Maths
At Thanet Primary we are all mathematicians!
Intent
At Thanet we are all mathematicians! In nursery the children learn to understand and discuss numbers, shape, space and measures through a hands on, immersive approach across the curriculum. By the time our pupils leave us we aspire that they have a secure grasp of maths through progressive mastery teaching using concrete objects, pictorial representations and abstract concepts. We want to teach children to be fluent and automatic in arithmetic alongside being capable problem solvers. With a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts, we intend that our children leave Thanet able to apply new learning in a range of contexts with developing sophistication.
Implementation
The love of maths is developed as children move into Reception and the formal teaching of number and shape is developed. The curriculum in EYFS is underpinned by a play-based approach and access to all areas of learning within print-rich indoor and outdoor classrooms.
The skills of maths continue throughout the school, following the White Rose termly planning which is split into number, shape, statistics and measure.
For each maths unit, the lessons follow a structure of using concrete objects, pictorial representations and abstract concepts. This enables the children to have a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts that they can apply to new learning, in a range of contexts.
We start each lesson to include a mental starter, linked to arithmetic skills - taken from Big Maths - and these skills are then tested weekly. The learning journey, including new vocabulary, is shared with the children prior to each lesson, which allows them to visualise their progression throughout the unit. Each lesson includes fluency, reasoning and problem solving questions to allow children to be challenged appropriately. We also encourage all children to use sentence stems and full sentences when verbalising their mathematical reasoning. During the maths lessons, children have access to a variety of maths resources including, base 10, numicon and place value counters. They also are able to use pictorial resources, such as; part whole models, bar models, place value grids and 100 square.
Follow up intervention is used, where appropriate, to ensure that all children are able to access learning.
End of unit assessments are used to check the pupils understanding and to track progress. We also use these tests to ensure that there are no significant gaps in learning. As mentioned above, we aspire that with a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts, our children will leave Thanet able to apply new learning in a range of contexts with developing sophistication.