Maths

Here at Whitehall Nursery and Infant School we aim for all of our children to develop a love of learning within Mathematics and enable them to develop a skill set that will set them on their way to being strong mathematicians with a clear understanding.

In line with our whole school approach into Making Every Primary Lesson Count, we actively encourage and promote an open mindset so that all our children have aspirations to achieve in mathematics. We want every child to believe in themselves and have a “can do” attitude when it comes to mathematics. Misconceptions and deliberate mistakes are planned for and included so that challenge and reasoning can be promoted.

Our aims for all of our pupils at Whitehall are:

• To become fluent in mathematics so that they develop a strong understanding and ability to recall and apply key facts and knowledge accurately.
• To be able to spot mistakes and solve problems linked to real life situations so that it enables them to apply maths and see its vital importance into areas of life.
• To reason, enquire and showcase their mathematical understanding so that they can justify and explain why or why not a certain approach has or has not worked.
• To develop an appreciation of number work so that they can work efficiently and accurately when working out calculations both mentally and written.                      

Long Term Plan: Our long term plan is supported by the use of White Rose Maths, which is aligned with the 2014 National Curriculum. EYFS, Year 1 and Year 2 teach specific areas of maths in blocks across terms. White Rose Maths suggests the teaching blocks but, each year group has flexibility to adapt and adopt where needed to meet the needs of the children. Within Nursery, Master the Curriculum scheme supports the development and progression of Mathematics and aligns well with White Rose Maths in readiness for Reception. 

We are aware that by just teaching our mathematics curriculum in the blocks suggested by White Rose Maths, it runs the risk of not covering areas such as shape, space and measure deep enough to enable mastery. To combat this, the mathematics leader has created a structured retrieval and re-visit long-term plan that focusses solely on non-number work. It is imperative that these areas of maths are continually drip fed across the year, just like number work, and not just restricted to a two-week block for the year, which is why this is also part of our long-term plan. Retrieval work is of vital importance to our mathematics curriculum, so that our children know and remember more within all areas of maths.

Medium Term Plan: Within each area/block that is outlined in the White Rose Maths scheme, there are small steps that support teachers in their short-term planning. The small steps highlight the medium term progression during a specific part of the year and clearly work towards an end point for that particular block taught.

The retrieval mathematics document, made by the mathematics lead, outlines medium term planning for the non-number areas so that teachers can specifically include retrieval parts in their daily maths sessions so it keeps revisiting prior learning. Non-number work has been structured so it is continual throughout the year and there are weeks that are intentionally left blank so that teachers can retrieve number areas so that is also continually being reflected upon too.

Short Term Plan: Teachers in each year group will be responsible for creating short-term planning that is in line with the long and medium term plans. Having clear and structured long and medium term plans, supports teachers when implementing their short-term planning to ensure coverage of the curriculum happens and that our children have opportunity to retrieve and reflect on prior learning. Teachers are not restricted to only using White Rose Maths resources and can draw upon their own expertise to ensure sessions are engaging and meaningful.

What Lessons Should Look Like? Children are encouraged to think about the maths being set and each day the use of concrete resources, pictorial representations and abstract thinking (the C-P-A approach), will help children tackle concepts in a tangible and more comfortable way. This should be promoted in each lesson.

The following principles are outlined across every class to ensure the same expectations are throughout school:

• Consider how you adopt and adapt to meet the needs of all learners.
• Sequence your lessons so that there is a journey to an end point each week.
• Use concrete resources and pictorial representations to help children understand. 
• Make reference to, and use, working walls to support teaching and learning.
• Retrieve! Retrieve! Retrieve! So children remember more.
• Use your assessment and knowledge of your children to plan next steps.
• Develop a mastery approach and challenge for deeper understanding.

The impact of our mathematics curriculum results in children having a positive view of maths due to learning in an environment where maths is promoted as being an exciting and enjoyable subject in which they can investigate and ask questions. Children are confident to ‘have a go’ and choose the equipment they need to help them to learn along with the strategies they think are best suited to each problem. They are taught to know that it is okay to make mistakes because this can strengthen their learning through the journey to finding an answer. Through discussion and feedback, children use mathematical language and vocabulary about their maths lessons and speak with enthusiasm about their love of learning in maths.

The components of the teaching sequences, demonstrated in the small steps supported by White Rose Maths, show good coverage of fluency, reasoning and problem solving. Mathematical concepts or skills are mastered when a child can show it in multiple ways, using the mathematical language to explain their ideas, and can independently apply the concept to new problems in unfamiliar situations.

Every child is challenged and there should be no ceiling as to how much they can achieve. This helps in maintaining high expectations from both staff and children and enables them to be the best mathematicians they can be. Pupils understand how maths is used in the outside world and in the workplace. They know about different ways that maths can be used to support their future potential and realise that MATHS MATTERS!

At the end of each year, we expect the children to have achieved Age Related Expectations (ARE) for their year group. Some children will have progressed further and children who have gaps in their knowledge receive appropriate support and intervention.