Intent

At Gosbecks Primary School our aims are that all children:

• Become fluent in the fundamentals of Mathematics
• Are able to reason mathematically
• Can solve problems by applying their Mathematics

At Gosbecks Primary School we have high expectations for every child. We want to develop a culture where children recognise the importance of Mathematics as a life skill in the wider world and realise that Mathematics is everywhere, not just in the classroom. We expect pupils to become secure in their understanding and application of mathematical language just as they are in English.

Our aim is for pupils to be excited, curious and feel challenged in their learning, where they are able to reason mathematically and make links across the curriculum, applying mathematical skills to problem solve. 

Implementation

As a school we follow the nationally recognised White Rose Maths scheme which is currently being use in 140 countries and by 80% of UK primary schools. This ensures a consistency throughout the whole school where progression can be tracked alongside the use of the NFER end of term assessments.

The White Rose curriculum have number at their heart. A significant amount of time is spent reinforcing number in order to build competency and ensure children can confidently access the rest of the curriculum. It is a cumulative curriculum, so that once a topic is covered, it is met many times again in other contexts. For example, place value is revisited in addition and subtraction and multiplication and division.  The curriculum recognises the importance of children’s conceptual understanding of number.  It is therefore designed to ensure that time is invested in reinforcing this to build competency.

The mastery approach forms the basis in which pupils will develop a concrete concept of maths. This means pupils will develop their knowledge and understanding through the use concrete representations: where children have the opportunity to work with physical objects/concrete resources, in order to bring the maths to life and to build an understanding of what they are doing; and pictorial: where they can work with pictorial representations, making links to the concrete. Visualising a problem in this way can help children to reason and to solve problems in order to support their understanding of abstract methods, therefore spending greater time going into depth on an area of learning as opposed to racing onto the next topic. We believe it is vital for pupils to have a secure subject knowledge which will provide the foundations and enable those skills to be applied in all areas of maths.

All teachers provide pupils with a positive ‘I can’ approach emphasising that all children are capable of achieving high standards in Mathematics. Teachers will link the learning to real life situations and why they need this knowledge therefore it will have meaning.

We have high expectations regarding presentation throughout the school and ensure pupils have the opportunity to address misconceptions such as number formation and calculation errors to ensure these do not become habits.  

We focus on all pupils achieving what is expected of their age group, where they are able progress at the same pace in order to develop a secure and deep knowledge of keys skills in order to reason and problem solve with confidence. This said, we recognise that for some pupils this is not always possible and identify where early interventions can scaffold pupils’ learning in order for them to make progress 

We recognise that practice and consolidation play a vital role pupil retaining knowledge and address this through the daily use of Flash Back 4 where prior learning is addressed providing all children with the opportunity to secure or consolidate previous learning therefore embedding their knowledge.                                                                                                                                             

Teacher’s use of precise questioning provides the opportunity for assessment and also for pupils to develop a deeper understanding, for example: the use of ‘Sometimes, Always, Never’ is a simple way ask children to prove a statement.

As a school you will witness a variety of approaches within lessons where each step is carefully considered and sequenced. This will typically begin with a teacher lead input with interaction within the class including questioning, whiteboard work, show me, pupil talk and demonstration. The teaching and learning may then lead to guided group work, group or partner work where collaboration often leads to a deeper understanding and independent learning. The intention is for all children being to be able to achieve independence.

Our aim is for pupils to be able to articulate their mathematical explanations using precise mathematical vocabulary with clear understanding, pupils are supported with this through the use of stem sentences and starting points.

For example:

• There are____ tens in 100 and_____ hundreds in_____ This means there are tens in________.
• It must be……… because………….
• When I…………it………
• I know that........ because........
• To find my answer I.........
• I know this is the answer because……  

Mathematical topics are taught in blocks, to enable the achievement of ‘mastery’ over time. These teaching blocks are broken down into smaller steps, to help children understand concepts better and areas for potential misconceptions are identified prior to teaching.  This approach means that children do not cover too many concepts at once which can lead to cognitive overload. At the end of each block of learning the children complete a small block assessment which identifies areas of further development either through interventions or whole class teaching. We have weekly competitions where success is celebrated individually within each class and collectively in celebration assembly.

We provide pupils with the secure environment where they are curious and not afraid to make mistakes but see them more as a learning opportunity.

We are constantly reflecting on our practice and sharing good practice alongside updating our teaching in accordance with new ideas and resources.

Impact

We regularly assess the children, not only through block and end of term assessments but through our everyday teaching practice where we reflect on progress or misconceptions and consider how adapting our lesson or interventions can impact on pupils’ progress. Our children feel challenged and are resilient.

This approach will in turn prevent long term gaps as these will be identified, addressed and prevented more rapidly and for those pupils who are able to grasp these concepts they will be challenged further by developing their reasoning and problem-solving skills.

We believe children thrive through collaboration, discussing why something is so or where a mistake has occurred and the mastery approach provides pupils with the opportunity to do just that. Our children are supportive of their peers and we have a culture of celebration, where children start to show belief in themselves, that they can achieve.

Our aim is to ensure pupils leave Gosbecks Primary School with strong foundations and a deep and secure understanding of mathematics. We want them to take their knowledge and apply it to a range of situations in the wider world.