Maths Intent

At Launde Primary School, we want all children to have access to a creative and ambitious mathematics curriculum, which provides them with the vital skills and knowledge that prepares them for their future lives. We instil a positive view of maths into every child, give them a safe environment to make mistakes which they can learn from and help them develop a deeper understanding of the world around them. Our aims are to:

• Ensure that children understand the relevance and importance of what they are learning about and why they are learning about it.
• Link learning in maths to everyday life and contextualise learning.
• Support children to become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time.
• Provide children with a wide range of resources and strategies that they can draw upon in order to solve problems.
• Help children be reflective learners and show self-awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses to develop a growth mindset.
• Celebrate the high standards and expectations that we have of children in the form of their maths books, classroom displays and personal awards.
• Teach children the subject specific vocabulary through the use of oracy and working walls within classroom practice, which will allow them to communicate and reason mathematically.
• Provide high quality first teaching in every lesson and give children the feedback, support and interventions they need to reach their full potential.
• Ensure there is a consistent journey for children’s learning as they move through the school, which progresses their understanding of maths step by step.

Maths Implementation

To achieve our intent, our implementation strategy focuses on creating an environment that fosters curiosity, creativity and challenge in mathematics. Our curriculum is structured to ensure that all children develop a strong foundation in the fundamentals of mathematics, which are reinforced, retrieved and retained through the use of teaching strategies informed by cognitive science and evidence-based practise. As a part of these strategies, our children are provided with daily mathematic challenges, known as ”morning maths” in KS1 and “5-a-day” in KS2, which use a mixture of mental maths skills and retrieval practice from previous areas of learning.

An example of a 5-a-day activity from Year 4

Additionally, a whole school approach is followed to promote the love of mathematics amongst our children, through varied competitions within our school, such as a “100-club timetables challenge”. This challenge reinforces quick and efficient recall of children’s timetables and their related division facts, while creating excitement and resilience across the school.  We provide our children with the opportunity to explore mathematics in varied settings, including maths days held at the Leicester City Fan Club and the application of mathematic skills in a school-wide STEM week.

Our teaching is explicitly linked to the curriculum, with high-quality planning that focuses on the development of children's mathematical thinking and their ability to apply mathematic concepts to real-world situations. We achieve this by utilising a scheme of work called Power Maths. Teachers use this scheme to inform lessons and find resources appropriate for the children in their respective classes. Power Maths provides a structure for topics in maths to be taught in blocks along with appropriate learning intents to base planning on, with a mastery approach. Our teachers adapt the planning provided by Power Maths to suit the needs of their children.

An example of how lessons are ‘blocked’ in Power Maths for Year 2

This is further supported through the implementation of oracy strategies within maths lessons to help embed the use of mathematical vocabulary and to teach children how to reason mathematically. We use carefully selected resources to support children's learning, including an emphasis on practical, hands-on activities in the early stages of learning, to develop fluency and number sense. When children are taught their numbers, our focus is to ensure they learn the breadth of each number before moving onto the next to develop their fluency and confidence.

An example of practical resources used to support learning (numicon)

Across the school maths lessons are planned to support every child to develop into independent thinkers that are resilient to the challenges they are presented with, shown through our commitment to nurturing a ‘can-do’ attitude for all children. Maths lessons at Launde are adapted in order to meet the needs of every child (e.g. SEN, EAL) to ensure all of our pupils are meeting their fullest potential. Teachers implementing our curriculum consistently use strategies such as modelling, high expectations, challenge, thorough questioning and positive learning environments.

In order to support our exceptional learners, we set in the highest two year groups in the school with one higher set and two middle sets. This ensures children are prepared fully for high school and those in the higher set are challenged to work at a greater depth and pace. There is flexibility within our sets as we recognise children have the potential to need a different approach to support their maths skill development. This is further supported with regular parent outreach and supportive resources for home to ensure that parents are familiar with the strategies and concepts being taught and also to give them the confidence to support children outside of school.

An example of supportive resources provided for parents – a fluency fact booklet for Year 3

Our assessment strategy is designed to provide teachers with regular, accurate information about children's learning. Teachers use this information to tailor teaching and learning to meet individual needs, setting targets for children and groups to help them make progress. Assessment takes many forms, including written tests, systematic observation of children's work, verbal feedback in lessons, and daily marking and feedback on work. These assessments are also used to tailor meta-cognitive teaching strategies, provide children with opportunities to reflect on their own learning and set themselves aspirational goals. We track individual pupils' progress over time to ensure that all children are making good progress, and to identify any children who need additional support to achieve their full potential. These processes are supported through professional dialogue between teachers and subject leaders to ensure consistent assessment both within and across different year groups and are used to inform handovers between teachers to prepare for transitions between year groups and key stages.

Maths Curriculum Impact

Our impact is measured in a range of ways: through knowledge and skills acquired by children, their fluency in mathematics, and their ability to apply their learning to new contexts. We use a range of assessment methods to measure progress, including end-of-unit assessments, formative standardized tests, and teacher assessments. The way our curriculum is implemented has had significant impact on our pupils’ achievements in maths. Pupil attainment is consistently above the national average and features many children attaining at a higher level than expected. We are particularly proud of our pupils’ progress in problem-solving, and we have seen an impressive improvement in their abilities to apply maths knowledge in real-world situations.

Our impact can also be seen in children's attitudes towards mathematics. We develop children's confidence and resilience, encouraging them to be independent problem solvers, reflective learners and collaborative team members that have a ‘can do’ attitude to any challenge they face. Moreover, pupils are enthusiastic about discussing their maths work with parents and carers, which demonstrates their pride and enjoyment in maths study.

At Launde Primary School, we believe that our intent to provide a sequenced, coherent and ambitious curriculum, delivered through high-quality teaching and rigorous assessment strategies, will enable our children to be successful mathematicians and confident learners in all subjects.