Maths at Meadow Green

The intention of the maths curriculum at Meadow Green is that children are taught to become competent mathematicians. We strive to embed the skills and processes necessary to enable children to use and apply their Maths learning in a variety of contexts. We aim to develop children’s enjoyment of maths and provide opportunities for children to build a conceptual understanding of maths before applying their knowledge to everyday problems and challenges. We use a ‘teaching for mastery’ approach to our mathematics curriculum. Children are guided along a coherent, small step journey together, using concrete, pictorial and abstract representations to explore concepts and build connections, with opportunities to both support and challenge thinking and reasoning. Mastery of maths means a deep, long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of the subject.

We want children at Meadow Green to have:

• fluency (rapid and accurate recall and application of facts and concepts)
• a growing confidence to reason mathematically
• the ability to apply maths to solve problems and test hypotheses

Our approach to the teaching of mathematics develops children's ability to work both independently and collaboratively as part of a team. Through mathematical talk, children will develop the ability to articulate and discuss their thinking through reasoning and problem solving activities. Maths is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary to so many forms of employment.

At Meadow Green, we recognise that in order for pupils to progress to deeper and more complex problems, children need to be confident and fluent across each yearly objective. We use a ‘teaching for mastery’ approach, following the learning sequences of ‘White Rose Maths’, focusing on the use of ‘episodic’ teaching to develop more independent learners and a deeper understanding of key maths concepts. Within the learning sequences, each National Curriculum objective is broken down into smaller steps. Children are guided through the lesson at the same pace but with scaffolding and challenge to suit all needs. Our teachers use the White Rose schemes of learning in conjunction with a range of high quality resources from the NCETM PD materials and Ready to Progress criteria, Master the Curriculum and I see Reasoning resources to support, stretch and challenge all learners within the classroom. 

To raise fluency standards in Maths, we use KIRFs (Key Instant Recall Facts) as a whole-school program. It is important that children know these facts thoroughly and can recall them instantly. The KIRFs are designed to be a set of facts that need to be learnt thoroughly as they build on each other year on year. When children are secure with these facts, they are then able to carry out calculations/methods without cognitive overload.

As a school we use Times Table Rockstars for the children to practise their times tables at home and at school. We also use the White Rose 1-minute maths APP where they can practise subitising and all 4 mathematical operations. 

Children are taught in mixed ability groups and the groups within these are flexible and can change depending on the nature of the lesson. Teachers and TAs move around the classroom and actively respond, challenge and support children with their learning. Working walls are used to display strategies that are being used and should include key vocabulary.

Our lesson structure includes:

- Retrieval quiz -  Flashback 4 (WRM), Fluent in 5 (Third Space Learning), own questions.

- Chanting (KIRFs, times tables, number facts)

- Anchor Task (to find out what the children already know)

- Episodic teaching (Tchr, ch, tchr, ch) where the children are actively involved in representing, calculating and discussing

- Guided practice (where the teacher can model work and assess what the children can do and who may need support in the lesson)

- Tasks in the style of:  Do it - What it is and What it’s also (standard and non-standard),

                                    Twist it - What it’s not (an active argument about misconceptions and reasoning about mistakes) ,

                                    Deepen it - Opportunities to apply understanding to familiar and unfamiliar problems

                                                       (including missing number problems, Always/sometimes/Never)

Early Years

Teaching throughout Nursery and Reception ensures that children have a good grounding in maths. As well as the children learning very important number skills and facts, they learn important skills such as problem solving, understanding and using shapes and measure and developing their own spatial awareness. A high focus is placed on using concrete resources such as numicon, part whole models and tens frames.  We follow the NCETM Mastering Number programme as well as the White Rose Maths resources for Early Years. Teachers model the correct use of mathematical vocabulary from the very start and children use this in their responses.

Key Stage One

Teaching throughout Key Stage One ensures that children at Meadow Green are confident to manipulate numbers up to 100. The Key Stage One curriculum provides opportunities for children to develop their competency in place value and the four operations. A high focus is placed on concrete, pictorial and mental strategies to equip children with a readiness for more abstract concepts to be introduced in Key Stage Two. Teachers model correct mathematical vocabulary and children are expected to use this vocabulary to articulate their ideas. We use a range of concrete resources and introduce children to more pictorial methods such as part whole models, bar models, place value charts and numberlines.

Key Stage Two

Teaching throughout Key Stage Two builds on the solid foundations of the previous key stage. Children are introduced to formal calculation methods in Year Three and these are developed and built on each year in line with age related expectations. The frequent opportunities to reason and problem solve in real life contexts, provided by teachers, develops their conceptual understanding and prepares them for the statutory end of key stage assessments. Children are encouraged to represent their thinking and understanding through concrete resources such as Base 10, place value counters and pictorial representations such as bar modelling.

Maths across the curriculum

Where appropriate mathematical knowledge is developed and used across other curriculum areas;

Design Technology - measuring, shape, estimating,

Science - measuring, weight, capacity, interpreting charts, Venn diagrams, angles,

Geography - measuring, area, data handling, graphs – bar charts, line graphs,

Computing - spreadsheets, direction

History – time lines, dates,

Art – shape, pattern, symmetry

PE – counting, timing, comparing

As a result of our Maths teaching at Meadow Green you will see:

• Engaged children who are all challenged.
• Confident children who can all talk about Maths and their learning using the correct mathematical vocabulary
• Lessons that use a variety of resources to support learning.
• Different representations of mathematical concepts.
• Learning that is tracked and monitored to ensure all children make good progress. 

Summative assessment takes place at the end of each term and children’s progress and attainment is discussed with senior leaders in pupil progress meetings. We use the White Rose End of block assessments and the termly assessments. The information from these is then used to inform future teaching. Formative assessment takes place on a daily basis and teachers adjust planning accordingly to meet the needs of their class.  Attainment and outcomes in mathematics have a prominent focus throughout our school. The teaching of mathematics is monitored frequently by leaders through lesson observations, book looks and pupil book study.

Our Maths Lead is a Primary Mastery Specialist and is a LLME (local leader of maths education) within the NCETM GLOW Maths Hub and we continue to develop our practice in line with theirs. We have many teachers, students and teaching assistants from across the region to observe best practice teaching in various year groups.