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Mathematics

Mathematics at William Shrewsbury Primary School

At William Shrewsbury, we feel Mathematics is a key life skill. It involves confidence and competence with numbers and measures. We aim to give pupils an understanding of the number system and an ability to solve number problems in a variety of contexts. Mathematics also demands a practical understanding of the ways in which information is gathered by counting and measuring, and is presented in graphs, diagrams, charts and tables.

As a school we aim to develop positive learners who take pleasure in their mathematics. Our learning consists of much more than the knowledge of a set of useful skills. It is a source of enjoyment, offering pupils intellectual stimulation and a sense of achievement.

Mathematics makes a considerable contribution to the whole curriculum as work in many areas and topics involve mathematical activities.

The school policy is matched to the requirements of The National Curriculum (2014) and aims to develop fluency, reasoning and problem solving.

You will find videos for the calculation areas of Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division in the information below. There are also videos on other areas of Mathematics which you may find of use as well as links to a range of different websites and resources.

How Mathematics is taught at William Shrewsbury Primary School

At William Shrewsbury, we use a 'Teaching for Mastery' approach to Mathematics. We also supplement our curriculum in Years 1-6 with a range of mastery resources including the 'White Rose Education Website' and 'Master the curriculum'. These are high quality resources that support our teachers to plan and deliver mathematically rich and supportive lessons. Each lesson provides opportunities for our pupils to intelligently practise, retrieve, refine and apply their mathematical knowledge.

What is ‘Teaching for Mastery'?

When taught to master Mathematics, children develop their conceptual and procedural fluency without having to resort to rote learning. As a result, they are able to solve non-routine problems in unfamiliar contexts without relying on memorised procedures. Not only do they understand how to solve problems, but can use their conceptual understanding to explain why their solution works.

In Mathematics lessons at William Shrewsbury, where possible, year groups move through topics and concepts at broadly the same pace. We spend longer time on key mathematical topics and concepts in order to give all learners both the practice and depth of understanding they need. We believe that all pupils can achieve success in Maths. There is nobody who ‘can’t do Maths’.

We challenge pupils by asking them to explore mathematical concepts in more depth rather than accelerate them onto new content. This has been found to have real benefits to children’s ability to access more complex mathematical ideas as they get older.

Concrete, Pictorial and Abstract approach to learning...

At William Shrewsbury, we use concrete apparatus (things pupils can touch, hold and manipulate) and pictorial representations (things they can see) to help children to visualise and internalise mathematical concepts. This allows them to access and understand the mathematical structure of the concepts they are learning about. Through the consistent use of these apparatus and representations, our pupils gain confidence as independent learners to use resources and solve problems until they are able to record using abstract written methods . To learn about this more, please see our calculation policies below for some of the different representations that we use across different year groups.

Maths_policy_2023

Key Topics taught

Key Stage 1 - Years 1 and 2
The main focus in these early stages of learning is to ensure that pupils develop confidence and mental fluency with whole numbers, counting and place value. This involves working with numerals, words and the four operations, including using practical resources.

At this stage, pupils will develop their ability to recognise, describe, draw, compare and sort different shapes and use the related vocabulary. Teaching involves using a range of measures to describe and compare different quantities such as length, mass, capacity/volume, time and money.

In these early stages of a child's Mathematical education, we follow the 'Mastering Number' programme from the NCETM. This project aims to secure firm foundations in the development of good number sense for all pupils from Reception through to Year 2. The aim over time is that pupils will leave Key Stage 1 with fluency in calculation and a confidence and flexibility with number which will provide the firm foundations needed for later work in Mathematics.

Lower Key Stage 2 - Years 3 and 4

The main focus is to ensure that pupils become increasingly fluent with whole numbers and the 4 operations, including number facts and the concept of place value. This will ensure that pupils develop efficient written and mental methods and perform calculations accurately with increasingly large whole numbers.

At this stage, pupils will develop their ability to solve a range of problems, including with simple fractions and decimal place value. Teaching will ensure that pupils draw with increasing accuracy and develop mathematical reasoning so they can analyse shapes and their properties, and confidently describe the relationships between them. Children will use measuring instruments with accuracy and make connections between measure and number.

By the end of year 4, pupils will have memorised their multiplication tables up to and including the 12 multiplication table and show precision and fluency in their work.

Pupils will read and spell mathematical vocabulary correctly and confidently, using their growing word-reading knowledge and their knowledge of spelling.

Please see the links at the bottom of the page for your child's maths targets for the year.

Upper Key Stage 2 - Years 5 and 6

The main focus is to ensure that pupils extend their understanding of the number system and place value to include larger integers. This will help develop the connections that pupils make between multiplication and division with fractions, decimals, percentages and ratio.

At this stage, pupils will develop their ability to solve a wider range of problems, including increasingly complex properties of numbers and arithmetic, and problems demanding efficient written and mental methods of calculation. With this foundation in arithmetic, pupils are introduced to the language of algebra as a means for solving a variety of problems. Teaching in geometry and measures will consolidate and extend knowledge developed in number. Teaching will also ensure that pupils classify shapes with increasingly complex geometric properties and that they learn the vocabulary they need to describe them.

By the end of year 6, pupils will be fluent in written methods for all 4 operations, including long multiplication and division, and in working with fractions, decimals and percentages.

Pupils will read, spell and pronounce mathematical vocabulary correctly.

Please see the links at the bottom of the page for your child's maths targets for the year.