Mathematics at HMS

Intent:

At Hanborough Manor, we strongly believe that our children should learn to help them prepare for the future, and maths is an essential, lifelong learning skill. As well as numeracy, it helps skills such as problem solving, understanding and using shapes and measure and developing their own spatial awareness.  Children can underperform in Mathematics because they think they can’t do it or are not naturally good at it. We want to ensure that we address these preconceptions by ensuring that all children experience challenge and success in Mathematics by developing a growth mind-set.

We want every child to feel like they are a maths learner and have the appropriate skills to tackle real life problems by the time they leave our school.  Teaching children efficient and compact problem solving methods enables them to access further learning, increases their career options and improves their understanding of the world. We want our children to be  confident, competent and happy mathematicians so they can enjoy the challenge and reward that maths offers.

We aim for all children at HMS to:

• recall number facts with fluency,  
• developed conceptual understanding through being able to visualise key ideas – such as those related to place value - through experience with practical equipment and visual representations; 
• become confident to reason using the language of ‘support’ and ‘challenge’.  Make use of diagrams and informal notes to help record steps and part answers when using mental methods that generate more information than can be kept in their heads;  
• have an efficient, reliable, written method of calculation for each number operation that they can apply with confidence when undertaking calculations that they cannot carry out mentally; 
• make connections between all four number operations, understanding how they relate to one another, as well as how the rules and laws of arithmetic can be applied

Implementation:

At HMS, we use a ‘Small Steps’ approach, ensuring that children can keep up with the concepts taught. Maths is taught daily, and the children will initially practice a range of fluency questions, working on skills that they have been previously taught throughout the year. During this time, some children will be given the opportunity to closely work with an adult for a session of pre-teaching. This pre-teaching session will provide a head start for less confident mathematicians that may require additional modelling and scaffolding before the new ‘small step’ is introduced that day.

Children will be sat in mixed ability pairings throughout their Maths lessons for an inclusive environment. This will promote the opportunity for mathematical discussions and give children the chance to explain concepts to other children and therefore, deepen their understanding. Each lesson will be based around an essential concept from the Deepening Understanding or White Rose progression document, which will then be taught for increased depth throughout the lesson.

To determine what the children need to know in order to achieve the learning intention, teachers will be encouraged to look at the progression document to assess which small steps the children have already experienced. This links to prior learning so that children can make links across concepts. Each lesson will then involve the teacher delivering a new skill to all the children. This teaching will form guided work with the teacher, with the children demonstrating their understanding within their book in pencil. Teachers will be monitoring and assessing children's understanding of the teaching throughout using techniques such as: live marking, mathematical conversations or white boards. Each guided activity will aim to incorporate a challenge question, which will require a deeper level of thinking for the concept being taught. If the class require more time to practice the learning intention, there is a chance that some children, who the teacher knows has a good understanding of the concept, can go off and complete an investigation related to the teaching. This will challenge confident children to deepen their understanding, as well as provide less confident children the chance to have additional practice of a learning intention.

Reasoning or problem-solving elements for the class will be incorporated to introduce misconceptions, worded problems using real life contexts or a chance to explain a concept or calculation in more detail. Once children are finished with the guided segment of the learning journey, there will be an independent task. Independent tasks will involve a range of areas from fluency, reasoning and problem solving which will have ‘real life’ connotations. All learners, regardless of their ability will be taught around the problems and have the opportunity to solve them independently. Lessons will have varying levels of challenge which the children can undertake at their own choosing. Throughout the independent work, teachers will be questioning children and where necessary, running mini plenaries for children who are unsure of how to succeed. In particular, children who have misconceptions from the lesson input will be supported by the teacher, using modelling and scaffolding to help them access the independent task.

Teachers use our calculation policy to ensure that the same techniques and vocabulary develop progressively throughout the pupils time in our school.