Subject Leader: Mrs E Warburton
WARBURTONE@saintgeorgescofe.kent.sch.uk
Mathematics at Saint George’s Primary Phase
Intent
The 2014 National Curriculum for Maths aims to ensure that all children:
- Become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics
- Be able to reason mathematically
- Can solve problems by applying mathematics
- Can solve problems actively by applying their mathematics in active mathematics lessons.
At Saint George’s Primary Phase these key skills are embedded within our daily maths lessons across the school and are being developed consistently over time. We are committed to ensuring that all children will be able to recognise the importance of maths in the wider world. Children are provided with a variety of opportunities to develop and use their mathematical skills and knowledge confidently in their lives in a range of different contexts. It is the aim of Saint George’s that all children enjoy mathematics and are able to succeed at a level that challenges them and enhances both their practical and reasoning skills.
Implementation
The content and principles underpinning the 2014 National Curriculum for maths alongside the maths curriculum at Saint Georges reflect those found in using high-performing education systems such as Mathematics Mastery and Chris Quigley Education.
Our curriculum is implemented through:
- Teachers reinforcing the expectation that all children will be capable of achieving their highest standards in mathematics.
- Ensuring that the majority of children progress through the curriculum content simultaneously whilst differentiation is achieved by emphasising deep knowledge and mastery through individual support and focussed intervention.
- High quality teaching underpinned by methodical curriculum design supported by carefully constructed lessons and resources to ensure deep conceptual and procedural mastery.
- Providing an environment where practice and consolidation play a central role. Careful consideration is given to the design of a variety of opportunities for building fluency and understanding of the key mathematical concepts.
- Teachers using precise questioning in class to develop conceptual and procedural knowledge and formatively assessing children regularly to identify those requiring further support in order to keep up and those that require increased challenge to develop their skills more deeply.
To ensure whole school consistency and progression Saint George’s Primary Phase uses the DfE approved ‘Ark Mathematics Mastery’ scheme alongside the Chris Quigley Education Milestones.
The Ark Mathematics Mastery programme is a whole-school approach to teaching mathematics. It aims to raise attainment for all pupils and close the attainment gap between pupils from low-income families and their peers. The programme aims to deepen pupils’ conceptual understanding of key mathematical concepts.
Compared to traditional curricula, fewer topics are covered in more depth, and greater emphasis is placed on problem-solving and on encouraging mathematical thinking. To help schools and teachers make this shift there is training and in-school support, an online toolkit for teachers, and collaboration amongst teachers delivering the approach. Ark Mathematics Mastery aims to improve the quality of maths teaching. Features of the programme that are informed by evidence include a systematic approach to mathematical language, frequent use of objects and pictures to represent mathematical concepts, and an emphasis on high expectations.
Impact
Saint George’s Primary Phase prides itself on its culture of supporting others and we feel our chosen mathematical approaches support the pupils throughout the school to develop their collaborative and independent skills. In addition to this, pupils are encouraged to develop their skills of empathy and to celebrate the achievements of others through high quality group and partner work.
To ensure that all children reach their full potential in maths whilst as Saint George’s, pupils will experience an active, inclusive, enjoyable, challenging, and safe mathematics environment in which to experiment, make mistakes and challenge their developing skills. Daily formative assessments inform planning and targeted differentiation to support and provide relevant challenge for each child regardless of their learning stage. These factors ensure we can continue to maintain high standards and expectations of all our pupils as the school continues to grow. High quality teaching will continue to flourish and develop in order to maintain the current high standards and those we expect to achieve at the end of KS2 in 2025 with attainment reaching well above the national average and a high proportion of children demonstrating greater depth at the end of each phase.