Maths
We want our children to leave school with a love of maths. We aim for them to have a toolkit bursting with life skills that will equip them to be resilient and successful in their future.
We endeavour to deliver a rich and engaging maths curriculum. We believe that mathematics teaches children how to make sense of the world around them through developing their ability to calculate, to reason and to solve problems. In our school, we want to help children to understand and appreciate the relationships between mathematical concepts and their application in real life, which is why we make every effort to make our maths link to the ‘real world’.
How is it Implemented
Children need to have a journey in maths, which is why we aim to ensure that our teaching includes:
- Beginning with concrete resources to support mathematical thinking, reasoning and problem solving.
- Use of questions/concepts presented in a range of different ways to encourage mathematical fluency.
- Effective use of questioning designed to promote depth of mathematical understanding.
- Teaching the use of jottings and pictorial representations to explain their calculations and rationale.
- Appropriate modelling of key vocabulary.
- Providing opportunities to apply these skills to abstract situations.
- Building resilience and a positive mind set.
For guidance on the EYFS maths curriculum, please see the Foundation Stage curriculum statement.
For years 1 to 6, teaching of mathematics follows the White Rose Maths schemes of work, which ensures that the children cover the National Curriculum Primary Maths programmes of study. Their rationale states:
‘We’re achieving this by building confidence, resilience and a passion for maths. We’re showing that whatever your prior experience or preconceptions, maths is an exciting adventure that everyone can enjoy, value and master!’
Formative assessments are used to inform and develop teaching and learning through ‘assessment for learning’, which includes the use of questioning, observation and marking. Children’s attainment in the ‘Progress in Understanding Mathematics Assessment’ (PUMA) tests (years 1-6) is also used to identify gaps in learning and to inform next steps in teaching. In the EYFS, children’s achievements are tracked against the Early Learning Goals for mathematics.
What is the intended impact?
The impact of our maths curriculum is measured through ongoing monitoring as well as outcomes from summative assessments.
The monitoring of our teaching is primarily done by the maths subject leader and the maths team. Monitoring of books and lessons are also completed by the Senior Leadership Team. A governor has specific responsibility for mathematics and the team will update the curriculum governors on priorities and progress in mathematics. At Co-op Academy Oakwood we also participate in in-depth Pupil Progress meetings, where each child’s attainment and progress is reviewed.
Summative assessments are made at the end of each term, based on teacher assessments of class work as well as from more formal testing using PuMA (Progress in Understanding Maths Assessments) to generate standardised scores. These assessments provide judgements about individual children’s attainment against age-related expectations in line with the National Curriculum. Summative assessments also include national statutory end-of-key stage summative assessments for year 2 and year 6.