Maths

Maths Subject Leader

Our Maths Subject Leader at St. Aidan's is Mrs. Harrison. She has been collaborating closely with our local Maths Hub to enhance the teaching of Mastery Maths throughout our school. Mr. Dockerill serves as our Maths link governor.

Intent

At St. Aidan's, we firmly believe that every child has the potential to succeed in mathematics. We use White Rose Maths. That's why we follow the Mastery Principles outlined by the NCETM (National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics). These principles include representation and structure, mathematical thinking, fluency, variation, and coherence. However, we understand that mastery takes time. Our goal is to equip our students with the knowledge, skills, and vocabulary they need to apply mathematics in their daily lives, both now and in the future. Mathematics plays a crucial role in our comprehensive curriculum, where we strive to instil a lifelong passion for the subject and empower our students to think critically. Mastery is a journey, and we are confident that by breaking down the curriculum into manageable steps and mastering the fundamentals of numbers, we can free up our students' working memory to tackle more complex concepts. 

Implementation

In our EYFS program, we focus on developing strong number sense in our children using the NCETM mastering number scheme. Through taught sessions and continuous provision, we introduce new learning each week to reinforce their understanding. In year 1 and 2, we take it a step further by incorporating 10-15 minute Fluency Bee session to enhance their number sense.

From year 1 to year 6, we base our planning on the White Rose small steps, but we adapt the lessons to meet the needs of our children. We also utilise other mastery resources to support our math curriculum such as Maths Shed and the NCTEM. This allows us to break down the teaching sequence into manageable steps and effectively apply the concrete, pictorial, abstract (CPA) approach. During daily teaching, our class teacher provides stem sentences and modelling to encourage mathematical discussions, reasoning, and problem-solving skills. For children who need extra support, we provide scaffolds to ensure they fully grasp each step before moving on. These scaffolds may involve using concrete resources or pictorial representations, but we have a clear exit strategy to prevent dependence on them. For children who grasp concepts quickly, we provide variations to deepen their understanding and challenge them further within the curriculum.

Our calculation policy and fluency policy are utilised with great care. The calculation policy ensures that children are not pushed beyond their level, but rather given opportunities to deepen their understanding within it. Meanwhile, our fluency policy provides a clear roadmap for students' progression through school, and our staff are well-informed about the mental strategies and number facts they should be teaching. It also outlines the specific times tables that should be covered in each year, with the goal of all children being able to rapidly recall up to 12x12 by the end of year 4. At the end of the school year, we conduct effective transition meetings to help new teachers assess their students' starting points. If certain units haven't been fully covered, our staff ensures that the children are at least "ready to progress" to the next year group.

Incorporating daily assessment, we provide live and verbal feedback throughout the lessons. If children require additional support, interventions are implemented to ensure they are prepared for the next "small step" in their learning. Termly NFER assessments serve as a diagnostic tool, enabling teachers to adapt their teaching to meet the needs of all children. This helps maintain clear standards in the subject and is supported by reliable data.

Impact and Aims

By the time Year 6 comes to an end and students transition to secondary school, our goal is for St. Aidan's mathematicians to possess a profound, lasting, secure, and adaptable comprehension of the subject. This understanding will be built upon the CPA process, ensuring that children truly grasp the concepts rather than simply memorising steps. As a result, they will be able to recognise when answers don't align with mathematical logic. Furthermore, these skills in calculations and understanding will empower them to tackle problems with confidence and resilience, even in situations where they don't have a predetermined method. Additionally, they will have the ability to express their mathematical reasoning effectively.

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Maths Calculation Policies

Year 1 Fluency Bee documents

Year 2 Fluency Bee documents