Maths

Mathematics Progression at NLAS

At NLAS we recognise the importance of mathematics for our children now and in their future life. Mathematics enables children to understand relationships and patterns in the world around them. It is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment. We intend to give each child the self-confidence and resilience to reach their full potential by ensuring that they have the tools to calculate fluently, reason logically, problem solve and think in abstract ways.

Susie Barton

Year 2 Teacher / Maths Lead

Intent

At NLAS, our intention is to provide a high-quality mathematics curriculum which promotes confidence and enjoyment, and inspires curiosity about Maths. Our curriculum supports our pupils to become competent, independent mathematicians.  This is achieved by developing a positive mindset in all our staff and children that everyone ‘can do’ maths and that maths is for everyone.  We want every child to thrive and succeed in their maths lessons, enabling them to transition to secondary school as confident mathematicians with a secure foundation upon which to build in Key Stages 3 and 4. Our maths curriculum provides our children with knowledge of the necessary number facts to enable them to work fluently throughout all areas of the maths curriculum.  They develop a deep conceptual understanding of each of the areas of mathematics they are taught, enabling them to make connections and apply their knowledge in different situations.  Our curriculum has a strong focus on mathematical vocabulary and develops children’s ability to articulate, discuss and explain their thinking using accurate language.  Our maths curriculum supports our children to develop resilience when faced with problem solving situations and encourages them to be inquisitive learners.

Our Four Curriculum Drivers underpin our approach to learning across all subjects at NLAS.

Implementation

Our curriculum in Years 1 to 6 is based on the NCETM’s Curriculum prioritisation materials and follows a mastery approach. The Reception curriculum is based on the NCETM’s mastering Number Programme and the Nursery curriculum is planned using the Development Matters Guidance.  The structure of the mathematics curriculum across school, shows clear progression in line with age related expectations with a strong focus on small steps. Teaching the curriculum content in blocks, allows children time to explore skills and knowledge in depth and gain a secure understanding of particular subject matter. Key knowledge and skills are also revisited daily to embed and solidify learning using Flashback Four.  Maths lessons are carefully crafted using small coherent steps to allow all children to gain a deep understanding of the content being taught.  Manipulatives are used throughout all key stages to expose mathematical structures and alongside a wide variety of representations, support children to move confidently to working in the abstract.  Stem sentences, and high level, precise mathematical vocabulary are modelled and used throughout all year groups to provide our children with the language they need to articulate their responses to questions and explain their thinking.  Children frequently work with talk partners to develop reasoning skills and challenge each other’s thinking.  Fluency is a key aspect of our teaching and all classes take part in additional fluency sessions.  Years R to 2 develop number fact fluency using the Mastering Number Programme.  .  In KS2, the children follow our schools progression for times tables, consisting of sessions developing a conceptual understanding of the times table, and developing recall of the times table facts.   Children also regularly use Times Tables Rock stars and 1 Minute Maths in school and often at home to develop their speed of recall.  Children are assessed in maths against the early learning goals in EYFS and against the Ready to Progress Criteria from Year 1 to 6.  These assessments are used to identify children who need additional support in any of the key areas of learning and used to plan catch up interventions.  These are taught using the precision teaching strategy and enhanced by the ready to progress support materials produced by the NCETM.

Impact

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 lessons which are a hive of activity, where hands-on exploration and peer-to-peer discussion creates excitement, builds positive attitudes and ensures that children feel safe to make mistakes. 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 a high proportion of children are on track or above. By the end of Year 6, transitioning to secondary school, we aspire that an NLAS mathematician will have developed a bank of efficient and accurate skills that can be used to calculate effectively. These will have been underpinned by a deep conceptual understanding so children ‘understand the maths’ rather than ‘just do the maths’. Children will be able to apply these mathematical skills to become confident and resilient problem-solvers with the ability to reason and articulate their ideas mathematically using precise vocabulary.