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?)
With support from the local DfE funded Archimedes Maths Hub, we have introduced and are continuing to develop our maths curriculum based upon ‘Teaching for Mastery’. This approach, which involves employing approaches that help children to develop a deep and secure knowledge and understanding of mathematics at each stage of their learning, is applied using principles from high performing international education system, especially those in China and Singapore. Using this approach, teachers construct lessons by using National Curriculum objectives and creating a sequence of learning based on small steps – giving children the opportunity to apply and use logic based on the key ideas they have been 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.
Our sequence of lessons, which are resourced using ‘Power Maths’, the NCETM professional development materials and Herts for Learning use variation theory to ensure that concepts are frequently revisited and systematically developed. We develop fluency and accuracy in the recall of key number facts and procedures through daily Number Sense sessions, nurturing positive learners who embrace challenge, show resilience, and think logically when faced with problems and challenges. Children are encouraged to value the process of solving problems rather than the solution.
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 recorded using Insight Tracker and tracked by the class teacher and 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
See below for what we are covering in Maths this year. This is altered, and utilises the Ready-to-Progress documents recommended by the NCETM, to ensure coverage and support is in place following COVID 19.
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. The video below demonstrates ways in which this is taught at school.
The following videos are designed to demonstrate the ways in which formal written methods of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are taught at Galley Hill. Formal written methods are taught in key stage two.
Knowledge Organisers
Developing Mathematical Language