MATHEMATICS
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Intent:
At Laburnum, we believe that Mathematics equips children with the incredibly valuable set of tools to understand and change the world. We ensure that teaching builds on what children already know. We build on the firm foundation in maths that we develop in Early Years. The children are then able to develop, consolidate and refine their knowledge and skills throughout their time at the school. This equips them with a set of skills, in their mathematical toolbox, which they can utilise throughout their school journey and beyond.
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We enable children to develop a rich network of mathematical knowledge. We emphasise the many connections between mathematical facts, procedures and concepts. We do this by teaching for ‘mastery’. Mastering maths means children acquire a deep, long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of the subject.
We recognise that children come to school with a range of experiences which impact on their attainment. Through our teaching and the learning experiences we provide, we aim to remove barriers and we strive to ensure that all children will achieve in maths. Teachers identify appropriate strategies, targeted support and intervention to help all children learn Mathematics.
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Teachers promote a positive attitude towards life-long learning, where mistakes are valued as part of the learning process. Children with growth mind-sets are willing to put in effort even when they struggle or make mistakes and meaningful success requires effort.
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We aim to give the children a rich and balanced mathematics curriculum that develops their fluency, reasoning and problem solving – the key aims of the National Curriculum. We also aim to present maths as an engaging, exciting, creative and relevant subject. As well as ensuring that all children have the opportunity to achieve a high standard in mathematics and develop a positive attitude towards maths.
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Implementation:
We use the White Rose Maths scheme of Learning as a starting point for our lessons, from Reception to Year six. This ensures there is a coherent ‘small steps’ progression in maths, across all year groups. We have developed our maths curriculum so children have more opportunities to use, apply and master their skills. This involves using the Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract (CPA) approach. This is a system of learning that uses physical and visual aids to build a child’s understanding before moving on to the abstract. This is important as children need to be able to move in between different representations, which aligns with one of Rosenshine’s principles – ‘Provide a high level of active practice for all students’
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We recognise the importance of teachers and support staff having a high level of Maths subject knowledge. Quality CPD is provided by our local Maths Hub, NCETM Mastery professional development materials and we are implementing Rosenshine’s principles.