Maths
Maths
Intent
Our Maths curriculum is one that is accessible to all and maximises the development of every child’s ability and academic achievement. We recognise the importance of Mathematics throughout each child’s every day and future life. Our intent is to enable all children irrespective of background, race or gender to understand relationships and patterns in both number and space 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.
To develop mastery in Maths, children must be enabled to acquire a deep understanding of Maths concepts, structures and procedures, step by step. Complex mathematical concepts are built on simpler conceptual components and when children understand every step in the learning sequence, Maths becomes transparent and makes logical sense. Children master concepts one step at a time in lessons that embrace a concrete-pictorial-abstract (C-P-A) approach, avoid overload, build on prior learning and help them see patterns and connections. Same-day intervention ensures sustained progress. Interactive lessons establish deep understanding in small steps, as well as effortless fluency in key facts such as tables and number bonds. An interactive, whole-class teaching model encourages thinking and precise mathematical language and allows children to deepen their understanding as far as they can. Using correct mathematical language is promoted throughout Power Maths lessons.
One of the overwhelming intentions of Power Maths is to encourage the mind-set that everyone can do Maths. Power Maths rejects the notion that some people simply ‘can’t do’ Maths. Instead, it develops growth mind-sets and encourages hard work, practice and a willingness to see mistakes as learning tools. We intend to embed this mind set by giving each child self-confidence and resilience to reach their full potential by ensuring that they have the tools to calculate fluently, reason logically and problem solve and think in abstract ways. The Power Maths characters also support and model the traits of growth mind-set learners and encourage resilience by prompting and questioning children as they work.
Implementation
At the heart of Power Maths is a clearly structured teaching and learning progress that helps ensure every child masters each concept securely and deeply. Lessons are planned and sequenced so that new knowledge and skills build on what has been taught previously. For each year group, the curriculum is broken down into core concepts, taught in units.
Early Years Foundation Stage
At Bishop Wilson, the teaching of Maths in Nursery and Reception meets the requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. In both Nursery and Reception, an enabling environment supports independence by exploratory play. Children have the opportunity to self-select Maths resources to consolidate their learning.
In Nursery, children begin to develop mathematical awareness through songs, rhymes and games. For example, showing 5 fingers while singing ‘5 currant buns in a baker’s shop’ and starting to develop subitising skills through using dice.
During independent play, children have the opportunity to develop maths skills by, for example, handling money in a role-play shop, exploring capacity in the water tray and using the balance scales with playdough. With adult support, they start to expand their mathematical vocabulary to describe and compare quantities and measures.
When children move up to Reception, exploration of mathematical concepts in free play continues. Mathematics is also taught four times a week, through short burst teacher-led sessions, with follow up activities to strengthen and deepen the child’s understanding.
The whole class sessions, based on the Power Maths programme, are fun, practical, active and accessible. In small groups, supported by an adult, the children develop their skills and understanding using practical equipment and begin to use mathematical language to describe and explain what they are doing. Targeted questioning and appropriate challenge develops reasoning, deepens their understanding and challenges misconceptions. Throughout their time in the Early Years Phase, children are encouraged to read mathematical symbols and to record their jottings.
Key Stage 1 and 2
In Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, each unit will begin with a unit starter and end with a end of unit check, with learning being broken down between the two.
Maths Lessons
Within each lesson, there are five aspects: Power Up, Discover and Share, Think Together, Practice and Reflect. The Power Up provides children with the opportunity to recall prior learning. The Discover and Share is a practical, real-life problem which arouses children’s curiosity. Children find the Maths through story-telling at this stage. Think together gives the opportunity for pupils to talk, learn from one another and have ago at a new concept. The Practice is independent work in their Power Maths Book or Blue Book. Finally, each lesson ends with a Reflect, where children are given the opportunity to reflect on what they have learnt. Alongside these lessons, same-day interventions are vital in order to keep the class progressing together. This can be during the lesson as well as afterwards.
In the Early Years, concepts are also broken down into units but looks different to that of KS1 and KS2. Typically, lessons follow the structure below:
- Day 1: Starter/Power Up
- Day 2: Discovery and Share
- Day 3: Think together and Practice
- Day 4: Challenge
- Day 5: Practical and Reflect
| Power Up - The lesson starts with a short power-up activity which supports fluency in and recall of number facts (Non-Negotiables); this could also be times table practice, number bonds, working with place value or a 'fluent in five' activity. |
| Discover - Practical real-life problem solving, sometimes a puzzle or a game, usually paired work. These are engaging and fun and designed to get all children thinking and to generate curiosity. Children may use manipulatives (practical apparatus) to help them understand the Maths and explain their method. |
| Share - The children share their ideas and compare different ways to solve the problem, explaining their reasoning with hands-on resources and drawings to make their ideas clear. Children can develop their understanding of the concept with input from the teacher. |
| Think together - Children work in groups and pairs, discussing methods and solutions to problems. This encourages all children to think about how they solved the problem and explain it to their partner. Concrete materials are on tables to support and reinforce learning. |
| Practice - Children practice individually or in small groups, rehearsing and developing their skills to build fluency, understanding of the concept and confidence. Practice questions are presented in a logical sequence and problems are represented in different ways (variation), requiring different approaches. This encourages the children to think more creatively about how to reach a solution. |
| Reflect – the class comes together, allowing the children to review, reason and reflect on their learning. Open-ended questions, e.g. spot the mistake, allow teachers to check how deeply children have understood the day’s concept and enable them to plan for additional intervention accordingly. |
Our Calculation Policies
Progression Documents
Assessment
Assessment for Learning in Maths is ongoing and used by teachers to dictate the pace that pupils progress through each step of the short term planning, ensuring all pupils have the opportunity to explore the objective through fluency, reasoning and problem solving activities. Pupils are encouraged to mark their work throughout a lesson for immediate feedback. They feel supported in the safe environment created by the teaching staff; mistakes are welcome in order to promote learning and we ensure a ‘can do’ mind-set through the step-by-step approach. This enables teachers to pace lessons appropriately, differentiate further, address misconceptions and to provide immediate intervention. As part of the Power Maths sequence, End of Unit assessments are completed by the pupils to enable teachers to track progress effectively and provide further intervention.
Curriculum Enhancement
At Bishop Wilson, our children are offered experiences, focused on them as individual learners, helping equip them with lifelong learning skills and cultural capital for their future challenges. Below are some enhancements which we offer, although enhancements are not limited to this:
- Children participate in National Numeracy Day each year, this day helps build children’s confidence with number and puts Maths into a real life context for children.
- As a part of a focus week, each year group look at famous mathematicians and their work, such as Fibonacci and Pythagoras and explore Maths in different cultures.
- Children have access to online subscriptions with Times Table Rock Stars and Numbots in and outside of school to support their fluency with calculations.
- Children in KS2 purchase their snack via a shop on the playground, increasing confidence with money.
- Children use a tally to input and track house points scores. Year 6 take ownership of this.
- There are many cross-curricular opportunities for Maths across our curriculum at Bishop Wilson.
- Children are provided with home-learning books to deepen and embed their learning with their adults at home.
- In EYFS, enhancements for continuous provision are based around bringing Maths to life, for example, each day pupils make their own play dough using measuring skills and role play with money.
Home Learning Opportunities
We use Times Tables Rockstars to make the essential learning of times tables fun and competitive.
Pinpoint Maths is a great resource for the children to prepare for the Multiplication Check.
Through Active Learn Primary, pupils in Year 1 - Year 6 also have access to Practice Games that can be allocated by the class teacher to support fluency in some mathematical concepts.
Pupils in Reception - Year 2 have access to Numbots to support fluency is some mathematical concepts through fun and engaging online games.
For the school’s approach to the assessment of Maths, please see the school’s Marking, Feedback & Assessment Policy (2023).