Mathematics is an essential element in everyday life. At St Helenas C of E Primary school we have high aspirations and strive for all children to be inquisitive, think in abstract ways, calculate fluently, reason logically, problem solve and to work systematically with endurance. We aspire to do this creatively and compassionately but contextually to enable children to make sense of the world around them. Offering our children this wisdom in a rich and progressive mathematics curriculum is fundamental for them to have the tools needed to access all areas of the curriculum. Our ‘making mistakes to learn’ community allows confident and competent learning to take place. We hope all children enjoy maths as mastery lessons are inspiring, exciting with suitable challenge and encourage children to have high quality oracy opportunities to become life long mathematicians.

Our Maths curriculum is progressive, balanced and in depth. It ensures teachers can make adaptations to allow all children to reach their potential and thrive as mathematicians. We follow the concrete-pictorial-abstract approach through reasoning and problem-solving challenges and use a gradual release model for ensuring adequate scaffolding to promote independence.

From EYFS to 6, all children are taught through ‘Power Maths White Rose Edition, ’ a government recommended, high-quality mastery textbook. It is judged as ‘fully delivering a mastery curriculum by sparking curiosity and excitement’ and helps nurture confidence in maths approaches.

• Year 6 follow Power Maths but adaptations are made as necessary to ensure full and timely coverage ready for the secondary transition.
• This may look like practice SATs past papers, End of unit checks or PUMA assessment to diagnostically measure coverage.
• Teachers promote positive learning characteristics through the Power Maths characters – Determined (Dexter), Brave (Astrid), Curious (Ash) and Flexible (Flo).
 
• Concepts are broken down into small achievable steps.
• Where children require additional support, ‘scaffolds’ are used to support children further to ensure that they have secured the small step before moving on.
• For children who understand a concept quicker, ‘deepening’ activities challenge learners further within the curriculum area.
• We use our progression documents carefully to ensure that children are not being stretched outside their year group but rather deepened within it.

Daily lessons are structured as follows;

• Daily 2 minute counting – fluency,
• Starter,
• Recap of prior learning,
• Recap of Vocabulary,
• Introduction to new concept (Learning outcome),
• Oracy opportunity,
• Guided practice – Modelled, supported, Independent,
• Application.
• Plenary.
• We use live feedback to ensure misconceptions are addressed at the point of learning and to make daily assessments to inform our planning/adaptations.
• End of unit checks are used to assess the understanding of the taught concepts after each block of learning.
• Termly ‘PUMA’ assessments are used from Y1-6 as a diagnostic tool to ensure teachers are able to adapt lessons or supplement learning opportunities to match the needs of all learners.

Times tables feature daily in maths learning, with children developing their fluency in rapid recall of tables up to 12 x 12. by the end of year 4 through Power Maths lessons (where they also learning how to apply and manipulate their understanding, reason and solve problems) and the discrete teaching of multiplication. Children enjoy using supporting multiplication apps. like times tables rockstars to consolidate speedy recall., It is essential that children have a deep understanding of the most important elements that underpin the mathematics curriculum so that there is consistency and continuity as children move from one year group to the next. Therefore, if necessary, time may be weighted towards those objectives set out in the ready-to-progress criteria (non-statutory guidance provided by the Department for Education, created in partnership with the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics).

At St Helenas, we want Children who are happy learners who talk enthusiastically about their mathematics learning and who are eager to further their progress in maths. The impact of ‘mastery’ and the emphasis on accurate use of mathematical language is evident during class/pupil discussions.

We ensure that we are able to achieve high standards, with achievement at the end of KS2 in-line with that of the national average, as well an increasing proportion of children demonstrating greater depth, at the end of each phase.

We want children to transition to secondary school as confident and competent mathematicians who are able to apply their understanding of mathematics concepts into the wider world. We hope they are resilient problem-solvers with the ability to reason and articulate their ideas mathematically. We aspire for them to continue to make and see patterns between concepts and ideas to enhance their understanding of other subjects enabling them to learn more and remember more.