Maths at Highfield
Why is maths so important?
At Highfield, we understand how mathematical knowledge and understanding is essential to everyday life and therefore considerable importance is attached to our children achieving and understanding mathematical processes, concepts and skills.
It is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment. A high-quality mathematics education therefore provides a foundation for understanding the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.
An enthusiastic attitude to numeracy is promoted by providing a high quality mathematical education, which is presented in an interesting and enjoyable way using a variety of teaching methods. This encourages the children to actively and confidently participate in the learning process and enables them to develop a sound knowledge and understanding of: number, measurement, geometry and statistics. There is a strong emphasis on the development of mental arithmetic, and giving opportunities for the pupils to use and apply their skills and knowledge to the world around them. All pupils are encouraged to consider why Mathematics is important and how it is used in every day life. In addition, mathematical skills and reasoning are embedded into Basic Skills each morning, to compliment the learning and challenge taking place in lessons.
When is maths taught at Highfield?
Maths lessons, which are usually 60 minutes long, take place every day for every year group in the morning. Our teaching follows the 2014 National Curriculum, however we are currently delivering the Recovery Curriculum, which aims to close any gaps there may be as a result of the 2020 lock down. Teachers are also confident to identify links to maths when planning for the Learning Challenge Curriculum. We predominantly follow the White Rose Maths scheme which enables to deliver great coverage of the 3 main areas of maths: fluency, reasoning and problem-solving. You can find out more about these in the intent section below.
Intent of the maths curriculum taught at Highfield
The National Curriculum for mathematics intends to ensure that all pupils:
- Become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including the varied and regular practice of increasingly complex problems over time.
- Reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, understanding relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language.
- Can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.
IMPLEMENTATION
The teaching and learning of mathematics at Highfield uses the White Rose Scheme to include aspects of the following Mastery approach: Concrete, Pictoral and abstract.
What is Fluency?
Fluency comes from deep knowledge and practice. This is the first stage of pupils’s understanding. Fluency includes: conceptual understanding, accuracy, rapid recall, retention and practice.
Accuracy – Pupils carefully completing calculations with no or few careless errors.
Pace – Pupils are able to quickly recall the appropriate strategy to solve the calculation and progress through a number of questions at an age appropriate pace.
Retention – Pupils will be able to retain their knowledge and understanding on a separate occasion to when the concept was first introduced.
What is Reasoning?
Reasoning in maths is the process of applying logical and critical thinking to a mathematical problem in order to work out the correct strategy to use (and as importantly, not to use) in reaching a solution. Reasoning is sometimes seen as the glue that bonds pupils’ mathematical skills together; it’s also seen as bridging the gap between fluency and problem solving, allowing pupils to use their fluency to accurately carry out problem solving.
What is Problem Solving?
Mathematical problem solving is at the heart of the Mastery Approach. Pupils are encouraged to identify, understand and apply relevant mathematical principles and make connections between different ideas. This builds the skills needed to tackle new problems, rather than simply repeating routines without a secure understanding. Mathematical concepts are explored in a variety of representations and problem-solving contexts to give pupils a richer and deeper learning experience. Pupils combine different concepts to solve complex problems, and apply knowledge to real-life situations. Through problem solving, pupils are required to select their mathematical knowledge and apply this to a new concept.
Coverage by Year Group
The links below provide an overview of teaching for each year group. Please note that in mixed year group classes children will be taught the appropriate objectives for their particular year group.
Long Term Plans and Progression
Computing long term plans and progression documents can be found on our Curriculum Overview page using the following link:
Policy:
School policies including those related to this subject can be found using the following link:
