Maths
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“We will always have STEM with us. Some things will drop out of the public eye and go away, but there will always be science, engineering, and technology. And there will always, always be mathematics.”Katherine Johnson |
Maths at Harris Primary Academy Kenley
Our curriculum will teach the following mathematical concepts, taught as discrete units throughout the year.:
· Number
· Statistics
· Geometry
· Measure
Pupils will learn about the following substantive concepts through our spiral curriculum, units will return to these same big ideas year on year.
Intent: Introduction, Vision and Philosophy
The purpose of this document is to clarify the how, why and what of maths teaching at Harris Primary Academy Kenley. This is to be used by staff to clarify expectations, highlight the resources that we have access to, and to ensure that a high-quality maths curriculum is being taught to all pupils in our academy. At Kenley, we want our children to be confident, fluent mathematicians, as well as problem solvers. We teach maths for mastery. This means that we are teaching our children to have a deep conceptual understanding as opposed to teaching children to answer correctly. Being able to explain how they got an answer, why that answer is correct, and what might happen if a particular variable was changed are the hallmarks of a mathematician – simply getting the correct answer ought to be a given.
We emphasise:
Retrieval practice - Knowing more- remembering more! Daily retrieval practice to consolidate prior learning and practice.
Language – communicating ideas, proof, clarity and development of mathematical concepts.
Thinking – questioning and task design to promote mathematical thinking.
Understanding – using the concrete, pictorial and abstract approach to deepen conceptual understanding and making connections to previous learning, to other subjects.
Problem Solving – to be mathematical is to solve mathematical problems. Problem solving is both why and how we learn mathematics.
Implementation:
What does maths look like at HPAK?
At Kenley we teach maths in units, usually for a couple of weeks per unit. We aim to develop children’s understanding from the Concrete (actual physical manifestation of the maths), on to the Pictorial (being able to approach maths using pictures rather than physical resources), and finally onto the Abstract (being able to approach mathematics without the physical or
pictorial resources). A typical two-week unit might have 2-4 concrete, practical lessons (photo recorded with follow-up next step questions) as well as 6-8 lessons focusing more on the pictorial and abstract (recorded using stickers followed by further extension sticker where necessary).
White Rose at Harris Primary Academy Kenley
For our pupils:
Harris Primary Academy Kenley has opted for the White Rose Maths scheme of learning from EYFS to Year 6 to ensure a robust, comprehensive, and high-quality approach to the teaching and learning of mathematics. The decision to adapt this scheme was guided by a desire to foster maths mastery, improve conceptual understanding, and to align with Ofsted's standards for effective teaching and learning.
White Rose Maths adheres to the concrete, pictorial, abstract (CPA) approach, a three-step pedagogical strategy that aids in developing a deep and sustainable understanding of maths. Beginning with 'concrete' experiences, where pupils engage with physical, manipulatives, learners are then introduced to 'pictorial' representations, followed by 'abstract' symbols. This gradual approach aids pupils in visualising mathematical concepts and contextualising abstract ideas, thereby nurturing mastery learning.
The systematic nature of the White Rose Maths scheme underscores the importance of conceptual understanding. Rather than rushing to provide quick fixes or rote learning methods, White Rose allows our pupils to understand the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of mathematical concepts. This aligns with Ofsted's emphasis on deep learning, wherein pupils should understand and apply the underlying principles and connections within their learning.
Each White Rose Maths unit provides a 'small steps' progression framework, ensuring a pedagogically sound sequence of mathematical learning that we at Harris Primary Kenley have adapted to best fit the needs of our pupils. This approach allows concepts to be broken down into manageable chunks, giving learners the opportunity to fully grasp each new skill or concept before moving on. This fits within Ofsted's recommendation that schools offer a curriculum with appropriate sequencing, which provides a strong foundation for cumulative learning.
The White Rose Maths scheme comprehensively covers the breadth of the national curriculum. It provides a coherent, structured and detailed scheme of learning that ensures all necessary topics are covered systematically. This aligns with Ofsted's requirement that the school curriculum should be broad, balanced and provide the requisite knowledge and skills for future learning and employment.
The White Rose scheme is a progressive model that consolidates, builds upon and extends our children's maths learning. It provides a carefully crafted journey, where children continuously build on their previous learning, ensuring readiness for the next steps in their mathematical education. This complies with Ofsted’s expectations of effective progression and curriculum planning, helping pupils to deepen their knowledge and understanding over time.
By adapting the White Rose Maths scheme, Harris Primary Academy Kenley demonstrates a commitment to a high-quality mathematics education that is personalised for the needs of all our pupils. White Rose equips our pupils with the necessary mathematical skills, knowledge and understanding to excel in their future academic and personal endeavours and develop a love of mathematics.
For our staff:
Harris Primary Academy Kenley has made the decision to adapt the White Rose Maths scheme of learning, an initiative supported by a myriad of compelling reasons. Our objective is to ensure that our staff are empowered with comprehensive teaching resources, pupils are provided with engaging and challenging mathematical learning, and that our collective commitment to staff wellbeing and manageability of workload is maintained.
Firstly, the White Rose Maths scheme offers an integrated, robust and holistic curriculum for mathematics, providing an expansive body of pedagogical research, concrete, pictorial and abstract teaching methods, and a track record of successful implementation in numerous educational institutions including across most of the primary academies in the Harris Federation. Its meticulous curriculum design aids teachers in understanding the progression of each mathematical topic, its foundational knowledge, and its trajectory for future learning. This coherence and structure equip our staff to deliver mathematical instruction with confidence, precision, and effectivity.
The investment in the White Rose on demand package is another strategic step that we have taken to support our staff. This package includes video content for every maths unit, detailing the teaching process, from concrete examples to pictorial representation, to the abstract understanding of each mathematical concept. This is an effective tool to reinforce our teachers' understanding of subject matter, pedagogical methods and lesson execution.
Furthermore, White Rose on demand provides valuable CPD for our staff, focusing on key pedagogical strategies that have been backed by research to effectively bolster children's learning in mathematics. Examples of these strategies include the bar model method and partner talk, each serving to encourage deep understanding and active participation from our pupils.
The resources provided by White Rose are comprehensive, efficient, and tailored to assist our staff in planning and teaching outstanding maths lessons. The vast array of resources and schemes of learning that White Rose offers aligns with our commitment to ensure that our staff's workload remains manageable. They provide teachers with ready-made, high-quality resources, reducing planning time and relieving workload pressure.
Harris Primary Academy Kenley has also adapted the White Rose year overview to a more specific, week-by-week overview. This initiative gives staff a clear and comprehensive view of the objectives for each week, fostering an understanding of the yearly progression of learning across the school.
Lastly, our commitment to the continuous professional development of our staff is reflected in our regular CPD sessions on the White Rose Maths scheme. These sessions enable our
staff to stay abreast of new strategies and resources, continually improving their teaching practices and thereby our pupils' learning experiences.
In conclusion, the adoption of the White Rose Maths scheme of learning and the investment in the White Rose on demand package are in line with Harris Primary Academy Kenley's commitment to providing our staff with the best tools to deliver high-quality mathematics instruction, support their professional growth, and ensure their wellbeing.
Unit Overviews
When planning a unit, teachers will have access to a range of different resources and areas to support the lessons that are outlined in our teaching overview. Generally, teachers will follow the recommended progression delivered in staff CPD sessions as well as the order of the slideshows in White Rose. However, additional slides are added to promote vocabulary and partner practice. If a specific teaching tool or representation is not available on White Rose, then teachers have the freedom to make their own resource to best suit the needs of their class.
Adapt not Adopt
At Harris Primary Academy Kenley, we have long recognised the value of the White Rose Maths scheme of learning for its comprehensive approach to teaching Mathematics. This scheme's well-structured approach is lauded for the depth and breadth it provides in each unit of learning. However, we have also recognised the necessity to go beyond simply adopting schemes and sought to tailor this scheme to more accurately meet the unique needs of our children.
The rationale behind this decision is multi-faceted. Firstly, the inherent diversity amongst our pupils necessitates a more personalised approach. Our children come from a wide array of backgrounds with different learning styles, capabilities, and experiences, which must be factored into our teaching methods. We believe that a "one-size-fits-all" approach to Mathematics does not effectively cater to the individual needs and strengths of our pupils, hence the decision to adapt the White Rose scheme.
By unpicking the units of the White Rose scheme, we have gained a deeper understanding of the content and how best to deliver it. This has enabled us to decide which units will be implemented, in what order, and for how long, depending on our pupils' readiness and interest. We aim to set high expectations for all pupils, but these expectations need to be reasonable and achievable, given each child's unique learning journey. This flexibility allows us to meet these expectations while also maintaining an engaging and motivating learning environment.
Our goal is to foster an understanding and appreciation of Mathematics that goes beyond mere rote learning. By adapting the scheme, we can emphasise the areas where our pupils excel, and dedicate more time to the areas where they may struggle. This approach reinforces their strengths and addresses their weaknesses, creating a balanced, comprehensive Mathematics education that sets them up for success.
Lastly, we believe that this personalised approach to Mathematics, which combines the high-quality units of learning from the White Rose scheme with our own knowledge of our pupils, leads to more meaningful and enjoyable learning experiences. Children are more likely to be engaged and motivated when learning is relevant to their needs and interests, which ultimately leads to improved academic outcomes.
In conclusion, Harris Primary Academy Kenley has adapted the White Rose Maths scheme not as a critique of its effectiveness, but rather as an enhancement to better meet the needs of our pupils. By doing so, we provide a tailored, high-quality Mathematics curriculum that not only caters to the diverse needs of our pupils but also sets high expectations for their academic achievement.
Typical Daily Lesson
Individual classes all have different needs, and teachers often have individual styles therefore they need to be responsive to this in their teaching approach. Each lesson should begin with an arithmetic starter (times tables, counting, mental calculation strategies). Plenaries should be used where necessary to build on children’s understanding or in order to respond when and where misconceptions occur.
A typical lesson across the school might look like this:
Teach and partner talk: – Here the teacher uses the teaching slides or other resources to give the children input, with plenty of opportunity to practise and discuss questions with their partners, apply their learning and understanding to mini-tasks, and clarify misconceptions (the teacher isn’t talking for 20 minutes!).
Partner practise: – Here the children get the opportunity to have a go at the day’s new learning in what might be a game, a sheet with the same layout as your teaching, but with different numbers, some sort of physical resource that they will use to solve a problem. At this point, the teacher can move around the room, and assess how well the children have understood the learning. Include mini-plenaries where necessary.
Written task: – Here the children are working independently to complete the task stickers, which, after the teach and talk, and partner practice, are accessible and understood by the children. Include mini-plenaries where necessary.
Impact: Task
When teaching a practical theory lesson, record the learning on a sheet with the LO, Date, Summary, Photo and PPQ (purple pen question). When children are completing a written task, this will typically be presented on four stickers for a lesson. Some units, like statistics, might need another format. Not all children will complete all stickers (sticker four is aimed
at the top 3-4 children in the class). Early on in year 1, most will only complete one or two stickers. For ideas and support on making task stickers use the ‘primary task stickers’ folder. The lowest 20% should be carefully planned for – pre-empting any misconceptions they may have during the lesson – in order that they are able to access the learning through the use of manipulatives, TA and teacher support. The highest 20% should be appropriately challenged through higher level questioning (which should be evident on lesson plans) as well as through greater depth questioning, using mastery resources from NTETM and white Rose.
How will we judge the impact of the mathematics curriculum?
Teachers will use formative assessment during the lessons to inform them of what they should do next with their pupils and the progress they are making, which will allow them to understand how to support and extend the pupils appropriately.
Teaching staff recognise the difference between performance and learning and understand that pupil performance in the lesson today does not necessarily translate into the type of learning that will be evident tomorrow. As a result, the use of low stakes tests (in the form of spaced retrieval practice) enable staff to regularly assess what learning has been retained by pupils over longer periods of time. This also provides pupils with the regular opportunity of retrieving information from memory, which consequently facilitates learning.
This includes:
· Assessment of learning
· Pupil voice
· Challenge tasks
· End of unit assessment (Low Stakes Testing)
· Standards of learning in books
· Retrieval practice
Times Tables
At Harris Primary Academy Kenley, we believe that the foundational building blocks of maths are deeply rooted in a solid understanding of multiplication tables and their inverse division facts. Our mission is to ensure that all children, by the end of Year 4, if not earlier, are completely fluent in their times tables. This fluency is critical as it allows children to navigate arithmetic calculations without cognitive overload, freeing their minds for more complex problem-solving tasks.
Why are times tables so important?
Mastery of multiplication tables provides a base from which children can explore more intricate areas of the maths curriculum. It helps in the understanding of fractions, factors, multiples, division, and algebra, amongst other topics. When children have instant recall of multiplication facts, they can concentrate more effectively on learning new concepts. This knowledge becomes a tool in their mathematical toolkit that they can draw upon easily and effortlessly, enabling their progress in mathematics and developing their confidence in this subject.
How do we support our pupils in learning their Multiplication facts?
Our Times Tables provision is second to none. Firstly, we explicitly teach multiplication tables in our daily 'Knowing More, Remembering More' tasks. We also offer various engaging ways for our pupils to practise, from the cutting-edge online platform Times Tables Rockstars, where children can compete against each other in a fun, game-based learning environment, to our unique Times Tables Travellers booklets.
Our Times Tables Travellers booklets offer a unique approach to learning multiplication facts. Beginning in Reception, children embark on an exciting journey, going on a tour around the world, learning various multiplication tables, and beyond. Each destination corresponds to a new times table, providing not only a mathematical challenge but also an opportunity to explore different cultures and geographical locations.
We are committed to making the learning of times tables a fun, engaging, and rewarding journey. We believe that with practice, support, and our innovative learning tools, every child can become fluent in their multiplication tables, paving the way for their future success in maths and beyond.
Enrichment
At HPAK, we want pupils to have additional opportunities to practise maths outside of the classrooms. During playtimes pupils are encouraged to use their Times Table Traveller passports to demonstrate their understanding of their Time Table knowledge.
At lunchtimes, pupils can join our lunch club, where there are laptops set up for pupils to log into PurpleMash or TimeTableRockstars to practise and play are range of maths games.
For Year 4 and 5 pupils there is an opportunity to join a WonderMaths club. Here pupils are learning how to take part in a maths competition. They learn how to develop teamwork skills and work together to solve a range of mathematical problems. Pupils play games such as; 24, Code breaking, Pentominoes, T-Shapes, Dominoes and Tricky Problems.
Year 5 and 6 pupils assist pupils in Years 1-4 complete their Times Table Traveller Passports each morning.
HPAK Maths Lead - Mr B Hunter
