Welcome to our Maths Curriculum

Our approach to Maths 

Intent

Why do we teach this? Why do we teach it in the way we do?

Mathematics is an important discipline that helps us to understand the world we live in. We want all pupils at Fir Tree Junior School to enjoy Mathematics and develop a sense of curiosity about the subject with a clear understanding.

At Fir Tree we promote a growth mindset; developing a ‘can do attitude’ so that the children are confident to have a go. We believe all children can achieve in mathematics, and teach for secure and deep understanding of mathematical concepts through manageable steps. We use mistakes and misconceptions as an essential part of learning and provide challenge through rich and sophisticated problems. At our school, the majority of children will be taught the content from their year group only; they will spend time learning the knowledge and skills and delving deeper into the subject so that they can apply their knowledge to solving more complex problems.

We 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
• reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry and develop and present 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

What do we teach? What does this look like?

Our whole curriculum is shaped by our school vision which aims to encourage all children to aspire to work hard and achieve high standards; to be independent and inquisitive learners. We teach the National Curriculum, supported by a clear skills and knowledge progression. This ensures that skills and knowledge are built on year by year and sequenced appropriately to maximise learning for all children.

To achieve this Mathematics is taught daily, drawing upon a range of resources such as White Rose, Classroom Secrets and NRich. Using these resources, we help children to develop their fluency, reasoning and problem-solving skills across our mathematics curriculum.

At Fir Tree we focus on 3 main areas: fluency, reasoning and problem solving; working with a variety of representations of number, so that children become confident and efficient when working with number. Children are taught the language skills necessary to explain their mathematical understanding and become efficient problem solvers; developing the characteristics to tackle investigations and the confidence to pursue their own lines of enquiry.

A typical lesson will see the class working together on the same area of maths, whilst at the same time addressing the need for all pupils to master the curriculum and for some to gain greater depth of proficiency and understanding. Lessons are planned to provide a conceptual journey through the mathematics, engaging pupils in reasoning and the development of mathematical thinking. Support is determined through questioning throughout the lesson to ensure secure understanding based on the needs of the child. Challenge is provided by going deeper rather than accelerating into new mathematical content.  Teaching is focused, rigorous and thorough, to ensure that learning is sufficiently embedded and sustainable over time. 

Additionally, each class will do early work with a focus on key learning areas such as number bonds, doubles, times tables, quick re-call division facts and arithmetic at least three times per week.  

Impact

What will this look like? By the time children leave our school they will:

By the end of KS2 we aim for children to be fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics with a conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.

They should have the skills to solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of situations with increasing sophistication, including in unfamiliar contexts and to model real-life scenarios. Children will be able to reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry and develop and present a justification, argument or proof using mathematical language.

Times Tables

The ability to fully understand multiplication and have fluency and instant recall will boost your child’s confidence in the subject and enable them to solve more complex mathematical problems. As a main tool for many forms of maths, the ability to rehearse and understand multiplications up to and including 12 will enable your child to confidently tackle the more complex mathematical subjects and teachings presented to them as they progress through education. It is therefore very important to practice daily through games, chanting or online activities.

Mathematical terms and definitions

The link below takes you to an excellent mathematical glossary where children can look up different vocabulary, whilst having a go at activities to reinforce understanding:

http://www.amathsdictionaryforkids.com/dictionary.html

Websites to help mental arithmetic

Websites to help mental arithmetic

http://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/7-11-years/mental-maths

http://www.schoolslinks.co.uk/resources_numeracy.htm

http://www.mathsisfun.com/timestable.html

htt://www.multiplicationtables.co.uk

https://ttrockstars.com/    Children will have their own log in for this site

Year 6 Maths Teachers - Wednesday 13th July 2022

This week children in Silver Birch became teachers for the morning. They worked in groups to plan an exciting lesson for some children in years 3 and 4.

On Tuesday, they were given the maths learning objectives from Years 3 and 4. They decided which area of maths they wanted to focus on and then planned a lesson to deliver to the children in lower school. On Wednesday, the year 6 children delivered fantastic lessons – telling their group what learning objective they were covering and then clearly explaining and supporting the children with the activity.

Here we can see the range of activities that they delivered: making cakes, estimating and timing, measuring amounts to make slime and playing games to practise times tables. Well done, Silver Birch – you were amazing!

Maths Day - Tuesday 6th April 2022

On Tuesday 6th April we held Fir Tree Maths Day. Children had the opportunity to learn and apply their mathematical skills and knowledge within other lessons such as taking measures and presenting data within PE lessons, using axis and lines to create pictures in Art, using co-ordinates in Geography and counting beats in music. The children enjoyed seeing and using maths in such a wide variety of ways. 

Maths Day - Tuesday 17th November 2020

Throughout the day each class planned several lessons which had a cross curricular link to maths. Children were able to enjoy a variety of subjects which demonstrated how maths is used throughout the curriculum:  for example, co-ordinates work in Geography, rotational symmetry in art, measuring and presenting results in PE, keeping the beat and counting in music and weighing and measuring in cooking. These were just some of the ways in which children were encouraged to use their mathematical skills and to understand the importance of maths by demonstrating how it is used every day in a variety of ways. 

We have a lovely report from Willow class explaining how they incorporated maths into their lessons.