Maths

The intent of our maths curriculum is to:

• ensure all children enjoy, are engaged and have a positive attitude towards maths
• provide children with hands on, concrete experiences to enable them to reason and solve problems
• develop children’s number fluency to allow them to have quick recall of key number facts in a range of situations
• make links to real life problems, understanding the purpose behind the maths

We promote an enjoyment of maths through engaging lessons, active learning and a wide range of games.

Our curriculum provides children with concrete and pictorial experiences before moving onto more abstract concepts.  Teachers carefully plan fun and engaging lessons tailored to meet the needs of the pupils in their class based on daily assessments of children’s understanding and progress. They ensure they foster a love for maths and its purpose in the wider world.  We want children to become confident calculators and ensure new concepts are covered in depth.  Our Learning Aliens are also used regularly in maths, for example Sequencer Slurp when children are learning to sequencing numbers and create patterns.  Teachers use the White Rose Maths scheme as a framework for planning and resources.

We encourage children to develop a secure understanding of place value and number in order for them to spot patterns and relationships when faced with new problems and reasoning challenges.  Mathematical reasoning skills are taught to ensure children know how to take logical and systematic approaches to solving maths problems.

Key Stage 1 children participate in daily Maths lessons and also benefit from our shorter ‘Mastering Number’ sessions which focus on developing our understanding of number.  Prior learning is further consolidated by regular "Do Now" and "Recap" challenges.  Working Walls are effectively utilised to support the ongoing understanding of concepts and methods.

Maths is an integral part of daily life in the Foundation Stage with targeted maths lessons delivered four times each week.  Provision for maths outdoors is a strong component of our Early Years curriculum.  The maths curriculum is further enhanced by regular themed maths days eg Shape Day, Measures Day and the 100th Day at school.

The school works closely with Maths Hubs to ensure our maths teaching and learning is of high quality and teachers access high quality training opportunities through this initiative - click here for more information: Maths Hubs.

Working with Parents and Carers

Here at Shelton Infant School we take every opportunity to involve parents and carers in their child’s maths learning journey.  We encourage parents and carers to participate in the following events:-

• Observing and supporting their child in a Maths lesson in school so that they can see first-hand the structure of the daily maths lesson and the concepts and skills being taught.
• Attending a ‘Snack and Solve’ afternoon with their child and working together to solve range of problem solving and reasoning activities with the reward of packets of school biscuits once all activities have been completed.
• Learning how to support their child at home by attending a calculation workshop in school.

Parents tell us that they value these opportunities to come into school:

“Interactive and fun session – a wonderful way to spend some learning time with my child – all activities were engaging and gave ideas as to how you could do these at home.”

“Fantastic session working through maths challenges – a lovely opportunity to see how maths is being taught in school. Great interactive learning whilst having fun.”

If you would like to know how to support your child at home please click here to see our calculations policy.

Should you require any further information about Maths in school please contact Kathryn Williamson, our Maths Leader, who will be pleased to speak with you.