Mathematics

The National Curriculum states that,

“Mathematics is a creative and highly interconnected discipline that has been developed over centuries, providing the solution to some of history’s most intriguing problems. It is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment. A high-quality mathematics education therefore provides a foundation for understanding the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.”

At Little Mead, our maths curriculum 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 non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.
understand the practical advantages of mathematics and its purpose in the real world
develop a positive attitude towards mathematics and demonstrate resilience in their learning Mathematics is an interconnected subject in which pupils need to be able to move fluently between representations of mathematical ideas.

The programmes of study are, by necessity, organised into apparently distinct domains, but pupils should make rich connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence in solving increasingly sophisticated problems. They should also apply their mathematical knowledge to science and other subjects.

At Little Mead, a child’s mathematical journey begins in Nursery where they are provided with rich opportunities to understand the world around them through a mathematical lens. Through teacher inputs and carefully planned continuous provision, children begin to explore maths. With a grounding in best available research, our Early Years curriculum explicitly teaches and develops children’s subitising as the cornerstone on which their journey through number will be built. As they move into Reception, these foundations are built on with the beginning of a more formal mathematical journey. Using White Rose as a curriculum resource, staff provide children with a combination of rich hands-on mathematical experiences complemented by carefully planned progression through number, shape, space and measure.

As they move into KS1 and KS2, children children’s formal teaching of maths continues further with daily sessions delivered using White Rose as the main curriculum resource once more. As is the case in EYFS, staff in KS1 and KS2, whilst following the White Rose yearly overview, are encouraged to use their expertise, formative assessment and knowledge of the class to deliver a maths curriculum which is sequential and responds to their cohort’s needs.

Example White Rose overview for Year 4:

Across a unit, the learning is generally built up in the following way: -

Key learning is broken down into small steps which are sequential and build upon each other

CPA approach is integrated within each of these small steps so that children are able to develop a conceptual understanding and build upon their fluency and problem solving and reasoning skills
Mathematical talk is used as a scaffold across the unit

Vocabulary is introduced and revisited throughout the unit

Children are exposed to varied representation across the unit

Times Tables:

In addition to these sessions, our maths curriculum in KS2 is supplemented by the Number Sense Times Table Fluency Programme. This programme is taught through daily sessions and has been meticulously planned by nationally recognised maths practitioners to provide a systematic approach to the learning of times tables. The programme is designed to support all children to be able to quickly recall times table and division facts in preparation for the MTC check in Year 4 which was brought in as recognition of this fundamental cornerstone of mathematical fluency.