Mathematics at Queniborough Primary School

Our curriculum leader for Mathematics is Mrs Charlton

Aims

Mathematics teaches children how to make sense of the world around them through developing their ability to calculate, reason, and solve problems. It enables children to understand relationships and patterns in both numbers and space in their everyday lives. Through their growing knowledge and understanding, children learn to appreciate the contribution made by many cultures to the development and application of mathematics.

Mathematics is an interconnected subject in which pupils need to be able to move fluently between representations of mathematical ideas. Pupils should make rich connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning, and competence in solving increasingly sophisticated problems. They should also apply their mathematical knowledge to science and other subjects.

We aim to ensure that all children:

• become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately

• reason mathematically by following a line of inquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification, or proof using mathematical language

• can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of more simple steps and persevering in seeking solutions.

Teaching Programmes

We are a Mathematics Mastery partner school and as such follow the Mathematics Mastery Primary Programme in all year groups. The Mathematics Mastery pedagogy is based on the idea that a deep understanding is achieved through covering fewer topics in greater depth. Pupils master concepts rather than learning procedures by rote.

There are three key features of the primary program that help children develop a deep understanding of mathematics:

• Objects and pictures:

Children use concrete manipulatives (objects) and pictorial representations (pictures), before moving to abstract symbols (numbers and signs).

• Language development:

The way that children speak and write about mathematics has been shown to have an impact on their success. We use a carefully sequenced, structured approach to introduce and reinforce mathematical vocabulary. Every lesson includes opportunities for children to explain or justify their mathematical reasoning.

• Problem-solving:

Mathematical problem solving is at the heart of the approach – it is both how children learn maths, and the reason why they learn maths. By accumulating knowledge of mathematical concepts, children can develop and test their problem-solving in every lesson.

The expectation is that the majority of pupils will move through the curriculum at broadly the same pace. When a child is confident with a certain objective, they will be given the chance to deepen and apply their knowledge and understanding through a variety of problem-solving activities.

Maths Meetings

Daily Maths lessons are supplemented by a daily Maths Meeting session which is used to consolidate key areas of mathematics in each class. Maths Meetings provide an opportunity to teach and revise

key areas of mathematics in each class. Maths Meetings provide an opportunity to teach and revise key mathematical knowledge which may not be explicitly covered during the maths lesson. This means that pupils are practicing concepts and skills regularly, meaning they are continually building on their mastery of these concepts.

To view the QPS Maths policy in full please click here

To view the QPS maths curriculum planning please click here

To view the QPS Progression in Calculations document please click here