Intent
(What does the maths curriculum at Galley Hill aim to do?)
At Galley Hill Primary School, our aim in Maths is to ensure children can use logical reasoning, make connections with key concepts, and secure their understanding by identifying mistakes and explaining them confidently. We recognise that Maths should be relevant to everyday situations, therefore we endeavour to make learning opportunities reflect this, ensuring children can apply and secure mathematical skills across a range of contexts. We believe these aims will ensure children are equipped with the skills to solve problems, both now and, looking to the future as adults.
Implementation
(How is the maths curriculum at Galley Hill taught?)
The 2014 National Curriculum for Maths aims to ensure that all children:
- become fluent in the fundamentals of Mathematics through varied and frequent practice.
- reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry.
- solve problems by applying their mathematics to routine and non-routine problems.
Planning is based upon the learning objectives in the National Curriculum. For Year 1 – Year 6, our sequence of lessons is supplemented by the White Rose Maths scheme of work in order to ensure a balanced and structured coverage of objectives throughout the year takes place. Teachers plan lessons following our maths curriculum overviews that can be seen below.
To support this, teachers motivate children to use a growth mindset, whereby they have a ‘can do’ attitude – we believe everyone can do maths to the best of their ability. Children understand that mistakes and misconceptions are a significant and vital aspect of learning, which should be celebrated, and through the development of metacognitive strategies, perseverance, and self-belief.
Impact
(How do we ensure children make good progress?)
At Galley Hill, a variety of teacher and standardised assessments are used to assess children against the year group National Curriculum objectives. These provide a summative record of what each child has achieved as well as informing ongoing planning.
At the end of each term, teachers submit data for each child in maths. The evidence for this data is gathered from daily maths lessons, weekly assessment tasks (each unit is assessed 2 weeks later with a post-assessment task) and progress tests that the children complete at the end of each half term. This evidence is not all gathered at the end of the half-term but is collected weekly from constant assessing. Ongoing assessment is monitored by the Maths Coordinator and Senior Leadership Team.
External national tests, for maths, are also undertaken in the following year groups:
- At the end of Key Stage One (in Year 2)
- At the end of Key Stage Two (in Year 6)
- Multiplication Times Tables Check in Year 4
What methods are used to teach maths at Galley Hill?
At Galley Hill, follow the Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract (CPA) approach when teaching maths. This is an effective system of learning that uses physical and visual aids to build a child’s understanding of abstract topics.
- Concrete
Concrete manipulatives are objects that can be touched and moved by pupils to introduce, explore or reinforce a mathematical concept. They provide a vehicle to help pupils make sense of complex, symbolic and abstract ideas through exploration and manipulation. Furthermore, they support the development of internal models and help build stronger memory pathways. - Pictorial
The act of translating the concrete experience into a pictorial representation helps focus attention on what has happened and why. This supports deeper understanding and a stronger imprint on memory. Pictorial representations are more malleable than concrete resources and, once understanding is secured, allow exploration of complex problems that may be challenging to reproduce with manipulatives. - Abstract – Written
The aim, at our school, is for compacted forms of notation. Explicit individual steps in procedure are hidden or they have been shortcut. The informal and expanded methods expose all the intermediate steps, replicating thought processes more closely and support understanding prior to compaction. - Abstract – Spoken
Learning to use the correct mathematical vocabulary is vital for the development of mathematical proficiency. The ability to articulate accurately allows pupils to communicate and build meaning. Ideas become more permanent.
Knowledge Organisers
Developing Mathematical Language