Mathematics

Mathematics at Four Lanes Infant School

Mathematics in Action!

Mathematics at Four Lanes Infant School

Intent

At Four Lanes Infant School, it is our aim to provide children with a high-quality, challenging and relevant Mathematics curriculum, developing the strong foundations that they will need as they progress with learning and using mathematics in life. The carefully designed learning journey will enable children to become fluent in the fundamentals of maths, in terms of both facts and procedures, with the ability to recall, choose and apply knowledge appropriately, rapidly and accurately. Children will be taught to reason mathematically by justifying, making links to known facts, or with simple proofs, using accurate mathematical language, both verbally and in written form. Understanding of concepts will be embedded and deepened through solving problems, allowing pupils to apply their mathematical skills and knowledge with increasing confidence and flexibility.  Links with other subjects will be highlighted and skills and mathematical knowledge will be applied in meaningful ways. We want pupils to be enthusiastic about and enjoy doing maths, and to grasp its importance and relevance, understanding how and why what they learn now will help them in their lives to come.

Implementation

At Four Lanes Infant School, our mathematics curriculum is delivered through Teaching for Mastery, led by a Primary Mastery Specialist Teacher trained by the NCETM. All children have daily, discrete maths lessons which are carefully designed to lead pupils through the new maths being taught. Lessons are active and have a strong focus on ‘doing‘ maths, with pupils practically exploring a wide range of concrete resources, representations and images, which have been specially selected to expose the underlying mathematical structure of the concept being taught, in order to build depth of understanding and fluency. Mathematical talk is highly-valued and children develop their verbal reasoning through targeted questionning and being supported to explain and justify their ideas fully. This is underpinned by the use of stem sentences and generalisations as well as the modelling and expectation of children using precise mathematical vocabulary accurately and appropriately.

The curriculum is designed around the mastery model of longer units of learning, enabling concepts to be explored in more depth with the aim of developing stronger conceptual understanding. We follow the White Rose Maths Schemes of Learning, along with NCETM resources in year R, which break down domains or concepts into small steps of learning, with pupils mastering each small step before building upon it with the next step in their learning journey. Links are also made to previously taught concepts and knowledge. Additionally, we deliver the NCETM Mastering Number programme throughout the school, which has the primary focus of developing improved number fluency. This programme takes the form of an extra 10-15 minute maths fluency session 4-times a week, separate to the main maths lesson, prioritising mathematical talk, reasoning and making connections for pupils. This helps pupils develop depeer understanding and security in number which in turn reduces the congnitive load in solving harder maths. In this way, children develop fluency and security in their maths, which in turn builds their confidence and eagerness to take on their next challenge.

In Early Years, our young mathematicians develop skills and conceptual understanding in the fundamentals of mathematics, such as counting, subitising, composition and conservation of number, early calculation using addition and subtraction, as well as pattern, shape and measure. They are provided with many exciting opportunities, through planned purposeful play and a mix of adult-led and child-initiated learning activities, both inside the classroom and in our fantastic outdoor learning environment. Use of engaging hooks such as the Number Blocks characters with the associated NCETM resources, as well as songs, stories, rhymes and real-life contexts help make the maths meaningful for even our youngest pupils and keeps them enthusiastic and engaged in their learning and play.

Moving into Key Stage 1, lessons follow an ‘I do, We do, You do‘ model. They begin with a fluency practice session, followed by a longer guided practice session, with pupils engaging actively in doing practical maths led by the teacher, before securing their maths through independent practice, which may involve outdoor learning opportunities, particularly in Year 1. Children build on their strong early years foundations to further develop their understanding of number and place-value, calculation, measures and geometry. In calculation, they learn how to add and subtract 2-digit numbers and learn multiplication and division within the 2, 5 and 10 times tables, as well as to use simple fractions. Emphasis is placed on securing key number facts and procedural fluency, in order to enable pupils to progress to calculating efficiently choosing appropriate strategies. Number fact fluency is developed through pupils engaging in a fluency focus starter within each lesson, allowing opportunities for spaced retrieval over time, but also through our fluency scheme, Wild Maths Quest, which gives pupils regular additional practice of mental calculation and which builds in difficulty throughout Key Stage 1. Pupils will also further develop their problem-solving and reasoning skills, moving into written reasoning when they are ready. Within the curriculum, key skills and knowledge are revisited and revised at different points in order to maintain and develop what pupils have previously learned. This is achieved through the careful design of lessons and practice exercises to incorporate previously taught domains but can also be through discrete revision opportunities.

Pupils who experience significant difficulties in mathematics may need to follow a modified curriculum, in order to meet their individual needs whilst still securing progress for them.

Pupils in KS1 are assessed daily in lessons by teachers, but additionally through the use of PUMA Rising Stars termly assessments, in order to identify gaps in understanding or fluency which can then be addressed through modifying lessons or through catch-up interventions and practise.

Impact

Pupils in KS1 are assessed daily in lessons by teachers, but additionally through the use of PUMA Rising Stars termly assessments, in order to identify gaps in understanding or fluency which can then be addressed through modifying lessons or through catch-up interventions and practise.

At the end of Year 2, it is a statutory requirement that pupils have formal Teacher Assessments in mathematics using the statutory Teacher Assessment Frameworks (TAF) documents and SATs. The mathematics TAF focuses on certain key aspects of the mathematics curriculum for the specific purpose of making end-of-key stage assessments, but it is important to note that it does not cover all of the content of the national curriculum.

A child assessed as meeting age-related expectations for the end of KS1 (as specified by the TAF) will be able to do all of the following:

• read and write numbers in numerals up to 100
• partition a two-digit number into tens and ones to demonstrate an understanding of place value, though they may use structured resources 1 to support them
• add and subtract two-digit numbers and ones, and two-digit numbers and tens, where no regrouping is required, explaining their method verbally, in pictures or using apparatus (e.g. 23 + 5; 46 + 20; 16 – 5; 88 – 30)
• recall at least four of the six number bonds for 10 and reason about associated facts (e.g. 6 + 4 = 10 , therefore 4 + 6 = 10 and 10 - 6 = 4)
• count in twos, fives and tens from 0 and use this to solve problems
• know the value of different coins
• name some common 2 of the D and 3D shapes from a group of shapes or from pictures shapes and describe some of their properties (e.g. triangles, rectangles, squares, circles, cuboids, cubes, pyramids and spheres).

A child assessed as working towards age-related expectations for the end of KS1 (as specified by the TAF) will be able to do all of the following:

• read scales in divisions of ones, twos, fives and tens
• partition any two-digit number into different combinations of tens and ones, explaining their thinking verbally, in pictures or using apparatus
• add and subtract any 2 two-digit numbers using an efficient strategy, explaining their method verbally, in pictures or using apparatus (e.g. 48 + 35; 72 – 17)
• recall all number bonds to and within 10 and use these to reason with and calculate bonds to and within 20, recognising other associated additive relationships (e.g. If 7 + 3 = 10, then 17 + 3 = 20; if 7 – 3 = 4, then 17 – 3 = 14; leading to if 14 + 3 = 17, then 3 + 14 = 17, 17 – 14 = 3 and 17 – 3 = 14)
• recall multiplication and division facts for 2, 5 and 10 and use them to solve simple problems, demonstrating an understanding of commutativity as necessary
• identify 1/4 , 1/3 , 1/2 , 2/4 , 3/4 of a number or shape, and know that all parts must be equal parts of the whole
• use different coins to make the same amount
• read the time on a clock to the nearest 15 minutes
• name and describe properties of 2-D and 3-D shapes, including number of sides, vertices, edges, faces and lines of symmetry. 

A child assessed as working at greater depth than age-related expectations for the end of KS1 (as specified by the TAF) will be able to do all of the following:

• read scales where not all numbers on the scale are given and estimate points in between
• recall and use multiplication and division facts for 2, 5 and 10 and make deductions outside known multiplication facts
• use reasoning about numbers and relationships to solve more complex problems and explain their thinking (e.g. 29 + 17 = 15 + 4 + ; ‘together Jack and Sam have £14. Jack has £2 more than Sam. How much money does Sam have?’ etc.)
• solve unfamiliar word problems that involve more than one step (e.g. ‘which has the most biscuits, 4 packets of biscuits with 5 in each packet or 3 packets of biscuits with 10 in each packet?’)
• read the time on a clock to the nearest 5 minutes
• describe similarities and differences of 2-D and 3-D shapes, using their properties (e.g. that two different 2-D shapes both have only one line of symmetry; that a cube and a cuboid have the same number of edges, faces and vertices, but different dimensions).