Milnthorpe Primary School

Mathematics equips pupils with the uniquely powerful set of tools to understand and change the world. These tools include logical reasoning, problem solving skills and the ability to think in abstract ways.

Mathematics is important in everyday life. It is integral to all aspects of life and with this in mind at Milnthorpe Primary School we endeavour to ensure that children develop a positive and enthusiastic attitude towards mathematics that will stay with them throughout their lives.

At Milnthorpe we use the National Curriculum for Mathematics as the basis of our mathematics programme. We are committed to ensuring that all pupils achieve mastery in the key concepts of mathematics, appropriate for their age group, in order that they make genuine progress and avoid gaps in their understanding which could become barriers to learning as they move through education. Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly should be challenged through being offered rich and sophisticated problems before any acceleration through new content. Those who are not sufficiently fluent with earlier material should consolidate their understanding, including through additional practice, before moving on.

Intent

• Become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics.
• Develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly.
• To reason and problem solve by applying mathematics to a variety of increasingly complex problems.
• To build upon children’s knowledge and understanding from Reception to Year 6.
• To develop resilience that enables all children to reason and problem solve with increased confidence.

Implementation

• To ensure full topic coverage, the school uses ‘White Rose Maths’ as a basis for all planning. This is a whole-school approach to planning maths that creates continuity and progression in the teaching of mathematics.
• Daily maths lessons include fluency, reasoning and problem solving.
• Lessons are differentiated to ensure there is appropriate challenge for all learners.
• Concrete manipulatives and pictorial representations are used to support conceptual understanding and to make links across topics.
• Children are individually assessed and rewarded for rapid recall of number bonds (KS1) and times tables (Years 2-6). ‘Times Tables Rock Stars’ and ‘Numbots’ are also used to implement this.
• Children are assessed on a half-termly basis, with data being submitted on Scholarpack to be tracked.

Impact

• Most children reach end of year expectations.
• Children’s progress is tracked on a half-termly basis using a tracker.
• Well planned sequences of learning support children to develop and refine their maths skills.
• Children are able to independently apply their knowledge to a range of increasingly complex problems.
• Children are reasoning with increased confidence and accuracy.