Bembridge Church of England Primary School
Maths
Intent
At Bembridge CE Primary, we want our children to be creative and confident matheticians, able to apply the fundamentals of mathematics flexibly when solving everyday problems. As well as becoming adept at calculating efficiently, children are encouraged to articulate their mathematical thinking aloud using precise mathematical vocabulary and explain their reasoning, displaying a deep conceptual understanding of mathematics. We want to create a positive resilience and curiosity in each child to enable them to enjoy the challenge and satisfaction of this beauftiful subject.
Implementation
Our whole school curriculum journey throughout all 7 years incorporates the national curriculum and ensures that children can build upon their prior knowledge and extend their learning in small, achievable steps, introducing new language and increasingly complex ideas, lesson by lesson.
Each yeargroup has a coherent year's long term plan which seeks to revise and recall the previous years' learning and introduce new learning in an appropriate order and timescale. Teachers use their professional judgement to adapt this long term plan as necessary whilst still making sure that all content is taught effectively. Daily fluency sessions enable spaced learning and the necessary repetition in order for short-term knowledge to become long-term learning.
To enable maths concepts to be mastered:
✔️ the vast majority of children progress through the curriculum content at the same pace. Those that are rapidly grasping certain ideas are challenged through exposure to deeper non-routine problems within the same mathematical step. Those that are not fluent at a certain step in their mathematics learning, are helped to consolidate through additional practise before moving on.
✔️ we use a CPA (concrete, pictorial and abstract) teaching approach in all years and with all children so as to: maximise conceptual understanding; enable children to visualise the mathematics to aid problem solving; and assist in expressing mathematical ideas efficiently and concisely.
✔️ precise mathematical vocabulary is taught, explained and used correctly by teaching staff in discussions about mathematics.
✔️ children are encouraged to 'talk maths' out loud in pairs, groups and within whole class discussions.
✔️ formative and summative assessment is used regularly (including precise questioning) to ensure children are ready to progress to the next stage of their learning with confidence.
Impact
Pupils leave Bembridge CE Primary with a secure knowledge in arithmetic and the ability to solve problems and express their reasoning effectively. Children can work collaboratively to solve more challenging problems and can talk enthusiastically about the maths they are doing. Children have a good capacity for working systematically and can organise their thoughts using models and jottings in order to make sense of complex problems. Children know that they can be successful in maths and can encourage others to believe the same.
