Intent
At Perranporth, our maths curriculum has been developed to ensure that every child has a sound understanding of the intricacies of mathematics. We aim for them to leave our school equipped with the required maths skills to thrive in later life.
By lacing arithmetic, reasoning and problem solving in to series of small step lessons, we ensure that secure links are made and that prior knowledge is being tested and challenged throughout.
Our aspiration is for every child to see themselves as a mathematician – demonstrating a confident attitude towards tackling problems both in and out of the classroom and understanding the importance of maths in the wider world.
Implementation
We implement the following procedures in order to achieve desired outcomes:
Number fluency:
At Perranporth, we have a very secure understanding of what ‘mastery’ is and how it looks in our lessons, books and ultimately in the children themselves. We encourage rapid recall of known facts in all 4 operations with the building blocks of this starting in the foundation stage with verbal and practical demonstration of skills and understanding.
From Year 1 onwards, children take part in “Popcorn Maths” (a timed arithmetic test) once per week, which aids children in building up number fluency skills throughout the year.
These include missing numbers and equals on the opposite sides to ensure depth of understanding of the calculation and gets progressively more challenging throughout the year.
In addition to this, all Key Stage 2 children have access to “Times Table rockstars” and weekly certifications are given out for most coins earned, fastest average speed, most correct answers and most valuable players.
Planning, lesson design and books:
When planning our lessons, we follow the model of:
‘Teach, Learn, Challenge, Understand’
This model will be presented sometimes within a single lesson but mostly it will be evident within a group of lessons which will be highlighted within the child’s maths book at the beginning of each unit of study.
Prior to each new maths topic area starting, teachers will complete a planning pyramid which will then translate on to their maths working wall. Breaking down the topic area ensures that small steps are being taken and that the National Curriculum objectives are being broken down. Staff look back at the previous year groups expectations as a starting point (setting the scene section on pyramid) and assess from here before moving on to plug any gaps and ensure knowledge and skills progression. Each section of the pyramid may take different amounts of time from one lesson to three. From looking at the working wall, everyone including the children, parents and staff know where the learning is going.
Individual low threshold / high ceiling lessons are planned from this framework in the form of powerpoint/notebook slides which provide a clear progression of skills and calculations are chosen carefully in order to maximise lesson effectiveness. Once a year, all teachers will deliver a maths lesson and invite parents in to take part in the learning. This helps parents and carers to see how maths is taught at Perranporth School and the resources that are used to enable them to support the learning at home.
We have a high expectation of presentation within books where children will one digit per square. Each lesson will have the short date and a learning objective to describe the learning. Where numbers have been reversed or written incorrectly, this will be highlighted within marking (KS1) and children will have to rewrite the number several times to practice. Marking in books will take one of three forms. Marking in blue is after the lesson marking by the teacher or teaching assistant, marking in green is live marking done by the child either as a whole class or in the form of “do one, mark one” for Key Stage 2 children. Children’s books will show their mathematical journey and tell a story of the learning, building on skills with well planned activities to stretch and challenge all learners. Key stage 2 children will assess their own learning on the pyramid after each lesson and will use one of three codes: WTS (working towards the standard); WA (working at the standard or GDS (greater depth within the standard). Where a child is assessed at WTS intervention will be given before the next lesson.
These activities are based around fluency, reasoning and problem solving and may take the form of:
Below are the key instant recall facts (those things we want children to know):
See below to find out what each year group learns in each term
Calculation policy
Our calculation policy has been written to ensure clear progression from the Foundation Stage to Y6, building upon skills. All staff have been involved in its design and each teacher is aware of the mathematical journey the pupils have been on. This is reviewed every year through staff meetings and is also revised with each new member of staff during induction.
Impact
Our regular monitoring and pupil conferencing shows that both girls and boys are equally as positive about maths and see themselves as mathematicians.
Parents also have a key role in this. They are supported by staff to ensure they have the correct knowledge base to support their child at home so that they can continue positive impressions on mathematics. Parents have also given very positive feedback on the lessons they have observed
Interventions – All children who had not quite grasped a concept at the end of a unit of study will receive some intervention
More Information
If you would like to find out more click here to find the National Curriculum or contact Mr McGowan jmcgowan@perranporth.tpacademytrust.org
