Maths

The Early Years

Early maths skills are reinforced through practical, contextual activities using a wide range of physical resources, often linked to role-play and developed through enhanced provision such as self-registration, concept images such as 5 and 10 frames, daily subitising and songs and rhymes. Challenges posed encourage problem-solving and application of their learning. Maths is taught in four ways: teacher-directed, teacher-led, child-initiated and child-led. Each method allows the children to develop their understanding of early maths skills with confidence.

Intent

Mathematics is a crucial discipline which helps us to better understand the world around us. We believe that Mathematics offers children the opportunity to think creatively and allows them to solve problems in a variety of ways. We want all pupils at The Schools of Woolton Hill to experience the joy, the power and the wonder of Mathematics and develop a sense of curiosity about the subject with a clear understanding.

At The Schools of Woolton Hill we foster positive attitudes and encourage pupils to challenge themselves. We use mistakes and misconceptions as an essential part of learning and we believe that our pupils should be courageous and able to solve rich and sophisticated problems. We want all pupils to reason mathematically and present their understanding using a range of mathematical representations and language.

At The Schools of Woolton Hill we believe that all pupils can achieve in Mathematics and are able to develop and grow as confident mathematicians.

Implementation

Our curriculum aims to enable all pupils to become the very best mathematician they can possibly be.

Children are taught Mathematics for approximately one hour daily and support is determined before and during each lesson to ensure secure understanding based on each individual need. Children are assessed using robust AFL strategies within the lesson such as live marking, dynamic groupings and teachers plan both proactively and reflectively to ensure that adults are deployed effectively and purposefully to support the needs of the class.

At The Schools of Woolton Hill we follow the Hampshire Improvement Advisory Service’s Scheme of Learning for Maths. Teachers meet in teams to carefully plan units of work that are bespoke to the learning needs of their children. Progression within the subject is based on the medium-term plans created by the Hampshire Improvement Advisory Group.

This is used to create a learning journey for the unit - an 'S' plan. The S plan sets out the teaching sequence, identifies potential misconceptions that must be addressed, highlights particular pictorial representations that could support understanding and considers opportunities for pupils to develop reasoning and problem-solving skills. The 'S' plan becomes the initial document that informs the creation of a short-term plan for each class:

Challenge is provided throughout each session where reasoning and problem-solving questions are central to support and develop each pupils understanding.

Alongside this, The Schools of Woolton Hill use a variety of resources to ensure a broad, rich and varied approach. These include NRich, NCETM and Classroom Secrets as well as utilising AI tools to create varied, intelligent tasks that will push learners in the right direction consistently. Mini Maths is used daily to recap and consolidate learning; Times Table Rockstars and Numbots are utilised to support children with their number knowledge.

Impact

We aim for children to have a positive appreciation of Maths and to be fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics with a clear conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply their mathematical knowledge at speed. We want all children to have the skills to solve problems and harness their mathematical understanding to variety of situations including real life scenarios.

Using mathematical language, children should be able to prove, justify and reason mathematically. We want children to see mathematics as a journey rather than a destination.