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Maths

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Our intent for Maths

At Atkinson Road we believe that Maths is a vital skill used in everyday life. Our aim is that all children have a love and confidence in Mathematical learning where they can use it across lots of different situations. We want children to be able to explain their mathematical thinking which provides a deeper understanding of the concepts taught. We accept that children make mistakes and we want them to analyse and learn from them; reasoning as they go along. At each stage of learning, the children should be able to demonstrate a deep conceptual understanding of the topic and build on small steps.

The children have a daily Maths lesson where they will be encouraged to work interactively, collaboratively and independently. They will be encouraged to be vocal in their lessons rehearsing concepts and posing questions. Our lesson design gives the children opportunities to recap and consolidate learning, apply what they have learnt, explore and understand key vocabulary and be reflective in their learning. Our lessons comprise of a recap starter, exploring the vocabulary, direct teaching and collaborative learning and independent practise using varying different tasks where appropriate.

Our implementation - Mastery Curriculum

At Atkinson Road we follow a mastery curriculum and use the White Rose Scheme to do this. When teaching Maths for mastery, the whole class moves through topics at broadly the same pace. White Rose Maths provides well sequences small steps so the children are constantly building on prior knowledge. Each topic is studied in-depth and the teacher does not move to the next stage until all children demonstrate that they have a secure understanding of mathematical concepts.

In a traditional primary school Maths lesson, children are put in different groups and given different content based on their anticipated ability. This means that from an early age, children are classed as those who can and those who can’t “do Maths”. Teaching Maths for mastery is different because it offers all pupils access to the full Maths curriculum. By having this inclusive approach builds self-confidence and resilience in pupils.

White Rose Maths

The scheme follows the CPA (concrete, pictorial and abstract) approach. At the start of each unit the children are practically introduced to the concept. This is known as the ‘concrete’ phase where children are ‘doing’ the Maths practically. Exploration of the key concept is introduced through practical real-life examples showing the children how the Maths relates to real life situations. For example, if a problem involves adding pieces of fruit, children can first handle actual fruit. From there, they can progress to handling abstract counters or cubes which represent the fruit.

Pictorial is the ‘seeing’ phase. Here, visual representations of concrete objects are used to model problems. This stage encourages children to make a mental connection between the physical object they just handled and the abstract pictures, diagrams or models that represent the objects from the problem. It encourages visualisation and aids children when faced with more complex and abstract problems.

Abstract is the “symbolic” stage, where children use abstract symbols to model problems. Children will not progress to this stage until they have demonstrated that they have a solid understanding of the concrete and pictorial stages of the problem. The abstract stage involves the teacher introducing abstract concepts (for example, mathematical symbols). Children are introduced to the concept at a symbolic level, using only numbers, notation, and mathematical symbols (for example, +, –, x, /) to indicate addition, subtraction, multiplication or division.

At Atkinson Road the teacher’s skilfully use these phases to move the children backwards and forwards where necessary to aid children’s understanding.

Number facts

In addition to our Maths lessons the children follow the Mastering Number Program in Reception and Key Stage one. This allows the daily rehearsal and practise of key number facts so the children become fluent and confident. In Key Stage 2 importance is given to recalling times table facts and arithmetic practice so the children are becoming fluent in all aspects of calculations.

The Impact at Atkinson Road

Children will:

be confident learners who can explain methods confidently and reason about Maths
be fluent in recall of facts and methods
have the ability to move between concepts and representations
be able to spot patterns and make connections in Maths
have a positive attitude towards Maths realising the importance in everyday life