Mrs Barrett is the subject leader for Mathematics. This is what she says about her subject.

I love teaching maths and developing children’s investigation skills. I am passionate that maths should be fun, where children use practical equipment to develop an understanding of number and shape. Maths plays a huge role in everyday life and all children should be confident in their knowledge of number and key mathematical concepts so that they are equipped for their future life.

This is what the children say about Mathematics.

Isabel GH says that her favourite subject is maths. I like learning the different units in maths. Learning maths will help me prosper in my future. 

Ruadlan says I like maths because I like doing my addition. My favourite one is division. Also I like TT Rockstars because I like changing my character. My favourite sum is 12x12 = 144

Samuel says I am writing to tell you how much I enjoy school, especially maths. I like maths because I like learning my times tables and going on TT rockstars.

Ben says my favourite subject is maths because even though at first look it just seems like random numbers it is an awful lot more. It helps you in later life with money how many things you need and more. This is why I like maths so much.

Ebony says my favourite subject is maths because there is lots of fun ways of doing different things and there is so much to learn and I love learning! Maths lessons are fun, maths is why I love mornings so much. Even if sometimes it is hard I still really enjoy it.

Noah in nursery says maths is my favourite lesson because I love numbers, I love shapes, I love to add, I love taking away I just love, love numbers!

Emily says my favourite subject is maths because I enjoy working out problems and tricky questions. I like maths because I enjoy trying new methods and different ways to do things . I like all types of maths. I like mental maths because its recap. I like arithmetic because its easy but there is so many methods of doing it. I like reasoning because it challenges me and its tricky.

Mathematics

At All Saints, we believe that Mathematics teaches us how to make sense of the world around us through developing a child’s ability to calculate, to reason and to solve problems. It enables children to understand and appreciate relationships and pattern in both number and space in their everyday lives. Mathematics is integral to all aspects of life and with this in mind we endeavour to ensure that children develop a healthy and enthusiastic attitude towards mathematics that will stay with them.

What are our aims?

• To promote enjoyment and enthusiasm for learning through practical activity, exploration and discussion.

• To develop a thorough knowledge and understanding of numbers and the number system.

• To develop the ability to solve problems through decision-making and reasoning in a range of contexts.

• To enable children to apply their mathematical skills across the curriculum.

How is Mathematics taught?

Following the introduction of the new National Curriculum in 2014, the emphasis has been to ensure that all children:

• Become FLUENT

• REASON and EXPLAIN mathematically

• Can SOLVE PROBLEMS

It is important that children are allowed to explore Maths and present their findings not only in a written form but also visually.

Lessons in KS1 and KS2 are planned and delivered in accordance with the 2014 National Curriculum (Support materials are available to staff; White Rose Maths Hub, Focus Education and our Visual Calculation Policy). Lessons in EYFS are planned in accordance with the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum. There continues to be an emphasis on investigative and problem solving work to encourage mastery of each topic and in depth learning. It is deemed very important that each child can apply their learning in a variety of situations. Throughout daily lessons, a range of strategies are used to ensure appropriate challenging activities.

How is Mathematics assessed?

We assess children’s work in mathematics from three aspects - long-term, short-term and medium-term:

Short Term - This is the information that feeds to the day-to-day teaching and planning, and help target support to individual children. These assessments are closely matched to the learning objectives.

Medium Term - We make medium-term assessments to measure progress. Teachers then use this to inform planning for the class, groups and individual children.

Long Term - We make long-term assessments towards the end of the school year, and we use these to assess progress against school and national targets. We can then set targets for the next school year and make a summary of each child’s progress before reporting to Parents. We pass this information on to the next teacher at the end of the year, so that s/he can plan for the new school year. We make the long-term assessments both from the tests and teacher assessments. We use the national tests for children in Year 2 and Year 6 and White Rose tests in Years 1 to 5.

Children in the Early Years are assessed in their mathematical development against the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. This will provide on entry data which the teacher will use to plan an appropriate curriculum that: caters for the needs of each child, takes account of skills/ concepts already mastered, refers to the Early Learning Goals and prepares the child for their entry to the National Curriculum.

Resources

Children are given the opportunity to use a wide range of practical resources across the school.

Our school continues to subscribe to ‘Times Table Rock Stars’ and ‘Century Tech’.

How can you support your child at home?

Children’s calculation skills can be greatly boosted by help at home, in the same way that help with spelling and reading can nurture their literacy skills. The impact of parents on their children’s learning is significant – increased engagement can lead to a 30% improvement in attainment!

Useful Links:

Times Tables Rock Stars - a carefully sequenced programme of daily times tables practice.

BBC Bitesize - information, games and quizzes relating to number, handling data, shape, space and measure.

Hit the button - quick fire questions on number bonds, doubles, halves, times tables, division facts and square numbers against the clock – an app is also available for tablets.

Top Marks - lots of different maths games and activities to explore.

Numberblocks - CBeebies Numberblocks, a great introduction to number