Maths

Intent 

At Aylesham Primary School it is our intent to ensure that our children are confident and curious mathematicians. For this to happen our children will question and investigate maths; spotting and describing patterns. They will use our core value of Resilience to ensure that they accept a mistake is part of the learning process. They will use Teamwork to solve mathematical problems and reason – working with their partner, in a group or as part of a whole class. They will aim and Fly High in order to achieve the best possible learning and understanding and they will develop creative approaches to solving problems through whole class discussions and peer to peer work. 

We recognise that our children need to build a conceptual understanding of maths before applying their knowledge to everyday problems and challenges. We believe that if children can manipulate numbers confidently, accurately and efficiently, they will be able to develop their reasoning and problem solving skills successfully. We recognise that the recent pandemic has had a huge impact on children across the country so we as a school address the gaps in the children’s knowledge and understanding through rigorous and continuous assessment of the children’s learning. We recognise that our children need exposure to the high level mathematical vocabulary and our children are encouraged to answer maths questions in full sentences constantly drawing on the vocabulary that they require. We recognise that our children need regular exposure to concepts in order to be able to find the maths needed to solve a problem. We will use skilled questioning to ensure pupil engagement and to guide and develop their understanding of maths. 

Implement 

At Aylesham Primary school we are currently in the sustaining phase of our Mastery journey.  

Our long-term plan follows that of White Rose Maths, although there is scope for class teachers to flex the curriculum to best support the needs of their class. Examples of this include spending longer on a topic where children need to consolidate their learning or require more opportunities to ‘dive deeper’.

In order to support the children at Aylesham Primary School in the best possible way teachers use the small steps from White Rose to inform their planning. Teachers understand that one small step could involve a number of lessons and that it is important that the children have a solid conceptual understanding of the teaching before they move on as the next step will build on what they have been learning. In order to facilitate this at Aylesham Primary School the children work in Mixed Ability groups / pairs to ensure that there is no lid to their learning.

Each lesson will start with a recap from previous learning from the day before, the week before and the month before. This is to ensure that children are regularly exposed to concepts and to further embed their understanding. Following that teachers will ensure each lesson contains a combination of the following: teacher modelling, peer discussion, whole class discussion, group work and independent work. This is facilitated through a “ping-pong” approach where our children are guided, supported and challenged throughout a lesson and are given a range of opportunities to discuss maths with their peers, work independently and share their practice with their teacher. This approach enables instant feedback for the children to act upon and to make changes in their learning to support their understanding of the concept. It also helps to foster a positive maths mind-set and support our children to believe that all can achieve in maths.

Impact

The impact of the maths curriculum is measured through the following methods:

• Analysis of end of key stage data, including attainment and progress
• In school progress and attainment data, analysing individuals and key groups
• Formative assessment by class teachers and subsequent whole class feedback
• Pupil progress meetings to establish reasons for differing rates of progress and putting in measures to address these
• Diagnostic tests on previously taught content to ensure new learning builds on strong foundations
• Summative assessments of learning at a distance through White Rose Unit Tests and end of term PIXL tests
• 'Book looks' with a key mathematical curriculum or pedagogy focus by the maths lead and senior leaders
• Pupil conferencing by maths leads and senior leaders
• Lesson observations and feedback based on the outcomes, by maths leads and senior leaders