Maths

The national curriculum for mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils:

• become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.
• reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language.
• can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and nonroutine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.

At Brewood, we follow the White Rose Scheme of Learning which is designed to provide students with a solid foundation in maths. Students gain a deep understanding and enjoy solving mathematical problems with this scheme. The curriculum puts a significant emphasis on skills and is well sequenced in order to promote a depth of understanding.

White Rose Maths offers a ‘small steps’ progression, which allows our children to learn at their own pace while still achieving high standards.

We supplement our curriculum with challenges from a variety of sources: NRICH, Diagnostic Questions, NCETM, UKMT and Testbase.

Reading in Mathematics

Reading is integral to a pupil’s ability to use, understand and apply their mathematical knowledge and learning.  At BMA, staff have access to every pupil’s reading age, assessed using the Star Reader program.  This ensures that we understand the needs of our pupils with regards to accessing the working vocabulary and level of comprehension needed.   

In every lesson, key vocabulary is shared with the class and the reading of questions is modelled by both the teacher and pupils, where key vocabulary is highlighted and discussed in the given context.

In assessments, pupils who need support with reading can have questions read aloud to them to aid their understanding and access to the mathematics required.

Flashback:  Every maths lesson starts with a retrieval task (Flashback), referring back to learning from last lesson, last week, last unit and last term.

LO & SC: The learning objective and success criteria are shared with pupils at the start of the lesson.

Let’s get ready:  We then move to a range of warm up, ‘let’s get ready’ questions.  These engage pupils in the thinking and skills required in the lesson ahead.

Let’s learn: New content is delivered and modelled using a variety of methods and formats, for example using concrete resources, using pictorial methods or using abstract examples.  Sometimes all three!

Review and Reflect:  At the end of the main task, answers are shared whole class and pupils self or peer-mark their work.  Successes and errors/misconceptions are shared.  As part of our growth mindset, we celebrate our mistakes as an opportunity to learn and grow.  At the end of the lesson, pupils reflect on their learning using WWW (what went well) and EBI (even better if) – success criteria is shared again to support pupils in their thinking.

The impact of our mathematics curriculum is that children understand the relevance and importance of what they are learning in relation to real world concepts.

Children know that maths is a vital life skill that they will rely on in many areas of their daily life. Children have a positive view of maths due to learning in an environment where maths is promoted as being an exciting and enjoyable subject in which they can investigate and ask questions; they know that it is reasonable to make mistakes because this can strengthen their learning through the journey to finding an answer (growth mindset).

Children are confident to ‘have a go’ and choose the equipment they need to help them to learn along with the strategies they think are best suited to each problem. Through regular review and reflection, our children have a good understanding of their strengths and targets for development in maths and what they need to do to improve.

Our maths books evidence work of a high standard of which children clearly take pride; the components of the teaching sequences demonstrate good coverage of fluency, reasoning and problem solving. Our feedback and interventions support children to strive to be the best mathematicians they can be, ensuring, by the end of their time with us, a high proportion of children are on track or above. 

Formative Assessment:

Pupils’ progress is assessed using regular formative assessment in lessons through strategies such as questioning, regular retrieval practice, small whiteboard responses, independent learning tasks, end of unit assessments and assessment of work in books and feedback.

At the end of each unit (Y5, 7 and 8) pupils will complete an end of unit assessment. Teachers will use this to provide further feedback or re-teach concepts where necessary to close gaps and ensure pupils have mastered the curriculum content at that point.  

Summative Assessment:

Summative assessment in Mathematics takes place at the end of every term in line with the school’s Assessment Schedule. In years 5, 7 and 8 this takes the form of Rising Stars NTS (Year 5) or PUMA (Years 7 & 8) Assessments.  Year 6 complete the NTS autumn assessment as a baseline and previous SATs papers are utilised for mock SATs in November and February.   

Years 6 also take part in the Statutory Assessment Tests (SATs) that take place in May each year.

The impact of our mathematics curriculum is that children understand the relevance and importance of what they are learning in relation to real world concepts.

Children know that maths is a vital life skill that they will rely on in many areas of their daily life. Children have a positive view of maths due to learning in an environment where maths is promoted as being an exciting and enjoyable subject in which they can investigate and ask questions; they know that it is reasonable to make mistakes because this can strengthen their learning through the journey to finding an answer (growth mindset).

Children are confident to ‘have a go’ and choose the equipment they need to help them to learn along with the strategies they think are best suited to each problem. Through regular review and reflection, our children have a good understanding of their strengths and targets for development in maths and what they need to do to improve.

Our maths books evidence work of a high standard of which children clearly take pride; the components of the teaching sequences demonstrate good coverage of fluency, reasoning and problem solving. Our feedback and interventions support children to strive to be the best mathematicians they can be, ensuring, by the end of their time with us, a high proportion of children are on track or above. 

Formative Assessment:

Pupils’ progress is assessed using regular formative assessment in lessons through strategies such as questioning, regular retrieval practice, small whiteboard responses, independent learning tasks, pre and post assessments and assessment of work in books and feedback.

At the start of each maths unit of work, the children complete a pre-learning assessment Task A (cold task taken from White Rose) to assess existing knowledge; they will be assessed formatively at the end of a unit through the use of Task B (hot task taken from White Rose) at the end. Teachers will use both these assessments to provide further feedback or re-teach concepts where necessary to close gaps and ensure pupils have mastered the curriculum content at that point.  

Summative Assessment:

Summative assessment in Mathematics takes place at the end of every term in line with the school’s Assessment Schedule. In years 5, 7 and 8 this takes the form of Rising Stars PUMA Assessment and in Year 6 previous SATs papers are utilised.

Years 6 also take part in the Statutory Assessment Tests (SATs) that take places in May each year.

Across all year groups, we aim to raise the profile of mathematics and its role in the wider world.

Each year, we participate in the NSPCC Number Day and World Maths Day, where pupils are engaged in a variety of maths challenges both within their class or year group but also across school and indeed the world! 

In April each year, we take part in the UK Maths Trust Junior Maths Challenge.  80 pupils from across all 4 year groups are selected to take part in this challenge, based on their performance in maths lessons. 

We have a variety of visitors and trips organised across our school.  In Year 5, our pupils take part in a maths trail visit to a local place of interest.  They explore the use of maths in a real-life context which shows pupils how diverse maths can be.

In Year 6 we have a visit to Jaguar Land Rover for our high-flying mathematicians.  Here they explore the practical application of maths in an engineering environment.

Our Hidden Maths event in Year 7 sees our school welcoming a range of professionals from our local community.  Our local experts take part in a round robin activity where they share how they use maths in their every-day work.  The intent of this event is to highlight the importance of mathematics in careers that are not normally known for its use.

In Year 8 we have a visiting speaker from the Bank of England.  Pupils are regaled with the ins and outs of the banking system and how it impacts on their and their parents every-day life, in particular the calculation of interest rates.

In line with our intent, we believe every child will have equal opportunity to achieve their full potential and access an ambitious and coherent curriculum that leads to deep learning and an understanding of a sustainable world, regardless of race, gender, cultural background, ability or Special Educational Needs or Disability. If a child has a special educational need or disability, we will do our very best to ensure we meet that child’s individual needs when accessing the mathematics curriculum. We comply with the requirements set out in the SEND Code of Practice.

If a teacher has concerns about the progress of a child, then they will liaise with the in-school Inclusion Lead to arrange appropriate assessment of need and set up personal provision through initially writing an Individual Learning Plan.

To support all pupils, we provide scaffolds for difficult tasks – temporary aids may be required to support children in developing a level of independence but are withdrawn at the right point so that pupils don’t become reliant upon them.

Mrs Shaw has been Leader of Mathematics at Brewood CE Middle Academy since January 2017. With 25 years in teaching, she has extensive experience of teaching all subjects across KS1, KS2 and KS3 and currently leads Key Stage 2, with a teaching commitment in Year 6.

Monitoring of maths and feedback is undertaken half-termly to establish the quality of maths education on offer to all pupils at our school. This takes the form of book looks, pupil voice and learning walks/observations.  Both pupil and staff feedback are important to the constantly improving ethos of the mathematics department.

British Values

Democracy
Take into account the views of others in shared activities. Voting when collecting data.

The Rule of Law
Undertake safe practices, following class rules during tasks and activities for the benefit of all. Understand the consequences if rules are not followed.

Individual Liberty
Work within boundaries to make safe choices during practical activities. Make own choices within data handling activities.

Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs
Use maths to learn about different faiths and cultures around the world. Eg. looking at patterns/shapes within Islam/Hindu religions.

Mutual Respect
To behave appropriately, allowing all participants the opportunity to work effectively. Take turns and share equipment. Review each other’s work respectfully. Work collaboratively on projects/problems, help and advise others.

SMSC

Spiritual Education
Use imagination and creativity to explore ideas while learning mathematics by: identifying and applying patterns and rules to everyday problem-solving; writing own problems and challenges that use those patterns or rules.

Moral Education
Understanding the consequences of actions: Eg. If you perform a particular action to one number, will the same outcome apply to other numbers? Is it always the case? ‘Sometimes, always, never’ statements.

Social Education
Developing personal qualities and using social skills: Working in pairs or groups to solve problems; Perseverance when struggling to answer questions; not being afraid to try – it’s ok to be wrong, it’s not ok not to try; taking turns when playing maths games. Participating, co-operating and resolving conflicts: as above, but also ‘X thinks ___, Y thinks ___, who is right?’ type questions.

Cultural Education
Understanding and appreciating personal influences: taking into account other people’s views and understanding how to express own views. Eg. How to explain to someone where they may have gone wrong in a question.