Our Intent for Maths
At Woolston CE Primary School we provide a caring and enriching inclusive environment where all children have the confidence to succeed in maths. Our curriculum builds carefully on work from previous years to enable children to know more and remember more, supporting and challenging children to ensure every child achieves their potential. We intend for children to become fluent in the range of mathematical ideas in the National Curriculum; being able to recall and use knowledge such as key number facts quickly and accurately and to use efficient methods. We want children to be able to use their knowledge of facts and efficient methods to reason mathematically and to be able to present and explain their thinking. We know that maths is essential in all areas of life and so want all children to be able to apply their mathematical knowledge to a range of problems across different areas of life, breaking problems into a series of steps and approaching problems in different ways showing perseverance and resilience. Throughout school, we aim for all members of the school community to have a positive relationship with maths which will stay with them as life-long learners.
Mathematics Curriculum Overview
Maths Pedagogy
At Woolston CE Primary School we take a mastery approach to maths, using White Rose maths as a starting point to cover the objectives of the national curriculum. In all year groups, we have daily whole class maths lessons where all children learn together. We support children in learning new content by ensuring a coherent learning progression with small steps through the curriculum. Lessons generally begin with a hook/in focus task to instantly engage children, these could be to recap prior knowledge or pose a problem which links to new learning in the lesson. We use the CPA approach, moving from concrete to pictorial to abstract at the child’s pace. Maths lessons involve key questions and lots of discussion between the children as we want them to be able to explain their thinking and make connections. We often mark work together throughout the lesson, and teaching staff are able to provide in lesson intervention to support children who need additional help. Lessons also include challenge activities linked to the learning for the day, giving some children further opportunities to explain things mathematically. We have a school calculation policy which explains the steps we take in getting children ready to use efficient formal methods and we encourage parents to be familiar with these when supporting their child at home. We are part of the Turing NW Maths Hub, supporting teachers to achieve high standards of teaching and learning.