Mathematics

What is the intent and purpose of maths?

Maths is integral to every aspect of the world.  We aim for the children to have a wide range of mathematical experiences so that they develop rich connections between concepts so they develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence as they complete increasingly challenging mathematical problems. 

What does it look like at Lynsted and Norton?

We aim to provide a practical broadly balanced mathematics curriculum. We place a high priority on mathematical skills and, like English, teach maths in specific daily lessons with a range of opportunities to practice skills such as times tables practice outside of this.

Structure of Learning

Each unit focuses on a specific strand of maths taken from the Long Term Plan. We use Power Maths as a scheme to lead our planning and delivery of maths. 

Small Steps
Our lessons follow the mastery approach. The starting point for each lesson is the same for all children. 

Organisation and Curriculum Coverage

At Lynsted, we recognise that children need to be confident and fluent across each yearly objective. To ensure consistent coverage, teachers follow the Power Maths scheme of learning to support their planning. Teachers are also developing their understanding of mastery whilst working within the Maths Hub and regular in house CPD. Power Maths is an exciting and inspiring class mastery approach, which has been recommended by the Department for Education.

Every year group has a 15-minute fluency lesson followed by a 50-minute Power Maths lesson. The fluency lesson focuses on consolidating gaps and accelerating progress which can then be applied in different contexts.  Then every Power Maths lesson is divided into sections that involve plenty of discovery, sharing, thinking together, practice and reflection.

Children begin with a short ‘Power Up’ activity which supports fluency in and recall of number facts. Following this, the main lesson begins with a ‘Discover’ and ‘Share’ task in which a contextual problem is shared for the children to discuss in partners. This helps promote discussion and ensures that mathematical ideas are introduced in a logical way to support conceptual understanding. In KS1, these problems are almost always presented with objects (concrete manipulatives) for children to use. Children may also use manipulatives in KS2. Teachers use careful questions to draw out children’s discussions and their reasoning and the children learn from misconceptions through whole class reasoning.

Following this, the children are presented with varied similar problems which they might discuss with a partner or within a small group. At this point, scaffolding is carefully reduced to prepare children for independent practice. This is the ‘Think together’ part of the lesson and the children might record some of their working out in their Maths books or on a mini whiteboard. The teacher uses this part of the lesson to address any initial errors and confirm the different methods and strategies that can be used. The children are then shown a ‘challenge’ which promotes a greater depth of thinking.

The class then progress to the ‘Practice’ part of the lesson, which is designed to be completed independently. This practice uses conceptual and procedural variation to build fluency and develop greater understanding of underlying mathematical concepts. A challenge question and links to other areas of Maths encourages children to take their understanding to a greater level of depth. Children who complete this are provided with further ‘rich and sophisticated’ problems from the deepening tasks.

The final part of the sequence is a ‘reflect’ task. This is an opportunity for children to review,

reason and reflect on learning and enables the teacher to gauge their depth of

understanding.

Children are taught a progressive curriculum, with areas re- visted throughout the year. In order to achieve the objectives, pupils learn by using concrete manipulatives like the ones shown below.

Pupils are encouraged to ‘move’ within the concrete-pictorial-abstract approach to ensure competence and confidence

By the end of Year 6 our pupils are confident in all areas of the 4 operations and are prepared for secondary school life. 

To support the mental dexterity with numbers we learn number facts, such as number bonds and times tables.  These are regularly practised and tested - often in fun ways like times table bingo or  Timestables Rockstars. Key Instant Recall Facts (KIRFs) are sent home termly to be learnt to support the children's fluency in number recall.

Outside of the daily Maths lessons, children complete 'Flashback Four' which allows them to revisit learning from yesterday, last week, the previous unit and an area of misconception. This means that children are regularly reviewing recent learning and storing it into their long term memory

Useful documents

Key Instant Recall Facts (KIRFs) - These are sent home at the start of each term so parents can help support learning in school

Useful maths websites and games

Maths is Fun - Advice, games and activities

Home Advisor - Maths Games and Resources

Topmarks - Maths Games for all age groups

Mathszone - Games and activities

Swipe Maths - Number puzzle 

Maths Resources - A range of exciting games and resources

Timestables Rockstars

Piecorbet maths

BBC Bitesize Key Stage 1

BBC Bitesize Key Stage 2

Primary Resources

Year 4 Multiplication Check

In Year 4, the children will undertake the MTC. Children from Year 3 upwards use TT Rockstars to familiarise them with the format of the MTC and practise multiplication tables. Children complete a baseline assessment and are assessed termly in order that progress can be tracked. Timestables teaching is included  in the daily fluency lessons.