Maths at Woodfield Primary School

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Our vision in maths is for all pupils to become confident, competent and resilient mathematicians who relish the challenge of maths, and have a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject. We aim to provide a curriculum that is accessible for all, will maximise the development of every child’s ability and provide the opportunity for all children to fulfil their potential in maths. It is our aim to prepare children to recognise structures within maths helping to develop their fluency and knowledge of ‘how the maths works.’ We aim to promote a love of maths in all children by ensuring that all pupils:

 

• become fluent in the fundamentals of maths through varied and frequent practice so pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall knowledge rapidly and accurately

• develop an understanding of their own metacognition through a focus on providing opportunities for them to plan what they are going to do when faced with a maths problem, monitor how well they are doing as they try to solve and evaluate how well they did once they have solved it or not

• use their understanding to reason mathematically including explaining, justifying or providing evidence using mathematical language

• make the relevant links to how maths can be applied in everyday life. Maths is taught across the school in daily maths lessons and through cross-curricular links within our topics.

 

We use the ‘Power Maths’ scheme of work to ensure all pupils become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, reason mathematically and can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of problems. When solving problems, we want our children to:

 

• make links to the fluency as this is highly connected and is how children develop their conceptual and procedural fluency

• use and compare different approaching and strategies

• interrogate and use their existing knowledge

 

At Woodfield Primary, we believe it is very important for every child to establish a secure foundation in mental calculation and to be able recall number facts. To promote the importance of this, all children participate in regular retrieval through activities designed to help children by revisiting previous learning and embedding their understanding. In the teaching of maths in our school, we seek to consider not only the importance of understanding the content being delivered but also the ways in which we teach it, the common misconceptions and the most appropriate models. In our teaching of the subject, we consider a ‘learning journey’ that can focus on one objective over one lesson or a series of lessons. The learning journey enables all children to make progress using concrete, visual and abstract approaches including application and reasoning opportunities for all children at the level at which they are working. Through this journey, we not only value the importance of understanding the content being delivered but also the ways in which to teach it, the common misconceptions and the most appropriate models. We endeavour to ensure that our maths curriculum provides children with an opportunity to see the value of the subject and its role in everyday life, and give them the confidence and motivation to further develop their skills into the next stage of their education, life experiences and career selections.

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Multiplication tables check: information for parents

 

Power Maths and Mastery

 

Power Maths makes mastery practical and achievable by providing the structures, pathways, content, tools and support needed.

 

To develop mastery in maths children need to be enabled to acquire a deep understanding of maths concepts, structures and procedures, step by step. Complex mathematical concepts are built on simpler conceptual components and when children understand every step in the learning sequence, maths becomes transparent and makes logical sense. Interactive lessons establish deep understanding in small steps, as well as effortless fluency in key facts such as tables and number bonds. The whole class works on the same content and no child is left behind – children are supported to keep up, not catch up.

 

Power Maths:

 

• Builds every concept in small, progressive steps.

• Is built with interactive, whole-class teaching in mind.

• Provides the tools needed to develop growth mindsets.

• Helps check understanding and ensure that every child is keeping up.

• Establishes core elements such as intelligent practice and reflection.

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