Maths
Maths at Cloverlea
Intent
At Cloverlea, we believe that a high-quality maths curriculum should be enjoyable, challenging and accessible to all, whilst maximising the development of every child's ability and achievement. We want children to make rich connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence in solving increasingly sophisticated problems.
We want our pupils to be able to apply their mathematical skills and knowledge across the curriculum and become independent learners with inquisitive minds who have secure mathematical foundations and a 'can do' attitude towards their learning.
At Cloverlea, we follow the National Curriculum for mathematics which aims to ensure that all pupils:
- 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
- can 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.
Implementation
At Cloverlea we continue to embed and sustain ‘teaching for mastery’ in our maths curriculum. Teaching maths for mastery is a transformational approach which stems from research into high performing Asian nations such as Singapore.
An important feature of teaching for mastery is that the whole class works on the same topics at broadly the same pace, with lots of time and practice in each topic before moving on. An idea is carefully introduced and formed, then reinforced by lots of practice over a series of lessons. This enables children to develop a deep and long-lasting understanding of the concepts being taught.
In the Early Years (Nursery and Reception), teachers use the Development Matters to inform their planning and teaching involves providing children with opportunities to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers; calculating simple addition and subtraction problems; and describing shapes, space, and measures. The White Rose Maths Early Years Scheme is used to support planning and delivery of maths. Children will develop their understanding through planned, purposeful play and through a mix of adult-led and child-initiated activity.
To ensure consistency and progression, teachers use White Rose Maths resources in Years 1 to 6. These schemes are mastery based and inform planning, whilst focusing on building fluency, reasoning and problem solving skills. Following the mastery model, children are introduced to maths in stages, often beginning with concrete objects (such as counters, Base 10 and number disks), then moving to pictorial representations (representing problems using pictures), and finally working in the abstract (where children represent problems using mathematical notation, such as 12 ÷ 4 = 3). Through this process, children learn numerous strategies to work with numbers and build understanding and confidence in maths. Children are encouraged to learn to think mathematically, as opposed to reciting formulas/’tricks’ they don’t understand. Across the school, teachers use a range of resources to build and develop fluency such as Times Tables Rock Stars, which the children can continue at home. From September 2021, Years Reception to Year 2 embarked on the Mastering Number programme which is designed to build fluency and automaticity in number facts using the 'Rekenrek' resource. This will continue through 2022-2023 and beyond. This focus on early number will help all children make more progress in maths in later years.
Impact
As a result, across the school, children and teachers are enthusiastic about maths as we develop our mastery curriculum. This curriculum is developing the following aspects:
- Quick recall of facts and procedures.
- The flexibility and fluidity to move between different contexts and representations of mathematics.
- The ability to recognise relationships and make connections in mathematics.
A mathematical concept or skill has been 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.
We are excited about the development of maths at Cloverlea and whilst children's progress and attainment is already above national and local average, we believe that our goal of a mastery curriculum will empower our pupils to take hold of their learning and go from strength to strength.
Maths Snapshots
The mastery approach to teaching mathematics at Cloverlea
A video explaining the core principles behind our mastery approach to teaching mathematics from the Director for Primary Maths at the National Centre for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics: