Maths

Intent Why do we teach this? Why do we teach it in the way we do?

Mathematics is an important creative discipline that helps us to understand and change the world. We want all pupils at St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary School to experience the beauty, power and enjoyment of mathematics and develop a sense of curiosity about the subject with a clear understanding.

At St Thomas’ we foster positive can do attitudes and we promote the fact that ‘We can all do maths!’ We believe all children can achieve in mathematics, and teach for secure and deep understanding of mathematical concepts through manageable steps. We use mistakes and misconceptions as an essential part of learning and provide challenge through rich and sophisticated problems. At our school, the majority of children will be taught the content from their year group only. They will spend time becoming true masters of content, applying and being creative with new knowledge in multiple ways.

We aim for all pupils to:

• become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics so that they develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.

• be able to solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of problems with increasing sophistication, including in unfamiliar contexts and to model real-life scenarios

• reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry and develop and present a justification, argument or proof using mathematical language.

• have an appreciation of number and number operations, which enables mental calculations and written procedures to be performed efficiently, fluently and accurately to be successful in mathematics.

Implementation What do we teach? What does this look like?

Our whole curriculum is shaped by our school vision which aims to enable all children, regardless of background, ability, additional needs, to flourish to become the very best version of themselves they can possibly be.

We teach the National Curriculum, supported by clear skills and knowledge of progression. This ensures that skills and knowledge are built on year by year and sequenced appropriately to maximise learning for all children.

Maths Lesson: Unit planning based on National Curriculum Statements through manageable steps. We follow White Rose Maths schemes of teaching and learning..

Each Mathematics session lasts for approximately 1 hour and Support is determined during each session to ensure secure understanding based on the needs of the child. Challenge is visible throughout the whole session, where children are asked to reason and prove their understanding at a deeper secure level.

Maths Lessons: These are designed to support and challenge. Teach it, practice it, do it, Tackle misconceptions (True/False, Spot the mistake, Explain why and Prove it) and then deepen your understanding.

Arithmetic Skills Sessions:- Arithmetic/Intervention/Practise/Problem solving. Re-cap on previous learning from Maths lessons or key learning areas such as number bonds, doubles, times tables, quick re-call division facts etc. Teachers are encouraged to tackle misconceptions and consolidate learning if not understood in the morning teaching session.

Impact

What will this look like? By the time children leave our school they will:

By the end of KS2 we aim for children to be fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics with a conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately. They should have the skills to solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of situations with increasing sophistication, including in unfamiliar contexts and to model real-life scenarios. Children will be able to reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry and develop and present a justification, argument or proof using mathematical language.