Mathematics

Intent

At Mitchell Brook, pupils are mathematicians. We recognise the importance that Maths is a universal language and skill that is vital for everyday life and critical to many forms of employment. The intent of our curriculum is to provide a mastery approach to teaching and learning to encourage and motivate children to think mathematically, become fluent in basic mathematical skills and develop their conceptual understanding.

Through implementing the NCETM, pupils will leave Mitchell Brook with a secure conceptual understanding of Maths to support children to apply their knowledge and understanding through different learning experiences.

We understand the importance of pupils to develop their mathematical thinking through the quality and variety of language pupils hear and speak. Through the use of teachers modelling ‘thinking aloud’, pupils are able to enhance their mathematical vocabulary and support them to communicate their ideas through mathematical precision and clarity. Pupils are able to make rich connections across Maths and apply their learning across different subjects. From this, teachers build a sense of curiosity and engagement within the curriculum.

Problem solving is at the heart of our teaching. We aim to help learners to appreciate the wonder of maths cross curricularly through science and technology, creating lifelong mathematicians.

Implementation

At Mitchell Brook, long term plans have been derived from the NCETM’s curriculum prioritisation. This resource provides coherent sequencing for the maths curriculum which has been drawn together from the DfE guidance. Short term planning is carefully planned and sequenced using other resources (White Rose Maths and Maths No Problem) to ensure planning is consistent as well as enhancing pupil’s learning experiences.

Rosenshine’s Principle of Instruction supports the teaching and learning in Maths lessons. Formative assessment is embedded through different times in the lesson.

Each lesson follows a Maths structure. Mental starters are introduced at the beginning of each lesson to build fluency and support with accuracy and rapid recall. Can you Stills are used to recap previously taught skills. Ongoing practice allows pupils to enhance their fluency and understanding of the curriculum. Teachers then model new learning through building on prior learning. To support pupil’s mathematical thinking, teachers model sentence stems. Frequent recall of sentence stems will deepen pupil’s conceptual understanding.

Impact

Pupils are enthusiastic in Maths as it is engaging and well-resourced. They are able to convey their ideas through precise sentence stems to clarify their thinking. Pupils use mathematical vocabulary accurately and make connections independently through finding relationships within different domains. They can recall basic facts confidently and accurately. Pupils can apply their new skills and concepts in unfamiliar problems/domains. Clear, succinct lesson sequences support pupils understanding and build their maths skills.

Times tables

Times tables are key building blocks to support different areas in Maths. The National Curriculum requires children to learn their times table facts up to 12 x 12 by the end of Year 4. Pupils at Mitchell Brook use Times Tables Rockstars- a platform to aid with practising the times table- and focuses on consolidating their time table facts. If your child is in years 3-6, you can find their login at the front of their reading record/planner.

By the end of Year 4, pupils are expected to complete a Multiplication Table Check (MTC) assessment.

The MTC is an on-screen check consisting of 25 times tables questions, which means it will be completed on a computer. Your child will answer 3 practice questions before moving on to the official check and will then have 6 seconds to answer each question. On average, the check should take no longer than 5 minutes to complete. For more information, please visit this website for more information on the MTC: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/multiplication-tables-check-information-for-parents/multiplication-tables-check-information-for-parents-text-version--2