Subject Intent

Inquisitive, Resilient, Independent     

At Anglesey, we are a vibrant and nurturing school community, where children are given the skills to become, inquisitive, resilient, independent learners.     

Our curriculum provides a range of creative, challenging and inspiring experiences for all.  This equips our children with the life skills to be happy, flourish and be successful…Today, tomorrow and in the future     

MATHEMATICS INTENT    

When teaching Maths for mastery at Anglesey, pupils are given time to think deeply about the maths and really understand concepts at a relational level rather than as a set of rules or procedures. This slower pace ensures that students are secure in their understanding. Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract (CPA) is our key approach to teaching pupils a deep and sustainable understanding of maths. We aim to ensure that all children become fluent in the fundamentals of Mathematics, are able to reason mathematically and can solve problems applying their Mathematics. We are committed to developing children’s curiosity as well as an appreciation and beauty of the power of Mathematics and ensure children recognise the importance of Maths in the wider world. 

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND VALUES      

INQUISITIVE     

An inquisitive learner has a thirst for learning and wants to discover as much as they can about the world by asking questions.     

RESILIENT     

A resilient learner can bounce back from challenges and problems, but also has the capacity to adapt in the face of challenging circumstances, whilst maintaining a stable mental wellbeing.     

INDEPENDENT     

An independent learner takes responsibility for their own learning. They are self-motivated and accept that frustration in the present is worthwhile to achieve future success. They take initiative and are good problem solvers.     

Pupils develop Inquisitiveness in MATHEMATICS by:    

• Finding all possibilities for problems.  

• Ask What if…?   

• Using NRICH interactivities to develop curiosity.  

• Asking and answering questions such as how many ways can you make X?  

• participating in number activities in their classroom environment during their child-initiated play time.   

• Using displays and classroom activities to inspire children to question and inquire into aspects of number and maths.  

• Using open ended questions allow children to begin to reason and problem solve.  

• Books in our class libraries will include number books, enabling to children to independently choose to read about numbers.  

• Open questioning is modelled to promote reasoning through dialogue and questioning. To support this, dialogic teaching encourages pupils to hold focused and rigorous conversations, leading to deep conceptual understanding.   

• Key reasoning questions which are used to generate curiosity in mathematical learning.  

• Children explore the different structures of word problems and strategies for solving with understanding.   

• Children are encouraged to spot connections across strategies and reason about the most efficient methods whilst continually exploring the breadth of mental calculations strategies.   

• Prediction and algebraic thinking is developed from the beginning of mathematical teaching to encourage children to link their skills and knowledge across topics and year groups. 

Pupils develop Resilience in MATHEMATICS by:    

• Understanding that we are not always interested in the answer but the method 

• Doing 5 a day in Year 6 which over time develops confidence and skill.  

• Using key terms and encouraging children to use them.  

• Using reasoning prompts on the working wall and working on their mathematics vocabulary.  

Using concrete resources and manipulatives to support visual representations.  

• Tackling NRich puzzles and problems.  

• During short number sessions in Year 6, children are encouraged to problem solve independently. An adult will then support through conversation and modelling to discuss their reasoning. Children will be given more time or another chance to attempt.  

• Praising when children attempting to problem solve, whether right or wrong.  

• Encouraging all pupils to attempt to solve problems, even if it leads to mistakes, which can then be developed into learning points.  

• Ensuring problem solving and reasoning is modelled and encouraged across the school, challenging pupils to take risks and work collaboratively or independently to explain their thinking and strategies. The mastery approach, and its emphasis on promoting multiple methods of solving a problem, builds self-confidence and resilience in pupils.    

• Encouraging pupils to reflect on both successes and failures.  

Asking open-ended problems and a progression in reasoning skills encourages risk-taking and resilience. Children are encouraged to think ‘a problem is not a problem if we can solve it immediately.’   

• Ensuring all contributions are acknowledged positively meaning mistakes are used as springboards to new understanding.   

Pupils develop Independence in MATHEMATICS by:    

• Using displays with questions, strategies or prompts to ask themselves when reasoning.  

• Having numbers around the room so that children create their own calculations and questions.   

• Answering open ended maths activities  

• Writing their own division calculations and word problems to go with it.   

• Independently choosing their own activities throughout the day. Number activities will be accessible every day and children are encouraged to participate in them.  

• A dedicated Maths area provides children with the opportunity to independently steer their learning using their own interests. Provocations are changed often so that children remain inspired and interested.  

• Ensuring maths resources 

will be planned into many of the areas of learning within the classroom so children can independently access these at several points during the day, even if it is not in the dedicated maths area. 

• Independently accessing number books to aid learning.  

• Having a variety of number lines in the classroom allow children to independently access number activities and mimic teacher sessions.  

• Having access to many objects and materials to help them independently sort, order and compare.  

• Dialogic teaching which provides a platform to allow children to understand what has worked well in their learning and what could be improved to deepen their understanding.   

• Being given additional manipulatives where appropriate to allow them to work more independently.  

• Open, varied images (such as part-whole models, number lines, bar model and arrays) and tasks allow children to explore mathematical ideas independently.  

• Ensuring a language rich environment, where children are encouraged to ask and answer questions, meaning adults are not always the first port of call.  

• Children use Times Table Rockstars and  

Numbots to take ownership of their own learning at home.  

CREATIVE, CHALLENGING AND INSPIRING EXPERIENCES      

Creativity and fun are encouraged across the school from the youngest pupils, for example Number Fun Songs are used throughout the school to support learning by encouraging drama and role-play in maths, allowing for creative use of classroom space and bringing maths to life.  

From Early Years Children are encouraged to use aspects of maths for a purpose, including measuring items for a reason, to checking there are enough cups for a tea party.  

Open-ended activities help children be more flexible, inquisitive and creative in their thinking. This is also supported by playing games such as ‘What’s my Rule?’, ‘Which Number Where?’ and ‘Sum, Product, Quotient’.  

Children create their own word problems which takes them to a deeper level of understanding. They are encouraged to utilise models and images such as Numicon, ten frames and arrays to provide evidence in their lines of inquiry.  

Children are allowed to make mistakes in a supportive environment allowing space to be innovative in their thinking. They are encouraged to explore and manipulate numbers to allow them to flexibly use and adapt known facts to assist in mental calculations and this is often supported with practical equipment.   

We aim to use mathematics for real life scenarios for example to design a fairground, organise a summer fayre and start a business (e.g. hanging baskets).  

Children are able to experiment with symbols and number in a holistic way across their child-initiated play in Early Years.  Numbers and Shape, Space and Measure are accessible throughout the indoor and outdoor classroom at all points of the day, allowing children to physically explore these aspects of learning at a developmentally appropriate rate. Role play areas will always incorporate aspects of Maths for children to play and learn in a realistic way.  

Children are encouraged to count often and using anything during the day, including claps, fingers, jumps, stairs and anything else that may be of interest to them. Construction blocks are available at all times for children to experiment with shape, space and measure. Number nursery rhymes are sung on a regular basis to engage children.  

Challenge and challenging activities are always present in Mathematics. Children across the school use the ‘I see’ resources, including I See Reasoning and Problem Solving reasoning in upper Key Stage 2 and NCETM resources promote Mastery in Maths. 

Through short number sessions, children are encouraged to embrace challenge by developing their knowledge in new areas. Children are supported at their level of understanding and challenged appropriately.  

Resources from the maths sessions in Early Years are available afterwards for children to continue their learning or to recap if they choose to do so, or to play with at their own level of engagement and creativity.  

Children are encouraged to use the language of maths in explanations and in independent activities 

Pupils who grasp concepts quickly are challenged with rich and sophisticated problems within the topic. Those children who are not sufficiently fluent are provided additional support to consolidate their understanding before moving on.   

Low floor, high ceiling activities are encouraged where the threshold is mathematically accessible for all pupils whilst offering opportunity for all abilities to develop their resilience. These tasks allow children to work at different paces and take work to different depths at different times.  

Children work towards their ‘times table’ badges, following weekly challenges at class, year group and individual level and engage in the TT Rock Stars home learning programme 

Children across year groups participate in Able Maths days at Welford Primary and face challenge alongside pupils from other schools. 

In EYFS, real life opportunities are incorporated into the curriculum, such as going to the shop to pay for items with real money, going on ‘number and shape walks’ to find numbers and shapes in the real world and hopscotch in the outdoor classroom to physically add a different dimension to being aware of and learning numbers.  

Provocation are related to the children’s interests, such as counting dinosaur teeth, scoring goals or making brick castles.  

MATHEMATICS IMPLEMENTATION   

Our Mathematics curriculum follows the NC to provide a broad and balanced curriculum taught through daily Mathematics lessons. There are specific objectives which we as a school have termed as ‘Key Performance Indicators’ (KPIs), which are given priority across year groups, in order for us to be confident that pupils are working at expected levels and are ready for the next year group. Year groups incorporate ‘5 a day’ into their planning to build fluency and precision. All classrooms are all rich Mathematical language environments and working walls ensure new and previously learned learning is accessible and we use Maths Mastery to broaden and deepen understanding. 

We aim for children to be confident in each yearly set of objectives and develop their ability to use this knowledge to develop a greater depth of understanding to solve varies fluency problems as well as problem solving and reasoning questions. Although not exclusively, as a school we use planning from White Rose Maths. 

Pupils in Year 4 take part in the Multiplication Tables Check, in order for pupils to recall their times tables fluently. We use ‘Times Tables Rockstars as an online home learning platform, which also offers resources to be used in the classroom. 

MATHEMATICS IMPACT   

Each pupil has a profile of work which includes samples of a year’s worth of Mathematics work to show progression and also samples of number work from across their school life.  The work in these profiles is moderated across year groups and across the school. We have a process of monitoring to ensure standards and this includes, observations, profile trawls, performance management, learning walks and Lesson Study to demonstrate dialogic teaching. Assessment for Learning techniques are incorporated in every Mathematics lesson, including feedback, appropriate marking, including gap comments. 

Each half term, Year Groups undertakes a formative assessment, the results of which are not published, but used for future planning and to highlight any individual learning gaps. Teachers make termly judgements for each pupil against year group expectations and bring this information to Pupil Progress meetings, alongside updates on intervention groups. We report the standards for individual pupils at the end of Reception, Year 2 and Year 6.