Maths

Maths Overview

INTENT:

At Ringwood Junior School children will be given the opportunity to develop mastery in mathematics. Pupil’s confidence will develop through the use of varied and stimulating teaching strategies, a range of teaching resources and by motivating and challenging pupils.  The school aims to work in partnership with pupils and parents, encouraging each child in a sense of achievement. Our mathematics curriculum aims to:

• Develop pupil’s number fluency through varied and frequent practice.
• Encourage the children to reason mathematically by explaining, justifying and proving their thoughts and calculations.
• Allow the children to solve mathematical problems by applying calculations to problems and by breaking problems into smaller steps and being resilient.

Throughout the children’s time with us, we will foster lifelong learning in mathematics by emphasising the importance of it in their day-to-day lives, while encouraging them to develop a love of maths.

IMPLEMENTATION:

Maths is taught daily across the school. In all year groups the children are taught as mixed ability classes. .

The various strands of maths are taught in blocks, varying in length depending on the strand. The strands of mathematics are:

• Number and place value
• Addition and subtraction
• Multiplication and division
• Fractions, decimals and percentages
• Measurement
• Geometry
• Statistics
• Ratio and proportion (year 6 only)
• Algebra (year 6 only)

Although the strands are taught in blocks, the inter-connectivity between the areas are strong and are brought together through problem solving activities.

Across the school, there will be two early morning sessions (8.20-8.40am) maintenance of key facts fluency activity.  In year 3 and 4 this will be on a rotation of five key areas: times tables, counting up and down, number bonds, language of shape and time and calendar.  In year 5 and 6, this will take the form of a series of mental arithmetic questions.  At the beginning of each maths lesson, for retrieval practice, there will be a problem, which the children will solve. This is called the MMM. The question does not have to be related to the current strand of maths being taught, as it encourages the children to think back to previous maths taught and make connections in their learning.  This is marked with the children and there is a discussion about the methods used to solve the problem.

The remainder of the lesson is spent learning about an element of the current strand of maths. The teaching and learning is supported by using concrete resources, pictorial representations leading onto the abstract mathematics. There will be an element of fluency to practice the new skills, followed by reasoning and/or problem solving related to the learning in that lesson.  The reasoning/problem solving helps the children think deeper and challenges thinking. We think it is important for children to develop subject knowledge skills that will help them become a true mathematician.

There are a number of resources, which must be available to the children displayed in the classroom, including an age-appropriate numberline, questions, reasoning sentence starters and class clock to help with the children’s independence in their learning. We are committed to using a range of models and images to support understanding.

Problem solving skills are explicitly taught each half term, through activities on the ‘Nrich’ website and the children are encouraged to use these strategies in their maths lessons.

The correct use and spelling of mathematical vocabulary is developed by providing language on the children's learning journeys which are in their maths books (along with the working walls).

During year 3 and 4, in one lesson per week, the children will be explicitly taught skills to learn their time tables.  As part of this the children work through a series of ‘times table challenge’booklets. This is a progression through the times tables, with children receiving a certificate at the end of each level. Children also have full access to ‘Times Tables Rockstars’ – a fun, interactive website, paid for by the school, to help them learn their times tables.

Homework is set each week on ‘Mathletics’ – a website which provides activities aligned to each year group’s objectives. The homework gives the children an opportunity to practice a skill learnt at school. Children with no access to the internet at home, are given the opportunity to complete at school.

Some SEND children or children working below ARE, will receive additional support, in and out of lesson time. These children will be decided by discussion between year teams. Booster groups are run by teachers and LSA’s to help children to progress. This can be in the form of pre-teaching or over-learning.

Children’s progress is monitored through their work in their works by class teachers. Learning is formally assessed using NFER test twice per year (at beginning of spring term and towards the end of summer term).

The subject is monitored through regular book looks, learning walks (by SLT, year leaders or maths leader) and pupil conferencing.