Maths
At Annfield Plain Junior School, we aim to prepare pupils for their next stage of education and life. We aim to develop the skills and knowledge needed to be a mathematician, whilst making learning in Maths engaging and enjoyable. This includes a STEM project for each year group, to ensure pupils’ understanding of how each of the subjects link and so that it may support pupils to raise aspirations in STEM.
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We consider Maths to be essential to everyday life – critical to science, technology and engineering and necessary for pupils’ financial literacy and future employment. Therefore, we aim to give our pupils a high-quality mathematics education, which provides a foundation for understanding the world, the ability to reason mathematically and a sense of enjoyment about the subject.
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The aims of our provision are in line with those of the national curriculum for mathematics which ensure that all pupils:
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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;
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reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, investigating relationships and making generalisations, as well as providing a justification or proof using mathematical language;
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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.
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We follow the Programmes of Study in the national curriculum for Mathematics which breaks learning initially into four strands. These are: number, measurement, geometry and statistics. By year 6, the additional strands of algebra and ratio & proportion are built into the Programmes of Study. School teaches a mastery curriculum focusing on firstly embedding understanding, delivered through the teaching of concrete, pictorial and abstract skills. Further practise ensures fluency in the skills.
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The skills are then mastered in deeper-thinking activities; this requires the application of skills to problem-solving, investigation and reasoning . Integral to all maths lessons is the teaching of efficient mental maths strategies.
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Teachers use daily ‘formative’ methods of teacher assessment; these are used to judge pupils’ understanding of concepts and strategies in order to know what the next steps of learning may be or where gaps in learning are. In addition, pupils are assessed three time a year – entry, mid-year and end of year using NFER standardised tests and past SATs papers for Year 6. This method of ‘summative’ assessment ensures that each pupil’s progress is carefully tracked and helps teachers identify each pupil’s attainment and progress over time.
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The school uses a variety of resources including online sites and schemes: Rising Stars, My Maths and Testbase. The NCETM site is also used and at home, pupils can access My Maths. Practical equipment is used to support learning, such as numicon. When needed, maths interventions are used to provide additional support e.g. Catch Up Numeracy and after-school small maths group tuition. Visitors are used to enrich the curriculum e.g. Mathmagician workshops, Crystal Conundrum problem-solving workshops and Puzzle Days. When possible, workshops are also provided for parents to attend these events.
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Enabling and Adapting the Maths Curriculum
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