknell Aspiration Curriculum

  • Please click the image to enlarge

Within the maths Progressive Skills Document, our progressive objectives identify what pupils should know by the end of each year group and link to their prior learning. These enable teachers to identify and plug gaps in pupil’s knowledge and skills. Within maths, pupils will develop a deep understanding of Key concepts and Second order concepts. These key concepts have been carefully considered and identified as the core knowledge and skills required to successfully achieve in Maths. The key concepts are revisited and developed as the pupils move through the school to ensure their knowledge and skills are firmly embedded within their long term memory. These key concepts compliment work carried out across the school in line with the Aspiration Curriculum. The expectation is that, by the end of Primary School, children will know and understand these key concepts and will give them a solid foundation to enter the maths curriculum at KS3.

In addition to first order key concepts, the subject leaders have identified subject specific second order concepts. These can be used across all aspects of a subject to organise the substantive knowledge and skills taught.

Key concepts:

• Number and Place Value
• Addition and Subtraction
• Multiplication and Division
• Geometry
• Statistics
• Shape
• Measures
• Fractions, Decimals and Percentages

Second order concepts:
These can be used across all aspects of a subject to organise the substantiative knowledge taught.

• Arithmetic Skills
• Fluency
• Application
• Reasoning and Problem Solving

By the end of EYFS children will:

Have a secure understanding of Number and Numerical Patterns across the EYFS Framework. Children will have a deep understanding of numbers to 10, being able to develop their skill of subitising up to 5 as well as automatically recalling number bonds up to 5 and even 10. Furthermore, children will be able to verbally count beyond 20, recognising the counting system, comparing quantities up to 10 in various contexts and exploring and representing numbers within 10, including odds, evens and doubles. The EYFS children will use every day language to talk about size, weight, capacity, position, distance, time and money to compare quantities and objects in order to help them solve problems. They will recognise, create and describe patterns, exploring characteristics of everyday objects and shapes, using their mathematical language to describe them.

By the end of Key Stage 1 children will:

Develop confidence and mental fluency with whole numbers, counting and place value. This should involve working with numerals, words and the four operations, including with practical resources, e.g. concrete objects and measuring tools. Pupils should develop their ability to recognise, describe, draw, compare and sort different shapes and use the related vocabulary. They should also use a range of measures to describe and compare different quantities such as length, mass, capacity/volume, time and money. By the end of year 2, pupils should know their number bonds to 20 and be precise in using and understanding place value. An emphasis on practice at this early stage will aid fluency. Pupils should read and spell mathematical vocabulary at a level consistent with their increasing word reading and spelling knowledge at key stage 1.

By the end of Lower Key Stage 2 children will:

Become increasingly fluent with whole numbers and the four operations, including number facts and the concept of place value. They will develop efficient written and mental methods and perform calculations accurately with increasingly large whole numbers. Pupils should develop their ability to solve a range of problems, including with simple fractions and decimal place value. Pupils will have the opportunity to draw with increasing accuracy and develop mathematical reasoning so they can analyse shapes and their properties and confidently describe the relationships between them. It should ensure that they can use measuring instruments with accuracy and make connections between measure and number. By the end of year 4, pupils should have instant recall of their multiplication tables up to and including the 12 multiplication table and show precision and fluency in their work. Pupils should read and spell mathematical vocabulary correctly and confidently using their growing word reading knowledge and their knowledge of spelling.

By the end of Upper Key Stage 2 children will:

Extend their understanding of the number system and place value to include larger integers. This should develop the connections that pupils make between multiplication and division with fractions, decimals, percentages and ratio. Pupils should develop their ability to solve a wider range of problems, including increasingly complex properties of numbers and arithmetic, and problems demanding efficient written and mental methods of calculation. With this foundation in arithmetic, pupils are introduced to the language of algebra as a means for solving a variety of problems. Teaching in geometry and measures should consolidate and extend knowledge developed in number. Pupils will classify shapes with increasingly complex geometric properties and that they learn the required vocabulary they need to describe them. By the end of year 6, pupils should be fluent in written methods for all four operations, including long multiplication and division, and in working with fractions, decimals and percentages. Pupils should read, spell and pronounce mathematical vocabulary correctly.

Any child working below their age-related expectation, will receive a tailored curriculum with personalised objectives taken from the Curriculum Assessment Toolkit. This will enable all children to build the skills and knowledge needed to bridge the gap between themselves and their peers enabling them to reach their full potential.

Implementation:

At Bricknell Primary School, our curriculum is carefully mapped out into a Long Term Plan by our highly skilled subject coordinators. This enables links between subjects to be identified and carefully planned for to support pupil’s retention of knowledge and skills.

The academic year is broken down into strands of work which form the key concepts. Each strand and unit builds upon prior learning, within the current year group and from previous year groups.

At Bricknell, all maths lessons will follow the same teaching sequence outlined below:

All pupils take part in a daily maths lesson following the teaching sequence outlined above. All children will be exposed to a Fluency based activity, set at age related expectations. If children are unable to access this task, they will complete a pre fluency activity first ensuring the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to achieve the fluency task is worked towards. Children are then exposed to a wide range of fluency style questions within a range of everyday contexts. From here, pupils then progress on to applying their acquired skills within reasoning and problem solving style questions, ending their sequence with an increasingly complex investigation. Tackling progressively difficult problems, which draw upon learning and skills from many mathematical areas, children display confidence and efficiency in their work. All children will complete a Post Learning Assessment written by the White Rose Maths Hub. Questions are carefully chosen based on what the children have been exposed to over the course of their topic. They are accessible to all children, especially those who are visual learners. If errors have been made across the sequence of learning, high quality intervention is put in place to address these misconceptions made in order to move learning onwards. Not all pupils will complete all of the activities during a sequence of learning but it is important that all pupils are given the opportunity to access the Fluency and Application stages at an age related expectation, unless there is a significant SEN issue that prevents them from doing so.

Maths in EYFS is taught daily using Power Maths. This curriculum mastery program was designed by White Rose to spark curiosity and excitement. It is built around a child centered lesson design that models and embeds a growth mindset to allow for a deeper understanding of maths.

In addition to the dedicated maths hour, mental arithmetic practice is organised to occur 3 times a week during afternoons. Pupils will practice key arithmetic skills which are relevant to each child’s year group and their learning which they have either revisited or newly acquired.

To further enhance the children’s rapid recall of number facts, the children access Times Table Rock Stars which give the pupil’s unlimited opportunities online to apply their knowledge of all tables up to 12. As well as accessing the programme online, children are able to complete paper versions within their classroom, 3 times a week, (KS2). For children in KS2, a Times Table Rock Stars club is offered every playtime where children can practice their times table facts, enjoy playing games and battling against their peers and teachers. In KS1, the children focus on their rapid recall of number facts and times tables completing a weekly assessment. When staff believe the children are ready, they are then able to access the Times Table Rock Stars programme to embed their times tables further.

All children in EYFS, Year 1 and Year 2 complete an additional, daily, 15 minute maths less each afternoon endorsed by the NCETM. This programme further enhances and embeds the children’s mathematical skills using a variety of concepts within everyday contexts and manipulatives.

In the Autumn term, an information evening is held for the parents and carers of all new EYFS children. They are provided with an overview of maths in the reception year and given suggestions of further ideas for developing mathematical knowledge and understanding in a fun and practical way at home. Maths information evenings for the parents of the pupils throughout the whole school are also planned when appropriate.

Finally, teachers will seek to take advantage of opportunities to make cross curricular links. Staff will plan for pupils to practice and apply their skills, knowledge and understanding acquired through maths lessons in other areas of the curriculum.

Impact:

A wide range of strategies are used to measure the impact of our Maths curriculum.

Assessment forms an integral part of the teaching and learning of this subject. The formative assessment of maths is essential when identifying the strengths of individual children and their next steps. Post Learning assessments, created by the White Rose Maths Hub, are completed at the end of each topic to identify the progress pupils have made. Judgements are then triangulated against end of topic assessments, evidence in books and the Key Performance Indicators for each year group. The assessments give a clear learning journey of all pupils. If pupils have misconceptions or gaps in their subject knowledge, additional teaching and support is immediately provided. Summative judgements of maths are made each term with these being moderated to quality assure decisions. The progress of individual pupils are carefully monitored on a termly basis and those identified as not making progress are given high quality intervention. All children from Years 2 – 6 complete termly assessments. The data generated from these assessments are then analysed and actions put in place to move children forwards, ready for the next term. The formative assessments consist of White Rose Maths Hub papers for the Autumn and Spring terms then Optional SATs through TestBase for the Summer term. Pupils in Years 2 and 6 complete their Standard Assessment Tests (SATs) during the Summer term.

Our subject leaders will also monitor the effectiveness of the maths curriculum through carrying out regular subject 360 evaluations. These evaluations are quality assured by the Senior Leadership Team and Governors.

The effectiveness of maths is also monitored through pupil and parental voice throughout the course of the year.

Further information:

My son is extremely happy in all aspects of school.  Fantastic teacher and an excellent education. ‘

- parent comments

‘She is enjoying school a lot.  She is challenged appropriately and not over-loaded with homework.  She speaks positively about her time at the school and her teacher.’

- parent comments

I am delighted with how happy she is at school.  Her skills are clearly progressing and she is extremely well supported.  Her teacher clearly knows her very well.’

- parent comments

‘Thank you for helping us with her worries and for the support.’

- parent comments

I cannot fault the school or staff.  Everyone is very supportive.’

- parent comments

‘Any concerns raised have been dealt with swiftly.’

- parent comments

‘She is very happy at school and I only hear positive things.  Many thanks to all the teaching staff.’

- parent comments

Thank you so much to all of the  members of staff; our child is extremely happy here and we are very grateful.’

- parent comments

‘We are very happy with Bricknell as a whole.  He is becoming more confident and is well supported.  Thank you to all of the teachers.’

- parent comments

‘Very happy with my child’s start to year 5.’

- parent comments

‘We couldn’t be happier with the care and education my child has received so far.’

- parent comments

‘Positive environment and appropriate challenge for development, excellent.’

- parent comments