Maths

Intent

Mathematics equips pupils with a uniquely powerful set of tools to understand and change the world. These tools include logical reasoning, problem solving skills and the ability to think in abstract ways.

Mathematics is important in everyday life. It is integral to all aspects of life and with this in mind we endeavour to ensure that children develop a positive and enthusiastic attitude towards mathematics that will stay with them.

The National Curriculum order for mathematics describes in detail what pupils must learn in each year group. Combined with the Green Shoots Federation Calculation Policy, this ensures continuity and progression and high expectations for attainment in mathematics.

It is vital that a positive attitude towards mathematics is encouraged amongst all of our pupils in order to foster confidence and achievement in a skill that is essential in our society. We intend for our pupils to be able to apply their mathematical knowledge to science and other subjects. We want children to realise that mathematics has been developed over centuries, providing the solution to some of history’s most intriguing problems. We want them to know that it is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment. At Green Shoots Federation we use the National Curriculum for Mathematics (2014), supported by the Power Maths scheme, as the basis of our mathematics programme. We are committed to ensuring that all pupils achieve mastery in the key concepts of mathematics, appropriate for their age group, in order that they make genuine progress and avoid gaps in their understanding that provide barriers to learning as they move through education. Assessment for learning, an emphasis on investigation, problem solving and the development of mathematical thinking and a rigorous approach to the development of teacher subject knowledge are therefore essential components of the Green Shoots Federation’s approach to this subject.

We aim to provide the pupils with a mathematics curriculum and high-quality teaching to produce individuals who are numerate, creative, independent, inquisitive, enquiring and confident. We also aim to provide a stimulating environment and adequate resources so that pupils can develop their mathematical skills to the full.

Our pupils should:

  • have a well-developed sense of the size of a number and where it fits into the number system
  • know by heart number facts such as number bonds, multiplication tables, doubles and halves
  • use the mathematics they know by heart to calculate mentally
  • calculate accurately and efficiently, both mentally and in writing and paper, drawing on a range of calculation strategies
  • recognise when it is appropriate to use a calculator and be able to do so effectively
  • make sense of mathematical problems and investigations and identify the operations and strategies needed to solve them
  • explain their methods and reasoning, using correct mathematical terms
  • judge whether their answers are reasonable and have strategies for checking them where necessary
  • suggest suitable units for measuring and make sensible estimates of measurements
  • explain and make predictions from the numbers in graphs, diagrams, charts and tables
  • develop spatial awareness and an understanding of the properties of 2D and 3D shapes
Implementation
Impact