In this section of the website, you will find information about our approach to teaching Maths at Howletch Lane Primary School.
Intent
Mathematics is an important creative discipline that helps us to understand and change the world. We want all pupils at Howletch Lane 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 Howletch, 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
We employ a range of teaching strategies. The subject lead maintains an awareness of developments relating to the subject and feeds this back to staff.
- To ensure full topic coverage, the school uses the White Rose scheme of work. This is a whole-school primary maths curriculum that creates continuity and progression in the teaching of mathematics.
- Daily maths lessons include fluency, reasoning and problem solving.
- Lessons are differentiated to ensure there is appropriate challenge for all learners. Whilst some activities appear to be the same for all learners, differentiation is provided through appropriate questioning and scaffolding.
- Concrete manipulatives and pictorial representations are used to support conceptual understanding and to make links across topics.
- Years 2-6 access Times Table Rockstars both in school and at home.
- Children’s knowledge and skills are assessed at the end of each unit of work and a summative assessment is made on a termly basis.
Impact
At Howletch Primary School we recognise the importance of establishing a secure foundation in mental calculation and recall of number facts before standard written methods are introduced. When these skills have been clearly achieved, then the stages of development in written methods are implemented as defined in the school’s calculation policy. We use vocabulary from the relevant year group when planning to help determine the appropriate terminology to use in our teaching. Children are expected to use this terminology in their verbal and written explanations. Mathematics contributes to many subjects and it is important children are given opportunities to apply and use Mathematics across the curriculum and in real contexts when possible. We endeavour at all times to set tasks that have high expectations for all, are challenging, motivating and encourages pupils to talk about what they have been doing as well as responding to written questions to develop their understanding as outlined in the school’s marking policy.
