Maths

When teaching maths at St Cuthbert’s, we provide a curriculum that caters for the needs of all children. We incorporate challenge through engaging, varied and high-quality activities with a focus on fluency, reasoning and problem solving. We encourage resilience and acceptance that mistakes are a necessary step in learning. Our intent is for all children to become fluent mathematicians, who can confidently recall and apply mathematical knowledge and demonstrate conceptual understanding. We aim for all our children to be proficient users of mathematical language, which will support them in their mathematical reasoning in different contexts. Our ambition is for children to become competent problem solvers, through applying their mathematical knowledge to wide range of problems, in maths lessons, other subjects and in ‘real life’.

We follow the National Curriculum and use White Rose Maths as a guide to support teachers with their planning and assessment. We supplement this with a wide range of other high-quality teaching and learning resources inside and outside of the classroom. In Foundation Stage and Key Stage One, children access the Mastering Number Program outside of their maths lesson. The calculation policy is used within school to ensure a consistent approach to teaching the four operations over time. A series of stimulating lessons are planned, with clear learning objectives, which develop an understanding and fluency in the use of subject-specific vocabulary. Our Maths curriculum is delivered through highly effective ‘quality first teaching’. Children are taught through clear modelling to develop their knowledge and understanding of mathematical concepts. Resources including maths manipulatives are readily available to assist demonstration of securing a conceptual understanding of the different skills appropriate for each year group. Reasoning and problem-solving activities are integral for the children to develop their mathematical thinking. Children are encouraged to explore, apply and evaluate their mathematical approach during investigations to develop a deeper understanding when solving different problems. Children with additional needs are included in whole class lessons and teachers provide scaffolding and relevant support as necessary. For those children who are working outside of the year group curriculum, individual learning activities are provided to ensure their progress. Teachers assess learning in Maths against the age-related descriptors. Maths is taught daily with extra ‘Maths Chats’, which occur three times a week in all classes. ‘Maths Chats’ are used to consolidate learning outside of the core maths lesson and provide a fun way for children to practise applying their knowledge and skills on a regular basis, helping to continually build on their mastery of key concepts. ‘Maths Chats’ also help to:

• support areas of the curriculum where pupils may have forgotten key maths concepts
• consolidate learning and help highlight areas where pupils may have any misconceptions
• provide extra time in the day for maths and an opportunity to revisit and practise key skills

In Year 4, children also access one maths lesson per week dedicated to learning times tables and related division facts.

You can read some of our key maths documents by clicking on the links below.