The Taddington Maths Curriculum
At Taddington, we strive for our children to be successful and proficient mathematicians. Maths is a life skill – we use it all the time for example when we are baking, when shopping, whilst driving and when solving problems. We use maths when we are drawing, when building, whilst waiting for the bus and when going on holiday. We even use maths when we don’t even realise it. Therefore it is essential that we enable our children to be successful in this subject.
To be successful in Maths, we recognise that pupils need to develop their conceptual understanding. In other words, pupils don’t only need to be able to recall facts quickly, they also need to be able to apply their knowledge in a range of different contexts, including those that are new and unfamiliar. This is the idea at the heart of ‘Maths Mastery’, an approach to Maths based upon best practice found in Singapore.
In order to develop conceptual understanding in our pupils, this year we are implementing the CPA approach to learning (concrete, pictorial and abstract). This approach recognises that in order for pupils to understand abstract concepts, they must first learn mathematical concepts through the use of concrete resources and pictorial representation.
Concrete is the ‘doing’ stage, using concrete objects to solve problems. It brings concepts to life by allowing children to handle physical objects themselves.
Pictorial is the ‘seeing’ stage, using representations of the objects involved in maths problems. This stage encourages children to make a mental connection between the physical object and abstract levels of understanding, by drawing or looking at pictures, circles, diagrams or models which represent the objects in the problem.
Abstract is the ‘symbolic’ stage, where children are able to use abstract symbols to model and solve maths problems
At Taddington, we have recently altered our whole school approach to mathematics using a scheme of work called Power Maths in order to help us embed this approach. This scheme is based upon extensive research into maths teaching around the world, particularly Singapore and promotes an approach incorporating the use of well thought through and highly varied resources, integral problem solving and group work. The Primary Series is child-centred and fun to teach and was assessed by the DfE’s expert panel, which judged that it met the core criteria for a high-quality textbook to support teaching for mastery.
This new approach aims to develop the use of oracy as a key means to promote mathematical understanding rather than learning through drills and the early introduction of abstract concepts.
Every lesson is divided into sections that involve plenty of discovery, sharing, collaboration, practice and reflection. Children are encouraged to solve problems each day through the use of concrete resources, pictorial representations and abstract thinking.
At the heart of this programme is the idea that all children can achieve and be successful mathematicians with the right growth mindset. It promotes five child friendly characters, each with their own positive skillset, to inspire and motivate children. These characters are:
We have adopted these characters within school as our characteristics of a mathematician. Keep an eye out for our characters all around our school environment.
click here to see how we cover maths over the year.
Click here to see our calculation policy for:
Intent
At Taddington and Priestcliffe Primary School we have designed our Maths curriculum with the intent that our children will become resilient, motivated, independent and fluent Mathematicians. They will be able to apply their skills and knowledge in a wide range of situations within and out of the classroom.
We will deliver a curriculum that:
- disrupts learning to fully embed new concepts,
-build on key skills as the children progress through the school,
-encourages the children to take risks and use problem solving to further develop understanding,
- is inclusive and scaffolded for all children to access,
-challenges the children through the skills of problem solving, reasoning and fluency,
- inspires learning through a robust teaching style that is modelled across each year group, -
aspires the children to become great mathematicians.
We teach a mastery approach to Mathematics and aim to ensure our children have a breadth of understanding across all mathematical concepts.
Implementation
The Maths curriculum is overseen by two co-ordinators, one across KS1 and one across KS2. They will oversee, monitor, assess and review our practices across school to ensure Maths provision is the best it can be. As with other subjects, the co-ordinator facilitates an in-depth inquiry with parents, children and staff. Formative assessment is featured in every Maths session and used to inform future planning and pupils next steps. Pre-learn and end of unit checks are used to formally assess progress within a term and once a term formal online assessments are used to inform about children’s progress and identify learning gaps. The schemes we use, Power Maths for Y1-6 and Maths No Problem for Reception, are fully compliant with the National Curriculum 2014 and aligned with the Early Years Statutory Framework 2021.
Power Maths and Maths no problem are schemes based on skill and knowledge progression where the children naturally develop their understanding as they travel through school. This allows children to build on prior knowledge and develop their understanding. The models and representations used are repeated each year, so children deepen their understanding of how to use these and apply them to their work.
Knowledge organisers are being developed and sent out regularly for pupils, parents and teachers to use as a reference point. They include the areas of learning, key vocabulary and some ways in which to assess children’s understanding. Opportunities for CPD are shared and discussed regularly with the KS2 Maths co-ordinator attending 3 Maths leader briefings each year and disseminating information to staff.
Impact
Children learn best when they connect knowledge with what they already know.
During Maths lessons, children will be given the opportunities to ask and answer questions, try new ideas and concepts and find ways in which to solve problems. The maths curriculum ensures high quality teaching across all age groups which meets the needs of individual children and allows groups of children to be supported by targeted, proven interventions.
Enjoyment of the maths curriculum promotes aspiration, resilience, problem-solving skills and confidence.
The children will develop their resilience and be happy to learn from their mistakes. They will realise that Maths is about trying lots of different ways to find a solution and does not always have a right or wrong answer.
The children will become fluent in all key skills including times tables and will be able to apply these across a range of situations and contexts.
Children will leave the school with strong skills and be able to apply these in real life across a range of contexts.
Children will be enthusiastic and able to use their maths skills to solve problems in a variety of real-life situations.