Intent
At Newbold Church of England Primary School (NCS), mathematics equips pupils with a uniquely powerful set of tools to understand and change the world.
Mathematics teaches children to logically reason, solve problems and think in abstract ways. Our ambitious aim is to teach a curriculum that builds sequentially to have a high proportion of our pupils achieve at least ARE/ARE+.
In addition, our wish is for our pupils to use these mathematical tools and experiences long after they have left NCS, to enable them to go further in their academic pursuits, and to use mathematics with confidence in their everyday lives.
Implementation
At NCS, we follow the White Rose schemes for learning. We follow the long and medium term plans from White Rose Maths and use their small steps to create our own bespoke weekly plans, tailored to the needs of our children.
Our weekly plans are designed to include the following aspects:
- Daily arithmetic/fluency starters to constantly embed prior learning
- CPA approach
- Mastery approach embedded throughout
- Constant opportunities to develop reasoning and problem solving skills building on mathematical fluency
- ALL children have the highest expectations - SEND children are supported to access the curriculum
- Actively seek opportunities to foster the love and wonder of the subject
Impact
At NCS, our Mastery approach and strategy of taking small steps of learning ensures no child is left behind. As a result, more of our pupils achieve ARE or ARE+. Assessment at our school is very robust, ensuring gaps are filled and support can be targeted.
- Termly NFER assessments back up teacher assessments by giving a scaled and age standardised scores. These enable teachers to carefully plan moving forwards
- Daily arithmetic/fluency starters are marked and assessed thus informing teachers which areas need more embedding
- Day to day marking against standard objectives
- Using day to day formative assessment as a tool to identify next steps in learning
SMSC Development
At NCS, we also aim to facilitate our children's SMSC development through Mathematics in the following ways...
- By helping to capture those moments of joy and wonder when a child solves a problem for the first time or sees hidden connections.
- Through placing great emphasis on how logical reasoning can be used in Mathematics and the wider world thus equipping our children with the confidence to question, investigate, prove and explain.
- By making our children aware of the Mathematical excellence in our world and it's wider contribution in society.
Through laying these early foundations of Mathematical understanding, we want our children to apply these skills to a positive future - one in which they feel empowered to contribute to a better and future society.