Maths
VISION
Elms Farm Primary School recognises that maths is both a key skill within school, and a life skill to be utilised through everyday experiences. A high-quality maths education provides a firm foundation for understanding how maths is used in everyday life and activities, developing pupils' ability to reason mathematically.
Through the teaching of maths, we aim to develop:
- A positive attitude towards maths and an awareness of the relevance of maths in the real world, also impacting on children's attendance through these positive experiences.
- A process of enquiry and experiment.
- An ability to solve problems and think logically in order to work systematically and accurately.
- An ability to work both independently and in co-operation with others.
- Competence and confidence in pupils' maths knowledge, concepts and skills.
- An appreciation of the creative aspects of maths and an awareness of its aesthetic appeal.
INTRODUCTION
In September 2018, Elms Farm started its journey towards a mastery approach to the teaching and learning of mathematics. Our school has now embedded this approach, in line with our school ethos 'Every Child Achieves'. We have adopted this approach through our involvement with the NCETM Maths Hub and Teaching for Mastery Programme, as well as the National Curriculum, which states:
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The expectation is that most pupils will move through the programmes of study at broadly the same pace.
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Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly should be challenged through being offered rich and sophisticated problems before any acceleration through new content.
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Those who are not sufficiently fluent with earlier material should consolidate their understanding, including through additional practice, before moving on.
5 Big Ideas
We offer our children an engaging, balanced mathematics curriculum and good quality teaching to produce individuals who are numerate, creative, independent, inquisitive, enquiring and confident.
At Elms Farm, we use an adapted version of White Rose Maths schemes of learning in Years 1-6 and Nursery, with our Reception classes using NCETM Mastering Number. Lessons use the concrete, pictorial and abstract approach, allowing our learners to experience a range of resources , such as counters, Numicon and base 10 equipment. In their books, pupils will record their learning pictorially as well with calculations.
The following documents have been included for reference for parents: yearly overviews for each year group; Calculation Policy; National Curriculum Glossary (NCETM) and National Curriculum Programmes of Study.