Mathematics at The Pines

“The highest form of pure thought is in mathematics.” Plato

“Without mathematics there’s nothing you can do. Everything around you is mathematics. Everything around you is numbers.”  Shakuntala Devi

“Mathematics is the most beautiful and most powerful creation of the human spirit.” Stefan Banach

Vision and Intent

At The Pines, we recognise that firm foundations in mathematics are crucial for all children as they move through life. We believe that, in order to be successful in their daily adult life, children must have grasped key mathematical concepts. Our aim is to start children on their journeys to becoming confident, competent mathematicians from the very earliest age possible.

We aim to:

• teach all children the necessary skills to enable them to become fluent, logical mathematicians;
• inspire children to notice and appreciate the pattern, scope and complexity of our number system;
• develop the skills children need to solve mathematical problems;
• create an atmosphere of fun, respect and enjoyment around mathematics.

Our curriculum drivers are reflected through our mathematics curriculum as it:

allows children to understand THEIR PLACE IN OUR WORLD through experiencing ways in which mathematics is used in our daily lives, developing their aspirations to follow careers in this area;  develops their LANGUAGE AND ORACY skills through the use of sentence stems and the expectation to explain their reasoning; enables children to develop their resilience which are key LEARNING SKILLS when solving problems and develops a HEALTHY MIND through the development of a positive, can-do mindset.

Implementation

Mathematics at The Pines follows a mastery approach: teaching for understanding.  Children encounter new learning in a logical, ordered sequence following the White Rose Scheme of Work. Learning is split into small steps so that children gain a thorough understanding of mathematical concepts.

Children are given a range of opportunities to work on the following areas of mathematics: varied fluency, problem solving and reasoning. 

In EYFS and KS1 children follow the small steps through a mixture of adult led activities and self-led learning activities within the continuous provision environment.

During KS2 mathematics lessons:
•    A mastery approach is adopted; 

•    Every block of learning follows a concrete, pictorial and abstract model;
•    Previous learning is revisited;
•    Fluency, problem solving and reasoning feature in every block of learning and in most lessons;
•    Talk is consistently used to facilitate thinking and progress in learning;

Appropriate tasks will be set during self-led learning days, both teach-led and independent.  ​

Maths Meetings

All year groups are given regular opportunities to revisit past learning and to work on key fluency skills during Maths Meetings. These are daily, timetabled mathematical sessions, often involving games, competitions, paired work and quick recall tasks. They are designed to be fun, fast paced and low stakes in order to help all children understand and gain quick recall of key ideas, for example number bonds, times tables, counting in varying intervals and more. 

Mathematics in the Wider Curriculum

Children learn best when they are able to make connections between their learning through a variety of experiences. Therefore, opportunities to apply mathematical learning and skills are woven throughout other curriculum areas, for example data handling in science, accurate measuring in DT, understanding weight or capacity in food technology and many more examples.

Impact

The impact of mathematics teaching is evidenced through teacher assessment, PiXL tests and lesson observations.  Discussions with children and pupil voice surveys provide evidence of confidence, engagement and attitudes towards mathematics.  The written and spoken outcomes of children's learning demonstrates that they know more, can do more and remember more.

• Children's confidence is high and they are fluent and logical mathematicians;
• Children can represent a problem visually, using this to establish how to find the answer;
• Children recognise mathematics in their everyday life; 
• Children at The Pines love mathematics and enjoy a challenge.

How can I help at home?

Please find a link to useful information from White Rose on how you can help your child at home.  This includes videos which demonstrate how we teach the different concepts in each year group.  There are also some useful videos which compare how we were taught different concepts to how they are now taught.  

https://whiteroseeducation.com/parent-pupil-resources/maths/home-learning?year=year-1-new

https://whiteroseeducation.com/parent-pupil-resources/maths/maths-with-michael