Our School Vision:

Our school is a community where each person is valued as a child of God. We are a Church of England school, inspired and guided by the life and teaching of Jesus. We work together to create a caring, friendly and safe school family, to enable the whole school community to flourish and each person reach their full God-given potential.

• Pupils are empowered to develop the hope and perseverance necessary to engage the challenges of maths in the context of school and the wider world.

• Teaching staff seek out every opportunity to ensure that all pupils flourish in maths lessons, developing wisdom and creativity through an ambitious and broad curriculum that challenges expectations, deepens knowledge and develops skills.

• Maths lessons are inclusive, so everyone is valued and respected – and tolerance and diversity are celebrated.

Intent

At Donnington Wood CE Junior School, we aim to ensure that our pupils flourish and become confident, efficient mathematicians. We aim to promote a love of maths, which encourages pupils to explore different concepts and feel confident being stretched in their mathematical thinking. We have adopted a ‘Mastery’ approach to the teaching of maths across school. This aims to deliver the objectives of the National Curriculum and allows children the opportunity to embed their mathematical knowledge through a balance of fluency, reasoning and problem solving.

Our Maths curriculum is focused upon the following beliefs:

• Children will take an active part in maths lessons.
• Children will enjoy exploring mathematical concepts.
• Children will develop a deeper understanding of the maths curriculum.
• Children will understand the relevance of maths in the real world.

Implementation

The mastery approach to teaching maths focuses on the belief that all pupils can understand and use mathematical concepts, given enough time to do so. With quality-first teaching, appropriate adaptations and a positive attitude to their learning, all children can enjoy and achieve well in maths.

• We teach the National Curriculum objectives using a variety of resources, including White Rose Maths, to ensure that children build up their learning in small steps. This progression of knowledge is designed to build on pupils’ prior knowledge, whilst allowing them the opportunity for consolidation and to make connections between topics. Longer time is spent on certain key concepts to ensure that pupils have a deeper understanding.
• We use real-life contexts, where possible, in our learning to ensure that pupils understand the importance and relevance of their mathematical skills and knowledge in the wider world.
• Teachers engage children using a variety of practical activities and through the continuous use of concrete, pictorial and abstract models, which enables pupils of all abilities to access the maths curriculum.
• Confidence and stamina are developed through the use of fluency, problem-solving and reasoning questions being threaded into every small step.
• Mathematical reasoning is modelled by teachers and pupils are expected to explain their thinking using the correct vocabulary to demonstrate their understanding. Vocabulary is taught explicitly at an age-appropriate level.
• Timely and targeted interventions are used to accelerate the progress of pupils who find maths challenging or who to close the gap.
• We use Key Instant Recall Facts (KIRFs) to help our pupils to become fluent in some of the fundamental facts of maths, including multiplication facts, durations of time and fraction, decimal and percentage equivalents. This knowledge aims to enable our pupils to develop their automaticity. These skills are practised daily in class.
• We have recognised that recall of multiplication facts is a key element of many other key mathematical concepts. To support pupils to develop fluency, speed and stamina in their recall of key multiplication and division facts, we use Times Table Rockstars and daily practice in all year groups.
• Dynamo Maths is used to support learners with dyscalculia to ensure that no child leaves our school without the ability to calculate using written and mental strategies.

Impact

By the end of Key Stage 2, we aspire that our Maths curriculum will have had the following impact on pupils:

• Children who enjoy maths and are increasingly confident in themselves as mathematicians.
• Children to talk enthusiastically about their learning and who are eager to further their progress in maths.
• Pupils will become fluent, competent, and efficient mathematicians.
• Pupils will have the ability to recall facts and procedures, including the instant recall of multiplication facts up to 12 x 12.
• Pupils will have the ability to recognise relationships and make connections between concepts in maths, as well as understanding the relevance of maths within the real world.
• Pupils will be able to clearly explain their reasoning and justify their thought processes using accurate, age-appropriate mathematical vocabulary.