At Derwent Vale, our mathematics curriculum provides a curriculum which is accessible to all and will maximise the development of every child’s ability and academic achievement. We want children to make rich connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence in solving increasingly sophisticated problems and develop these skills over time. We intend for our pupils to be able to apply their mathematical knowledge to other subjects, e.g. science. We want them to know that maths is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment. As our pupils progress, we intend for them to have an understanding of the world, have the ability to reason mathematically, and be confident in using maths in a variety of contexts.

Intent

We want pupils to develop a love of maths and enjoy the excitement and challenge that problem solving brings. We use a maths mastery approach to deliver our maths lessons which promote curiosity, creativity, resilience and growth mindset. All learning is put into real life contexts, where possible, to help children understand the role of mathematics in the world around them and encourage them to become lifelong learners.

Our aim is to ensure that all children develop fluency in mathematics, enabling them to reach a depth of knowledge to reason mathematically and solve problems. They will achieve this through exploration, clarification, practice and application over time. At each stage of learning, children will be able to demonstrate a deep, conceptual understanding of the topic and be able to build on this over time as they progress through school. A comprehensive explanation of how we teach maths can be found in our Calculations Policy and Maths Progression document.

Implementation

In EYFS Numberland and White Rose Hub is used to explicitly teach Maths. Developing a strong grounding in number is essential so that all children develop the necessary building blocks to excel mathematically. Children should be able to count confidently, develop a deep understanding of the numbers to 10, the relationships between them and the patterns within those numbers. By providing frequent and varied opportunities to build and apply this understanding - such as using manipulatives, including small pebbles and tens frames for organising counting - children will develop a secure base of knowledge and vocabulary from which mastery of mathematics is built.

Maths No Problem! forms the basis of our maths curriculum at Derwent Vale for all children from Year one to Year Six. It provides a coherent progression in maths objectives across the school which is used by teachers to plan maths lesson. Teaching progresses through the MNP chapters, in which there are clear end points fully aligned with the National Curriculum. Although chapters are organised into apparently distinct domains, in accordance with the National Curriculum Programme of Study, there is high emphasis on application across domains to allow pupils to make rich connections across mathematical ideas they develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence in solving increasingly sophisticated problems.

The MNP approach to pedagogy has a built-in progression that supports pupils when they are learning new ideas, starting with the ‘doing’ stage that uses concrete manipulatives, real-life examples or activities to allow learners to discover the mathematical concepts for themselves. Pupils are then given visuals or they can draw diagrams to represent the same ideas. They are encouraged to visualise the concrete objects or real-life examples and make connections with the pictorial representations. This progression from seeing and then drawing models allows learners to move to the abstract ‘symbolic’ stage where learners have a solid understanding of the concrete and pictorial stages of the problem, strong visualisation skills and can now access abstract mathematical concepts and use symbols to model problems.

In KS1 and KS2 A typical lesson will be structured as follows:

• Explore- Children begin the lesson with a problem which introduces the lesson objectives. Children are encouraged to use their previous knowledge and understanding to find their own method to solve this problem.
• Master- Children regroup and discuss the methods that they used to solve the problem. Teachers discuss the most efficient method with the class which has been laid out by Maths No Problem! These methods can often lend themselves to what the task is.
• Guided Practice- Children to work in pairs to complete questions displayed using the methods they know or have been taught in the Master part of the lesson.
• Independent Work- Children work through questions in their Maths No Problem! workbook in KS1 and in their maths books in KS2. With the foundations firmly laid, students should be able to move to an abstract approach using numbers and key concepts with confidence. Mastery challenges are available for children who have completed these tasks.
• Discussion of answers and misconceptions.
• Reasoning- Reasoning is fundamental to knowing and doing mathematics. Children are taught to be systematic thinkers and articulate such thinking in clear, succinct and logical manner. It also involves being able to identify what is important and unimportant in solving a problem and to explain or justify a solution. Reasoning deepens children’s understanding of mathematics and highlights any misconceptions they may have.

Impact

At a result of our maths teaching at Derwent Vale Nursery and Primary School you will see pupils working towards a mastery of maths using ‘Concrete, Pictorial and Abstract’ resources. Children are developing skills in being articulate and are able to reason verbally, pictorially and in written form. Children understand the importance of maths and show confidence in believing that they will achieve and are keen to attempt a range of problems they demonstrate flexibility and fluidity to move between different contexts and representations of maths.

Our maths evidence of learning is of a high standard of which children clearly take pride; the range of activities demonstrate good coverage of a broad and balanced curriculum.