Maths Curriculum

Mathematics Curriculum at Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard

At Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard, we believe that the development of mathematics skills and knowledge are vital, not only for children to succeed at school, but also to become successful adults.  Being fluent with numbers, understanding patterns and using logic and problem solving skills are all essential parts of everyday life and help us to understand and change the world around us.  We aim for all children to leave us as competent and confident ‘masters’ of maths, with deep conceptual and procedural knowledge and an enjoyment of the challenges that mathematics provides.

Our Core Aims in Mathematics:

• To offer a broad and balanced curriculum based on the National Curriculum.

• To allow pupils to see how mathematics is relevant to their everyday life. 

• To provide opportunities for pupils to use and apply their maths skills outside of discrete maths teaching time – both in cross-curricular and in real-life contexts, helping them to develop their transdisciplinary understanding. 

• To promote a positive attitude towards mathematics and to enable pupils to develop their confidence in the subject and a motivation to succeed. 

• To ensure that all children achieve their highest potential in mathematics and that all pupils are challenged.

Mathematical Mastery

Along with the other primary academies in the Leigh Academies Trust, we follow the National Curriculum for Mathematics.  A mastery scheme of learning is used across all key stages to ensure continuity, sequenced teaching of skills, rigorous coverage of the curriculum, and challenge.  Lessons are carefully planned to provide learning opportunities that address the three key aims of the National Curriculum: fluency, problem solving and reasoning. 

In order to achieve mathematical mastery, we follow a three phase approach to teaching and learning, which ensures all children have the opportunity to develop fluency in the particular skill that they are learning - (knowledge); apply their newly acquired skill through problem solving in a real-life context (application) and tackle higher-order challenges in which they investigate multiple solutions and explain their reasoning (reasoning).  Mastery is further supported in the following ways:

• Providing a concrete-pictorial-abstract approach, to enable pupils to make links between manipulatives, pictorial representations and written methods.

• Encouraging pupils to be as independent as possible in accessing and selecting appropriate resources to help them with a task.

• Pupils are taught in whole class sessions and all have the opportunity to access all three phases of learning,throughout the week, with staff having high expectations for all.

• Misconceptions are addressed through immediate verbal feedback wherever possible

• Pupils who struggle to pick up or apply a new skill are immediately identified and are provided with additional support, intervention. 

• A high priority is set on the learning of both number bonds and times tables. The acquisition of basic number facts to a standard where there is accurate and rapid recall is paramount, thus forming the strong foundations of a fluent mathematician. 

Number bonds and Times Tables

From Year 1, children will begin to learn their number bonds to 10 and then 20.  The purpose of this is to improve the children’s fluency and help aid their mathematical understanding and reasoning.  Number bonds are learnt in lots of different ways, including using manipulatives such as Numicon, before moving to the more abstract context of number sentences.  These skills are built upon in Year 2 as the children use their number bonds to 10 and 20 to find their number bonds to 100 and learn related facts.  As well as this, in Year 1 the children learn to count in multiples of 2, 5 and 10 as this is the foundation of their understanding of their 2, 5 and 10 times tables ready for Year 2 expectations.

As the children move into Year 2 and beyond, they begin to learn their times tables which underpins so much of their mathematical understanding relating to fractions and percentages. It is also to prepare them for the Multiplication Check at the end of Year 4, where children have 6 seconds to answer each multiplication question.  Learning their times tables starts in Year 2 where the focus is on their 2, 5 and 10 times tables moving onto their 3 times tables when they are ready.  As the children move into Key Stage 2, they learn the rest of their tables and have regular opportunities to show off their times tables skills and test themselves for accuracy and speed.  By the end of Year 4 we expect all children to be able to recall all their times tables, to 12 x 12,  with fluency and accuracy; this will support their learning in Year 5 and 6 as they move onto more challenging concepts and where their confidence and understanding of these skills is essential.

Resources

A wide range of quality resources are used across all year groups, including a variety of manipulatives, such as Dienes, and visual representations including the Bar Model.  We also use the White Rose Maths materials to support higher level questioning for phases 2 and 3, covering both problem solving and reasoning skills.

Home Learning

All pupils have access to their own personal accounts on an E-learning platform for mathematics.  linked with their weekly learning.  We support children’s learning of times tables through the use of Times Tables Rock Stars, in KS2. Our aim is for all children to have a secure knowledge of multiplication facts and use this to support other parts of their learning in Maths. This way children can make links and spot patterns in their learning.  Children are able to use the programme both at school and at home. 

Mathematics in EYFS

During their time in Cherry Pips nursery, children are exposed to number and shape, space and measures through a wide variety of songs, videos, stories and games.  Children at this age are predominantly developing fluency skills in counting and an early understanding of the concept of numbers and where maths appears in their environment.

In Reception, children are introduced to one number each week or two weeks.  During that time, they are able to learn in depth about the concept of that number, including what the number looks like, how it can be represented and where it sits in the sequence of numbers.  Fluency, problem solving and reasoning skills are developed and applied to each number in turn, as children explore a range of manipulatives to help them understand how each number can be made and changed.  We use NCETM resources based around the ‘Numberblocks’ programmes which help to bring each number and mathematical concept to ‘life’. These ‘Numberblocks’ are then introduced to a classroom display known as ‘Numberland’ where each number lives in a house with a garden unique to their number.  Being able to access these resources throughout child initiated play supports all aspects of mathematical understanding, while making sure children are enjoying maths and are motivated to challenge themselves and succeed.