The National Curriculum for Mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils:
Pupils throughout school are provided with a range of activities and opportunities to develop these mathematical skills through individual, paired and group work. Teachers use the Master the Curriculum and White Rose schemes of work to support planning and provide children with consistent approaches from Reception to Year 6. Teachers use high quality resources to embed the mastery approach to mathematics, moving between concrete, pictorial and abstract representations of mathematical concepts to consolidate key ideas and develop children's fluency. Daily catch up lessons are held after lunch to ensure that children who did not achieve the objective during the morning get the opportunity to re visit this again on the same day.
During the Early Years Foundation Stage, children will be learning basic number skills involving counting on and back, recognising and writing numbers. They will also identify and name basic shapes, recognise, describe and repeat patterns and use vocabulary associated with measures. These will be taught through carefully planned continuous provision activities, where children can work with increasing independence. Children explore numbers, shapes and patterns through stories, songs and carefully planned continuous provision activities.
Through Years 1 and 2 these skills will be developed further, as children become more confident with mental fluency of whole numbers, counting and place value. This will involve working with numerals, words and the four operations, including using practical resources. Children will begin to solve simple problems and explain their answers using mathematical vocabulary. They will also recognise, describe, draw, compare and sort different shapes and use a range of measure to compare and describe different quantities.
Through Years 3 and 4, children will work with increasingly large whole numbers, as well as negative numbers and decimals. They will be taught efficient mental and written methods using the four operations. They will also develop mathematical reasoning so they can analyse shapes and their properties and use measuring instruments with increasing accuracy. By the end of Year 4, children should also have memorised their multiplication tables up to 12 x 12, showing precision and fluency in their work. They will be tested on using the Government's multiplication check.
Through Years 5 and 6, children will extend their knowledge and understanding of the number system, developing connections between the four operations and using efficient written methods for these. They will be solving a wider range of problems that use all these skills and reason about them mathematically. Algebra is introduced as a means for solving a variety of problems. Geometry and measures work will also consolidate and extend knowledge already developed. By the end of Year 6, children should be fluent in written methods for all four operations including long multiplication and division, and in working with fractions, decimals and percentages. This will help to prepare them for their end of Key Stage tests where they will have to apply their mental arithmetic, reasoning and problem solving skills.
To support the learning of times tables up to 12 x 12, we have introduced the Superheroes Times Tables Challenge throughout school. Help your child to learn their times tables at home so they can defeat the challenges and earn their awards!
NumBots are used in EYFS to boost addition and subtraction skills, with Times Tables Rock Stars being used to develop recall of multiplication and division facts. Both are online resources that will support your child's maths education at home and in school.