Pinfold Street Primary School
Learning is the key to success
Maths
Maths is essential to everyday life. It is critical for science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment.
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Intent:
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At Pinfold Street Primary, our intention is to provide a high-quality mathematics education that provides a foundation for all learners to reason mathematically by recognising patterns and making connections. We want all children to develop into competent mathematical thinkers, with a confident attitude to mathematics and reach their full potential as mathematicians. We want all children to achieve mathematical fluency in order for them to be able to transfer and apply knowledge in different contexts and to reason and problem solve so that they are fully ‘Prepared for Life.’
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Implementation:
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Our lessons are planned following our WERD principles: well planned, explicitly taught, regularly rehearsed and deepened understanding.
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Impact:
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Children will build on what they already know by making connections as they move through the school. They will become independent learners and know how to improve their skills. By the end of KS1 children will know their number facts and be able to choose mental strategies to manipulate numbers. They will be fluent and confident in using their number facts to solve problems. By the end of Year 4 children will know their times tables facts and be able to use them within lessons. Children will be able to reason and explain their understanding by using the correct mathematical vocabulary.
A Mastery Approach
At Pinfold, we know all children can be successful at maths provided they are given the opportunities to understand in a way that makes sense to them.
Research has found that children with ‘fixed mindsets’ who believe they are naturally no good at mathematics are less successful than those who have a ‘growth mindset’ and believe they can learn through effort. Therefore, the way we teach maths focuses on developing children’s self-esteem by creating a ‘can do’ attitude. This is done by ensuring children have a deeper understanding of each concept and not moving onto bigger numbers too quickly. As well as ‘hands on learning’ using real life situations and objects (concrete, pictorial and abstract- see below) which allows children to think and find out for themselves, creating strong maths foundations to build on throughout their life.
Mixed Ability Partners
To scaffold and challenge children’s learning, children are sat in mixed ability pairs (children who have different levels of understanding and ability to grasp concepts). When choosing these, children’s personalities and learning behaviours are also considered. These partners are also changed regularly, to allow for different learning styles and behaviours. To make sure children feel confident within these pairs, there are always at least two children of similar understanding/ability on each table.
This organisation promotes rich discussion within partners that enables children to develop clear and accurate explanations, using real life objects and diagrams/pictures. Whilst working together, children are able to make sense of the maths talk/discuss/explain to each other. This maximises the learning for both children as well as building confidence. When children then share their ideas with the whole class, they have the confidence to feel that ‘this is our answer’ and therefore less exposing than ‘my answer’.