Intent

We understand the importance of fluency, reasoning and problem solving at St Robert Southwell. In Maths our intention is to prepare children for using maths in everyday situations. All our children are encouraged to be curious, ask questions and to have a go!

Our aim is for every child, to reach their full potential by:

• becoming capable and well-rounded mathematicians.

• being prepared for using maths in everyday life; being curious and enjoying maths.

• reasoning mathematically through a variety of methods.

• solving problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of problems with increasing sophistication.

At St Robert's, teachers set high expectations for all children including those with SEND, EAL and those who are in receipt of the Pupil Premium Grant by constantly reviewing and adapting teaching to ensure provision is always accessible and challenging for all.

Implementation

At St Robert's we are on a journey towards a Mastery approach to teaching and learning in mathematics; using the Concrete Pictorial Abstract (CPA) approach. Pupils are introduced to a new mathematical concept through the use of concrete resources (e.g. fruit, Dienes blocks etc). When they are comfortable solving problems with physical aids, they are given problems with pictures – usually pictorial representations of the concrete objects they were using.

Then they are asked to solve problems where they only have the abstract i.e. numbers or other symbols. Building these steps across a lesson can help pupils better understand the relationship between numbers and the real world, and therefore helps secure their understanding of the mathematical concept they are learning.

Our maths curriculum allows children to revisit, consolidate and master all aspects of mathematics where the children  re-visit concepts throughout the year in order to embed learning.  

At St Robert's we follow White Rose Maths Curriculum to ensure progression, coverage and depth of knowledge for all learners.

Please refer to the White Rose scheme of work for further details.

Impact

• Children are happy learners who talk enthusiastically about their learning and eager to further their progress in maths 

• The impact of ‘mastery’ and the emphasis on accurate use of mathematical language is evident during class/pupil discussions 

• Children’s fluency in number is evident in our proven track record of high success in arithmetic 

• Cross-school moderation highlights the high level of challenge for all ability groups, evident throughout topics through reasoning and problem solving activities  

• Teacher assessment of the depth of learning is  increasingly accurate

• These factors ensure that we are able to achieve high standards, with achievement at the end of KS2 broadly in-line with that of the national average, as well an increasing proportion of children demonstrating greater depth, at the end of each phase

Parent Support for Calculations from Year 3 to Year 6

Please use the addition, subtraction, multiplication and division pages below to support your children at home. When you scan the QR Code, this will open a video to demonstrate the method for each of the four operations and are progressive as the challenge increases through each year group.

The Multiplication Tables Check (MTC) is an assessment that the Government introduced for all pupils in Year 4. It is an online assessment that has been designed to assess whether pupils can recall their times tables fluently, which is essential for future success in mathematics. It will also help schools to identify pupils who have not yet mastered their times tables, so that additional support can be provided.

The MTC is compulsory, with all pupils in Year 4 completing the assessments in June. Please refere to the parent information slides above for more information.