King's Ford Infant School And Nursery

Maths

Our Intent

At King’s Ford Infant School and Nursery, we believe that all children have the fundamental right to a broad and balanced curriculum that provides a range of opportunities for pupils to learn, and that Mathematics is both a key skill within school, and a life skill. Mathematics equips pupils with a uniquely powerful set of tools to understand the world. These tools include logical reasoning, problem solving skills and the ability to think in abstract ways.  We are committed to providing opportunities for all pupils to achieve mastery in the key concepts of Mathematics appropriate for their age group, and in order that they make genuine progress and avoid gaps in their understanding that provide barriers to learning as they move through education. Mathematics is integral to all aspects of life and with this in mind we endeavour to ensure that children develop a positive and enthusiastic attitude towards Mathematics that will stay with them forever.

Our Aims

•  To foster a positive attitude to mathematics as an interesting and appealing part of the curriculum.
•  To develop the ability to think clearly and logically, with confidence, flexibility and independence of thought.
•  To develop a deeper understanding of mathematics through a process of enquiry and investigation.
•  To develop an understanding of the connectivity of patterns and relationships within mathematics.
•  To develop the ability to apply knowledge, skills and ideas in real life contexts outside the classroom, and become aware of the uses of mathematics in the wider world.
•  To develop the ability to use mathematics as a means of communicating ideas.
•  To develop an ability and inclination to work both alone and cooperatively to solve mathematical problems.
•  To develop personal qualities such as perseverance, independent thinking, cooperation and self-confidence through a sense of achievement and success.
•  To develop an appreciation of the creative aspects of mathematics and an awareness of its aesthetic appeal.

Maths Curriculum Planning

Mathematics is a core subject in the National Curriculum and we use the objectives from this to support planning and to assess children’s progress. 

As a school we refer to The White Rose planning resources to ensure that activities are pitched at an appropriate level and for good coverage of the different areas of maths. Medium term and weekly plans show a more detailed breakdown of specific activities as well as how tasks will be differentiated. The weekly plans list the specific learning objectives and steps to success and give details of how the learning is to be taught and differentiated. The class teacher keeps these individual plans, which they annotate to provide information for observations and pupil assessments.

To provide adequate time for developing mathematics, maths is taught daily and will also take place in other areas of the curriculum as part of our cross-curricular approach. This could include comparing the temperature in Colchester with that of another country in geography, measuring the growth/height of plants in science or researching the length of reigns of different kings and queens in history.

The school follows the ‘Concrete – Pictorial – Abstract’ approach to ensure that all pupils have a sound understanding of the core foundations of mathematics.

Our teachers strive to:

• build children’s confidence and self esteem
• develop children’s independence
• allow all children to experience regular success
• contextualise mathematics
• use practical approaches to mathematics (models and images)
• encourage children to independently select resources to help them
• challenge children of all abilities.
• encourage children to select their own level of challenge, when appropriate
• encourage children to enjoy mathematics
• develop a child’s understanding of mathematical language
• learn from teachers, peers and their own mistakes
• allow children to ask questions as well as answer them
• provide pupils with a range of strategies to solve number based problems and calculations

 Our pupils should:

• have a well-developed sense of the size of a number and where it fits into the number system (place value)
• know by heart number facts such as number bonds, multiplication tables, doubles and halves
• draw upon what they know to solve mathematical problems mentally
• calculate accurately and efficiently, both mentally and in writing, and draw on a range of calculation strategies
• make sense of number problems, including non-routine/’real’ problems and identify the operations needed to solve them
• explain their methods and reasoning, using correct mathematical terms
• judge whether their answers are reasonable and have strategies for checking them where necessary
• suggest suitable units for measuring and make sensible estimates of measurements
• explain and make predictions from the numbers in graphs, diagrams, charts and tables
• develop spatial awareness and an understanding of the properties of 2D and 3D shapes

Our Calculation Aims

• To introduce children to the processes of calculation through practical, oral and mental

activities.

• To support children in developing ways of recording to support their thinking and calculation

methods.

• To enable children to learn to interpret and use the signs and symbols.
• To facilitate children’s use of models and images, such as empty number lines and Numicon to support their mental and informal written methods of calculation.
• To enable children to strengthen and refine their mental methods in order to develop informal written methods.
• To support children in becoming more efficient in their recordings which will ultimately lead to efficient written methods that can be used more generally.
• To ensure that whatever method is being used, children’s methods of calculating will be underpinned by a secure and appropriate knowledge of number facts, along with the mental skills that are needed to carry out the process and judge if it was successful.
• To help pupils gain and maintain a positive ‘can do’ attitude in maths.

We aim to ensure that by the end of Key Stage 1 children have:

• a secure understanding of mental maths facts to apply to written mathematics.
• a secure knowledge of number facts and a good understanding of the four

operations.

• an efficient, reliable, compact written method of calculation for each operation that

children can apply with confidence when undertaking calculations that they cannot carry

out mentally.

• an ability to use this knowledge and understanding to solve problems.

Website links:

www.maths-games.org

www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/kids-activities/fun-maths-games-and-activities/#maths-5-7

www.ictgames.com/mobilePage/index.html

www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/problem-solving

www.nrich.maths.org/9078

https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/category/22/most-popular