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Our Approach
At Hylands Primary School, we adopt a mastery approach to mathematics, inspired by the latest academic research and best practices from leading nations. Maths mastery is an approach that ensures every child fully grasps key mathematical concepts before moving on to more complex ideas. Instead of rushing through topics, we focus on deep understanding, fluency, and problem-solving skills. Lessons are carefully structured to build knowledge step-by-step, using concrete objects (like counters or blocks) to introduce ideas, pictorial representations to visualise them, and finally abstract symbols and methods to solidify understanding. This pedagogy promotes collaborative learning, mathematical reasoning, and resilience, ensuring that all pupils develop a strong foundation, regardless of their starting point, and are well-equipped for future challenges in mathematics.
Schemes we use at Hylands
The vision for all pupils at Hylands Primary School is that all pupils make progress, regardless of their starting points.
Using the National Curriculum as a foundation, Hylands Primary School implements White Rose Maths as its primary scheme of work and is further supplemented with mastery-related work, taken from NCETM and Collins Maths.
After teacher input and mini-plenaries (designed to assess pupils’ understanding), children tackle a series of questions, structured by level of challenge: starting with yellow, progressing to green, and finally purple. All pupils are encouraged to engage with tasks that appropriately challenge them. Upon completing the main worksheet, children further develop their understanding through extension activities.
Maths Doc 1.docxContinuing the learning outside of the classroom
At Hylands Primary School, our pupils are very fortunate to have access to additional platforms outside of school, extending the learning from the classroom.
Preparations for the KS2 exams: Termly assessments (NTS)
In each year group, children complete three assessment papers (one arithmetic and two reasoning) during the Autumn term. These assessments are repeated in the Spring and Summer, with the expectation that all children will demonstrate progress, regardless of their starting points.
For children working two or more years behind their peers, they typically complete assessments aligned with their level of understanding. For example, in Year 5, some children may sit Year 3 papers and progress within the Year 3 and 4 frameworks before being assessed at a Year 5 attainment level.
Across the school, children consistently perform best on the arithmetic paper due to its more straightforward nature compared to reasoning papers, which often involve multi-step problems and require strong comprehension skills to interpret questions.
On alternating Fridays, children typically complete an arithmetic or reasoning paper, taken from Testbase. These sessions are supported by thorough and purposeful teacher input, addressing potential misconceptions effectively.
Preparation for the KS2 exams: arithmetic and reasoning
Paper 1: Arithmetic (30 mins)
Paper 1: Arithmetic (30 mins)
Mental arithmetic is the skill of performing calculations in your head without tools like calculators or pen and paper. It is useful in everyday situations, such as comparing supermarket deals or calculating train times. Strong mental maths skills in primary school reflect a solid understanding of numbers, pattern recognition, and excellent fluency and recall.
Paper 2 and Paper 3: Reasoning (40 mins each)
Reasoning Papers 2 and 3 in KS2 SATs assess a child’s ability to apply mathematical knowledge to solve problems, reason logically, and interpret information. These papers cover a range of topics, including number operations, fractions, decimals, percentages, geometry, and measurement. Pupils are tested on their ability to identify patterns, justify their answers, and solve multi-step problems in real-life contexts. The focus is on demonstrating a deep understanding of maths concepts and applying them flexibly and efficiently, preparing children for practical problem-solving in everyday situations and future learning.
Maths at Hylands .pdfPage updated
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