Maths

At St Leonard’s CofE Primary School, we follow the Early Years Framework and National Curriculum to structure and shape our teaching of mathematics. As such, we hold the aims of both documents as our overarching guiding principles for shaping the provision of mathematics.

Across the school from EYFS to Y6, the curriculum objectives are delivered by following the White Rose Maths Scheme. This ensures that the maths curriculum is progressive and builds knowledge. We believe that, and ensure through our teaching, mathematics is a rich and creative subject in which all pupils can succeed and experience success.

Hi, I’m Miss Chaulk and I’m one of the maths subject leaders at St Leonard’s. I’m extremely passionate about children’s early development and it’s a pleasure to be part of the children’s first years of school. I enjoy carrying out action research and strive to ensure our provision provides a variety of opportunities for children to explore early number sense, shape and measurement. We introduce our children to a range of mathematical vocabulary, representations and concrete resources, providing them with a rich start to their mathematical journey. Our Foundation and KS1 children embrace opportunities to share their own mathematical knowledge with others and apply their understanding within class and in everyday life.

I’m Mr Bisby and I’m one of the maths subject leaders at St Leonard’s. I’m determined to ensure that our children secure a good knowledge of number facts and times table facts so that they are confident in using them to solve calculations and problems. I’ve helped to lead staff training on the importance of scaffolding within mathematics and how maths lessons can enable access for all learners to mathematical thinking. I’m proud of the rapid development we have secured in our curriculum, and it is brilliant to hear so many of our pupils share their love for maths too. 

Hi, I'm Mr Daitz and I'm one of the maths subject leaders at St Leonard’s. Over time, St Leonard’s has been influenced by working with the Jurassic Hub of the NCETM to shape our ideas of Teaching for Mastery.  We aim for all children to make connections between mathematical concepts and structures.  By building on their fluency with number facts and developing mathematical vocabulary, the children will be able to develop their ability to reason and make connections across the maths curriculum.  We firmly believe that all children can achieve at maths and that by adopting a mastery approach, children will become secure with the key ideas that are needed to underpin their future learning.

What do Maths lessons look like at St Leonard’s?

Research and development by the NCETM (National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics) has been influential in our development of pedagogy surrounding the teaching of mathematics and has shaped our understanding of ‘Teaching for Mastery’. The NCETM produced ‘5 Big Ideas’ for Teaching for Mastery; they are:

Therefore, the key features of our mathematics lessons that enable us to achieve ‘Teaching for Mastery’ are:

• Retrieval Questions and recapping prior learning through our Fluency in 5 lesson starters 
• The use of Anchor Problems to promote rich mathematical discussion and address misconceptions 
• The use of stem sentences to enable access for all to mathematical vocabulary and enable children to reason mathematically.
• Deep mathematical discussions.
• Clear modelling of mathematical structures through concrete resources and representations. 

How do we make sure every child succeeds?

We hold the firm belief that attainment in mathematics is not fixed and every child has the right to achieve.

In EYFS we believe each child is unique and will experience the curriculum in their own individual way. We deliver our teaching inputs to the whole class and use Objective Led Planning to ensure learning is pitched appropriately for all learners. We also use Tapestry to communicate with parents and to share teaching inputs, information about children’s individual progress and their next steps in learning.

In Years 1-6, teachers make effective use of formative and summative assessments to establish clear starting points and ensure that teaching builds from this. Lessons are adapted to meet the needs of all learners through high quality scaffolding and differentiation. Where appropriate, teachers set personal targets for individuals to ensure all children make progress.