At St Mary’s, we ensure that mathematical skills are taught every day, both within and outside of daily designated Maths lessons. Our long-term progression map broadly follows that which is advocated by the White Rose Maths Hub. Our medium term planning process enables teachers to make decisions about the learning journey for their class through reordering the White Rose Small Steps to ensure a more progressive and coherent sequence of lessons. Each unit begins with a special introductory lesson focussing on the concrete apparatus, the pictorial representations and the vocabulary that pupils will meet during that unit. We believe that high quality vocabulary needs to be at the heart of every lesson. Key vocabulary is modelled and promoted through regular use of sentence stems and is displayed on our Working Walls.

Outside of Maths lessons, children from EYFS to Year 2 have daily Number Sense sessions to secure subitising skills. At St Mary’s, we aim to eradicate the need for pupils in UKS2 to be counting on fingers. 

Daily times tables activities take place within Key Stage 2 classes (and in Year 2 from when they begin working on their multiplication facts) as we believe these multiplication and corresponding division facts are essential for children to be able to be successful, accurate and fluent mathematicians. 

Throughout the week, there are regular opportunities to develop number fluency through Number of the Day activities. Flashback 4 and Quadrant Quizzes also provide pupils with opportunities to revisit essential knowledge from previous units.

In addition, to further develop fluency, children have access to Times Tables Rock Stars and Numbots, with rewards for effort and success awarded during Friday Celebration Assembly. Doodle Maths is also used to practise key skills as homework tasks.

Children’s next steps in learning are at the forefront of all planning and progress is reviewed through regular assessments. All Maths lessons are carefully thought out and considered to allow all children to prosper and fulfil their potential. Some children may spend additional time working with an adult within the classroom on a one-to-one basis or in small groups to close a gap that has been identified in their mathematical understanding or to provide stretch and challenge activities for those who have grasped concepts swiftly.

Teachers in the Early Years Foundation Stage base their teaching on “Development Matters” to ensure that the children are working towards the “Early Learning Goals for Mathematical Development”. The Early Years Foundation Stage teachers deliver some whole class teaching and also adult-led Maths group activities each day. The children access a range of Maths activities within continuous provision and investigate a “Number of the Week” together as a class.

Each class has a Maths Working Wall which is updated daily and contains useful information for the children to access and enable success. Our Maths Working Walls become the Knowledge Organisers for that particular unit.

Maths links are made across the curriculum wherever possible.

Our curriculum intent for Maths reflects the purpose and aims of the national curriculum by helping our pupils to:

• become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately. 

• reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language. 

• solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions. 

Our ambition at St Mary’s is that all children will develop a lifelong appreciation of the

importance of this subject in their worlds and become confident mathematicians who: 

• have a strong conceptual understanding of Maths, its structures and its relationships.

• can recall and apply their knowledge confidently and efficiently.

• are secure in using written methods for which they have a clear understanding.

Number Sense Maths takes place daily in EYFS and KS1 for 15 minutes outside of the Maths lesson. This scheme gives the children opportunities to develop strategies to help increase their fluency in learning number facts through subitising, helping pupils to build images for numbers and to visualise. Our aim is for pupils to develop multiple strategies to avoid counting.

Pupils receive regular opportunities throughout the week outside of the daily Maths lesson to practise their knowledge of number facts through using Numbots and Times Tables Rock Stars.

https://www.bathecho.co.uk/news/education/schoolchildren-find-out-importance-maths-nspcc-109961/