Maths

 Mathematics

At Landewedndack CP School we teach a maths ‘mastery’ curriculum; we focus on depth of understanding and ensure key mathematical concepts are fully grasped before moving on. It is not just about ‘rote learning’ (although we strongly encourage practice of number facts and times tables!), but about ensuring children have a secure understanding of each maths unit taught and can apply mathematical concepts to a variety of contexts.

We base our maths planning on the White Rose scheme, which follows the mastery approach focussing on three concepts that help our children to work towards maths mastery:

Problem Solving

Through problem-solving lessons and activities, children are encouraged to use their mathematical skills and understanding to solve problems unfamiliar to them.

Reasoning

Maths reasoning tasks get children thinking about number problems logically so they can reach conclusions, find solutions and decide which methods to use and why.

Fluency

Fluency tasks help children strengthen their foundational knowledge; it is about developing number sense and being able to choose the most appropriate method for the task at hand- to be able to apply a skill to multiple contexts.  The National Curriculum states that pupils should become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics through varied and frequent practice.

CPA

To help our children develop their conceptual understanding of maths we use a concrete- pictorial- abstract (CPA) approach; this ensures our children have a secure understanding before moving on.

For example, we introduce fractions through hands-on activities and visual representations before progressing to more abstract concepts.     

At Landewednack we aim to nurture a love for mathematics and equip our children with the tools they need to succeed, in a subject that is often seen as challenging, in school and in life.

We strive to ensure our children develop the key characteristics of a mathematician:

  • Confident and able to recall and apply mathematical knowledge in different contexts
  • Able to explain their methods and thinking processes and apply skills in context
  • Fluent in different areas of maths
  • Strong grasp of Maths concepts/ processes
  • Efficient in applying problem-solving and reasoning skills
  • Independent mathematical thinker
  • Able to make rich connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence in solving increasingly sophisticated problems.
  • Able to apply their mathematical knowledge to science and other subjects.
  • Knows how maths is connected to many other areas of the curriculum and in everyday life.
  • Sees maths as fun and enjoyable
 

What does maths look like at Landewednack?

Early Years Foundation Stage (Nursery and Reception)

EYFS Statutory Educational Programme: “Developing a strong grounding in number is essential so that all children develop the necessary building blocks to excel mathematically. Children should be able to count confidently, develop a deep understanding of the numbers to 10, the relationships between them and the patterns within those numbers”.

Mathematical learning in the EYFS takes place both indoors and outdoors through a wide range of practical ‘hands on’ activities.  Staff plan so that the learning environment provides opportunities for children to explore different aspects of number and shape, space and measure and learn new concepts.  We provide a wealth of high quality structured play resources throughout the year- this is called ‘continuous provision’.  The adults model the use of these resources and use appropriate mathematical language during play.

In addition to continuous provision, staff plan adult-led activities based on the EYFS framework, their observations of what children know and can do, and their next steps of learning.  To help prepare the children for Year One, White Rose is used as a basis when planning Reception lessons. 

KS1 and KS2

Developing fluency, problem solving, reasoning and mathematical vocabulary is a priority within our maths lessons.  Teachers challenge children to explain their reasoning, prove their theories and articulate their learning. Children have the opportunity to use manipulatives (practical resources) to support their learning and lessons are linked to real life maths.

We base our lessons on the Truro and Penwith Academy Trust 'Pillars of Pedagogy':

Direct teaching, independent practice, effective feedback and assessment:

We supplement our lessons with resources chosen to meet the needs of cohorts and individual children. We aim for the children to ‘keep up, not catch up’ therefore assessment and feedback is ‘in the moment’.  On Fridays, bespoke learning takes place based on formative assessment from that week.  This includes re-teaching, tutoring, applying skills in different contexts to embed knowledge and ‘deepening the learning’.  We don’t rush through units but ensure children have fully grasped each concept.

As part of the Truro Penwith Academy Trust, we are lucky enough to be part of the Advantage Project; children in KS2 have use of iPads to enhance their learning.  These are used to give feedback to the children, to enable children to see slides and content at their own pace, to aid assessment and to have access to ‘virtual’ manipulatives, resources and maths apps such as ‘Times Tables Rock Stars’ and ‘Stick and Split’.

Teachers use the White Rose framework as a starting point but may use other resources to best suit the lesson and the cohort.

Please see the long-term plan below but note that the blocks may be taught at different times depending on the needs of the children and the continuous assessments carried out. 

Maths topics are broken down into small steps, these can be seen below and on the ‘S-plans’ in your child’s classroom. Again, other materials may be used to consolidate and supplement.

In addition to our daily maths lessons, we follow the ‘Number Sense’ fluency programme, children then progress to the ‘Number Sense’ multiplication programme. 

See below for our fluency plan.

SEND

Children with special educational needs are supported in many ways; some of the ways we may support your child are included below, however each child is individual and support will be tailored to meet the needs of each child:

  •        Chunking lessons into smaller steps
  •        Pre and post teach
  •        IPad accessibility tools
  •        One to one tutoring
  •        Well-designed resources and lesson adaptations.
  •        Maths probems or questions being rephrased
  •        Visual highlighting of key words/ concepts
  •        Flexible groupings to help scaffold learning
 
 

For additional information and links to support you to support your child at home, please click on the images below:

1-minute maths app from White Rose helps children build greater number confidence and fluency.  It’s all about targeted practice in engaging, one-minute chunks!

See your child’s teacher for a unique 3-word code to access the app

White Rose’s ‘Maths with Michael’- a mini-series to help you to support your children in six topics of maths:

  •        Place Value
  •        Subtraction
  •        Multiplication
  •        Division
  •        Fractions
  •        Algebra

The videos talk through the topics, how they are taught at school and give you a link to a parent guide and resources for each topic.

Times Tables Rock Stars
See your child's teacher for your child's log in details

White Rose digital tools

See your child’s teacher for your child's unique 3-word code to access the tools

For our early years children-  Numberblocks- Learn how much fun counting can be with the Numberblocks- a fun-loving group of numbers who work together to solve problems big and small!