Intent

At Silverdale, we aim to develop children as Mathematicians who are, primarily, ‘Relationship Spotters’. We believe that by nurturing and developing an awareness of the relationships between numbers and mathematical concepts, children will:

• Become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics
• Reason mathematically as they make sense of the world around them
• Solve problems by applying their mathematics
• Develop a love for ‘embracing the challenge’ as they predict and reason about what they think is possible and not possible – not just in mathematics lessons but also in everyday life.

Mathematics is fundamental to everyday life and open’s the door to most forms of future careers, including those involving science, technology and engineering. Through our mathematics curriculum, delivered using a mastery approach, we aim to develop children who are ready for a life involving mathematics.

Implementation

Early Years

In the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), we work towards the Early Years Goals in Number and Numerical Systems.

Mathematics development involves providing children with opportunities to: practise and improve their skills in developing a deep understanding of numbers to 10, subitising, counting verbally beyond 10, comparing quantities to 10 in different contexts and comparing and distributing equally.

We continually observe and assess children against these areas using their age-related objectives then plan the next steps in their mathematical development through a carefully planned curriculum. There are opportunities for children to encounter maths throughout the EYFS (both indoors and outdoors) – with both adult-led and child-initiated activities and the self-selection of easily accessible quality maths resources.

Years 1-6

At Silverdale, we use White Rose Maths in Years 1-6 to deliver the core content of our mathematics curriculum. Lessons are planned and delivered sequentially and progressively, enabling children to build upon prior knowledge.

Lessons are taught in stages:

1. Teacher modelling: Teachers model specific strategies explicitly and ‘think out loud’ through the entire process so that children understand the thought process of the teacher.

2. Guided Practice: During this stage, children work collaboratively under the guidance of the teacher to complete challenges similar to those modelled by the teacher. Modelled learning is displayed for children to use during the lesson. New vocabulary is explained. This stage provides staff with an opportunity to carry out formative assessments of how well the new content has been understood. For some children, additional examples will be provided so that they can continue learning with additional support. Manipulatives may also be used to support children’s ability to understand particular concepts.

3. Independent Practice: For those children who are deemed to have understood the new learning, move on to carefully structured challenges. Challenges are progressive ranging from questions that provide opportunities for children to practise and apply their conceptual and procedural knowledge to challenges that challenge pupils, allowing them to explore, apply and deepen their learning and ability to reason mathematically.

Each day, children in Y1-6 complete daily arithmetic – an opportunity to revisit and practise previously taught mathematical concepts. This daily arithmetic session also allows the teacher the opportunity to assess how well children have understood, and are able to recall, previously taught content.

Impact 

Our mathematics curriculum is based upon White Rose resources which are fully supported by the Department for Education as they meet the requirements of the new curriculum. It provides all the elements that teachers need to teach maths mastery with confidence and to encourage children to reason mathematically using mathematical vocabulary. We measure the impact of our curriculum using the following methods:  

• Termly progress tests are used in order to analyse gaps within children’s knowledge so that that teachers can plan for gap teaching accordingly  
• Pupil discussions about their learning to check that children know more and can remember more
• Daily arithmetic sessions
• Timely intervention during the ‘Guided Practise’ stage of the maths lesson.

We will enhance children’s cultural capital by enriching their vocabulary and knowledge related to the use of money, telling the time, understanding and applying geometry and learning how to add and subtract, multiply and divide. Using real-life problems is an excellent way to show pupils the validity of their maths knowledge.