Maths at Shipham
Intent
At Shipham Church of England First School we wholeheartedly believe that all children can, and should, achieve success in mathematics as this builds a firm foundation for understanding the world around them. We actively seek to inspire confidence and curiosity around mathematics and teach a secure and deep understanding of mathematical concepts through manageable steps. ‘Talking’ maths is one of the fundamental building blocks of our approach to the teaching and learning of mathematics. Regular opportunities to ‘talk’ the maths not only enable the children to explain their method, but also encourage them to think about, and understand, how they tackle a problem and arrive at an answer. We use mistakes and misconceptions as an essential part of the learning process as we encourage our children to ‘grapple’ with the maths and apply their skills of resilience and perseverance to deepen their understanding.
We embrace the aims of the national curriculum and 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. To also create problems for their peers (and teachers!) to solve
reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry and developing and presenting 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
Our Maths curriculum is relevant and engaging and provides both breadth and balance. Further to this, our curriculum adopts a ‘mastery approach’ which is informed by NCETM in EYFS and the White Rose small steps from years 1-4. Both are supported by clear skills and knowledge progression. Alongside the small steps are key questions used by teachers to further develop mathematical thinking and reasoning and enable children to better understand how and why maths works. Our children are taught maths in their mixed year groups for approximately one hour, daily. All children have opportunities for fluency, reasoning and problem-solving in each learning outcome, with work scaffolded to support as needed. Challenge is evident throughout the whole session and children are given opportunities to reason and prove their understanding. We also develop their skills, knowledge and understanding through practical experiences that have relevance and purpose in everyday situations. Our teaching of mathematics is systematic and progressively builds on children’s knowledge and understanding.
Our mathematics curriculum is also enhanced with daily mastering number sessions for EYFS and Key Stage 1 (Key Stage 2 intervention if needed) and twice-daily times tables challenges for Key Stage 2. This ensures that our children are developing secure number sense and learning systematic approaches to the recall of number facts.
We expect that the majority of pupils will move through the programmes of study at broadly the same pace. However, decisions about when to progress will always be based on the security of the pupils’ understanding and readiness. Pupils who grasp concepts more quickly will be challenged to deepen their understanding through enriched learning opportunities rather than acceleration through new content. Those who are not sufficiently fluent with earlier material will have their understanding consolidated, including through additional practice, before moving on.
A high-quality maths lesson at Shipham:
Has clear routines that ensure the children are ready to learn
Links prior and new learning– how does what we’ve learned previously prepare and inform our learning today?
Uses focused instruction and ‘I do’- clear modelling by the class teacher with a varied range of visual representations that draw attention to mathematical structures, models correct mathematical vocabulary and common misconceptions.
Enables children to practise their learning through ‘we do’ – providing opportunities for the children to explain their answers and address key misconceptions.
Provides opportunities to check their learning through ‘you do’- independent practice and application. Learning is scaffolded where required.
Consolidates learning
We also embed and enrich mathematics throughout our whole school curriculum with the use of regular themed days, such as STEM days, NSPCC Number Day and the RSPB Bird Watch. Not only do these days provide further opportunities for the children to apply their learning and see mathematics in context, but they also reinforce the creativity and fun of mathematics. We also enhance and further support learning with our fantastic forest school, working walls and subscriptions to Numbots and Times Table Rockstars.
Impact
We aspire for children at Shipham to develop as confident and enthusiastic mathematicians who can enjoy the challenge and wonder of the subject. Armed with a bank of efficient and accurate skills, children ‘understand’, rather than just ‘do’ their mathematics and can apply these calculation skills to become resilient problem-solvers, with the ability to reason and articulate their ideas mathematically.
Developing fluent and systematic recall of number facts
Mastering Number
From Reception to Year 2, all children participate in daily NCETM 'mastering number' sessions. These sessions aim to secure firm foundations in the development of good number sense. The aim over time is that children will leave Key Stage 1 with fluency in calculation and a confidence and flexibility with number.
Times Tables
At Shipham we are passionate about delivering high-quality, effective and challenging teaching. We want our children to love maths and succeed within the maths curriculum. Therefore, we felt it important to introduce a way to teach times tables that would give children the freedom and fluency in maths, without being a burden to learn. Using Ashley Down's Times Table Booklets, we teach times tables twice daily. Below is an overview of the order of when the booklets are taught.
Maths progression and skills documents
Maths curriculum enrichment
'Time Lords'
Our PTA, FOSS, kindly funded four watches for each of our classes. These watches will support us on our mission to support the children to develop their confidence and ability to tell the analogue time. Each day, different children in each class are chosen to be our class 'Time Lords' and throughout the day teachers and children ask our Time Lords for the time (with support given when needed).
Chess club
Every Tuesday we hold a lunchtime chess club in Oak class with Mr Ewens and there are lots of opportunities to play chess at our after-school club too.
Supporting Maths at home