Intent

(Why we teach Maths)

• To develop all children and young people’s understanding of the principles of mathematics; to promote curiosity and fascination – to become an active learner with a passion for mathematics 
• To deliver a mathematics curriculum which places the child at the heart of the process
• To develop well-rounded and successful mathematicians, informed by the National Curriculum and Maths Hub, and exposed to carefully designed lessons with opportunities to explore and challenge, taught with a clear mathematics objective
• To deliver a mathematics curriculum which is based on small steps teaching, allowing the majority of children to progress together and building in opportunities for challenging and deepening understanding
• To deliver a curriculum which allows time and flexibility for children to fully master a concept before moving on
• To provide opportunities to develop fluency and to be able to apply this knowledge through reasoning and problem solving allowing for resilience to be developed
• To provide and make explicit, the opportunities to build year on year on their prior mathematical understanding
• To ensure there is continuity between year groups, phases and across the federation of schools, narrowing gaps in both one form entry schools
• To use 21^st century technology such as online tools, resources and expertise
• To provide a framework for teachers from which they have autonomy to deploy their specialised skills and learning strategies, whilst ensuring a consistent approach to the use of models designed to support children in their understanding.

Mastery

At The Atlas Federation we work very closely with the newly designated maths hubs to help us teach the mastery of mathematics to our children.

Mastery of Mathematics - What is it?

The Essence of Maths Teaching for Mastery 

Maths teaching for mastery rejects the idea that a large proportion of people ‘just can’t do maths’. 

All pupils are encouraged by the belief that by working hard at maths they can succeed.

Pupils are taught through whole-class interactive teaching, where the focus is on all pupils working together on the same lesson content at the same time, although due to historical gaps we do differentiate for some group and independent work.

This ensures that all can master concepts before moving to the next part of the curriculum sequence, allowing no pupil to be left behind. 

If a pupil fails to grasp a concept or procedure, this is identified quickly and early intervention ensures the pupil is ready to move forward with the whole class in the next lesson. 

Lesson design identifies the new mathematics that is to be taught, the key points, the difficult points and a carefully sequenced journey through the learning. In a typical lesson pupils sit facing the teacher and the teacher leads back and forth interaction, including questioning, short tasks, explanation, demonstration, and discussion. 

Procedural fluency and conceptual understanding are developed in tandem because each supports the development of the other. 

It is recognised that practice is a vital part of learning, but the practice used is intelligent practice that both reinforces pupils’ procedural fluency and develops their conceptual understanding. 

Significant time is spent developing deep knowledge of the key ideas that are needed to underpin future learning. The structure and connections within the mathematics are emphasised, so that pupils develop deep learning that can be sustained. 

Key facts such as multiplication tables and addition facts within 10 are learnt to automaticity to avoid cognitive overload in the working memory and enable pupils to focus on new concepts.

Children also undertake word problems, puzzles and mental maths development. We also practice times tables daily.

Overview of Learning

At Moorcroft Wood, we follow the White Rose mastery scheme of learning from Reception to Year 6 with Power Maths resources accessed to ensure all elements of mastery are covered. The overviews of learning below provide further information about what each year group is taught and where in the year they learn about each strand of mathematics.