Intent 

Stratton Primary School aims to deliver an inclusive mathematical curriculum in line with the requirements of the 2024 Early Years Foundation Stage Framework and the 2014 National Curriculum Mathematics Programmes of Study.

At Stratton Primary School, we aspire to embed a ‘can do’ resilient attitude where children perceive themselves as mathematicians by becoming fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, reasoning mathematically and solving problems. We strive to broaden children’s knowledge and understanding of how mathematics is used in the wider world to ensure they all have equal opportunities to achieve economic well-being in the future.

Implementation 

The maths team ensures the delivery of a high quality mastery curriculum through:

Teaching and Learning

Lesson design

Stratton Primary use the mastery approach to maths where children who are confident and fluent in a concept, deepen their understanding through reasoning and problem solving activities. Some children will spend longer cementing their fluency and may not always reach reasoning and problem solving activities. However, children are expected to be exposed to these types of questions which teachers plan and cater for within inputs and plenaries.

Lessons are planned and delivered using small steps guidance from White Rose accessible from:

https://whiterosemaths.com/resources/primary Teacher can choose to use a mixture of the resources White Rose provide to ensure their lesson best suits the needs of their class and that it also complements Stratton’s Calculation Policy (see below for more information). Teachers should plan collaboratively in teams to ensure children receive age-related learning and there is consistency between parallel classes.

Lessons should always start with a Flashback 4 slide (to retrieve previous knowledge). Lessons should then introduce the new learning through a mixture of fluency and reasoning and problem solving questions. Teachers should regularly check pupils’ understanding throughout their input. At the end of the input an ‘I Do, You Do’ slide should be used. This allows teachers to model how to unpick and answer a reasoning and problem solving question before allowing the children to practice the skill for themselves.

Calculation Policy

To support children with their mathematics, children build upon the use of concrete, pictorial and abstract methods. Children will be expected to use manipulatives to secure their understanding of concepts and over the course of a block build up to using more formal methods. The methods developed in the calculation policy show clear progression between year groups which are mostly in line with the small step approach in White Rose. Some methods outlined in White Rose do not fit the School’s calculation policy and need to be adapted to fit with the School’s policy.

Mental Maths

At Stratton Primary School, we follow an arithmetic programme to embed fluency. We believe number is at the heart of the curriculum and children must have a secure understanding of numbers, and their position along the linear system, to develop confidence and accuracy in maths, to therefore, become competent in their application.

Children in Reception and Key Stage 1, complete Mastering Number sessions 4 times a week for 10-15 minutes. These sessions focus on developing good number sense and automaticity, alongside building the children’s knowledge of how to work flexibly with numbers.

In Key Stage 2, children complete daily fluent in 5 sessions as they arrive in school. These are then worked through together as a class, highlighting any misconceptions.

• Children in Y3-Y6 will complete 5 fluency questions each day. These are appropriate to the year group and should address any gaps in prior knowledge as well as embedding new content. 
• Following assessment, Fluent in 5 sessions should be adapted for each class in order to address misconceptions (see below).

            Online platforms too support fluency

            Numbots

Numbots will be used by all of Key Stage 1 to support the development of addition and subtraction concepts and automaticity. The story mode focuses on understanding the mastery concepts of addition and subtraction through visual representations and introducing different calculation strategies. The challenge mode is designed to develop rapid responses to build automaticity through a timed element. Children will begin this scheme in the Summer Term of Reception and will travel through Key Stage 1 increasing their knowledge as they progress further. If further practise is still needed after Year 2, this programme can still be used right up until Year 6.

            Times Tables Rock Stars (TTRS)

The school uses the TTRS platform in order to further promote the secure recall of times tables. The       platform will help track and assess children’s progress with recall and speed in preparation for the multiplication tables check by the end of Year 4. Children in KS2 are expected to have one 20 minute block a fortnight to practice their times tables on the Garage section of the platform TTRS – this will ensure the programme tailors the children’s homework appropriate to target their individual specific gaps.

Once a month, the KS2 children need to complete a ‘Gig’. This takes 5 minutes, progressively works through the tables in order and there are 100 questions in total. Teachers should then analyse this data to check for children’s progress and identify any children who may need more specific support. These can then be discussed with the maths team.

Impact 

The maths team monitors the impact and implementation of this policy through:

• Lesson observations
• Learning walks
• Work scrutinies/pupil conferencing
• Data analysis

As a result of the monitoring process, pupil progress and attainment are tracked rigorously by middle and senior leaders.

All teachers report pupil attainment in maths to parents annually.

Maths at home 

Has maths changed?

We understand that many parents feel like maths has changed and that it’s sometimes difficult to keep up to date with modern teaching methods.

The following link contains videos to help parents to understand the mathematical concepts and the ways in which they are taught across the school in line with the White Rose Scheme of work we follow:

https://whiteroseeducation.com/parent-pupil-resources/maths/maths-with-michael