Mathematics

The importance of Maths is well understood at our school including the knowledge of how it links into other subjects. We also want our pupils to know of the importance of its need, as it is a life skill needed for the real world. We want our pupils to be able to understand that there is more than one way to solve a problem, expand on their knowledge of core skills and seek to understand why a+b=c.

During their journey through Brocklewood, our children will start with the key basics of Maths through counting, and work their way up to knowing how to solve more complex problems. We teach using the mastery approach. Our expectations for our pupils are high; meaning learning opportunities and resources are adapted to ensure that every pupil achieves their full potential. Every pupil (including those with SEND) has fair access to Maths lessons and opportunities for greater depth for them to make progress from their individual starting points.

Brocklewood, alongside the national curriculum for mathematics, aims to ensure that all pupils:

• Become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so pupils can develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge both rapidly and accurately

• Reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, inferring relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof. Woven throughout the mathematics curriculum and explicitly taught, modelled and revisited is mathematical vocabulary.

• Can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of problems with increasing difficulty, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps through the use of concrete, pictoral and abstract approach as well as discussions with their peers.

• Make enriched connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency and mathematical reasoning as well as applying their mathematical knowledge to other subjects

At the start of their Maths journey at Brocklewood in the foundation stage, pupils begin their mastery approach to Maths and begin to learn mathematical resilience. Children learn to count and order numbers from one to twenty. They use quantities and objects to help add, subtract, count forwards and backwards and solve problems that include doubling and halving.

Maths in EYFS

EYFS at a Glance

At the end of reception, all children are assessed against the Early Learning Goals (ELG) of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Curriculum. The ELG for Maths is split into two areas. The first is Number and the second is Numerical Pattern. The two ELG can be found below:

Number ELG:

• Have a deep understanding of number to 10, including the composition of each number.
• Subitise (recognise quantities without counting) up to 5. 
• Automatically recall (without reference to rhymes, counting or other aids) number bonds up to 5 (including subtraction facts) and some number bonds to 10, including double facts.

Numerical Pattern ELG:

• Verbally count beyond 20, recognising the pattern of the counting system. 
• Compare quantities up to 10 in different contexts, recognising when one quantity is greater than, less than or the same as the other quantity. 
• Explore and represent patterns within numbers up to 10, including evens and odds, double facts and how quantities can be distributed equally

The table below, shows how we teach, the children at Brocklewood, the key knowledge and skills to reach the ELG’s in Maths by the end of reception. During each half term, we cover the following:

Maths in KS1 and KS2

When a young mathematician journeys through Key Stage One, they will begin to use our mathematics scheme which is called Power Maths. This scheme is designed using decades of research to ensure a deep, secure understanding of Maths for every single pupil (including those with SEND). This helps them to gain a strong grounding in developing confidence in mental fluency with whole numbers, counting and place value. Through Key Stage One, children develop confidence in working with numerals, words and the four operations, including working with measuring tools and concrete, pictoral and abstract materials.

As their journey continues into Key Stage Two, they will become increasingly fluent with whole numbers and the four operations, including number facts and the concept of place value in small and large numbers. They will learn to develop efficient written and mental methods and perform calculations accurately with increasingly large, whole numbers. Pupils will also develop their ability to solve a range of problems, including ones with simple fractions and decimal place value. By the end of Year 4, our aim is for the pupils to be secure in their multiplication tables. Practice of these skills is then continued and honed in upper Key Stage Two.

By the end of their journey through Brocklewood, pupils should be fluent in written methods for the four operations (including long multiplication and division), and in understanding the correlation between fractions, decimals and percentages. The principal focus of mathematics teaching in upper Key Stage Two is to ensure that pupils extend their understanding of the number system and place value to include larger numbers and decimals. The connections between multiplication and division with fractions, decimals, percentages and ratio are explicitly taught to support the pupils understanding of these important connections. Pupils are given the opportunity to solve a wider range of, and more complex, problems. Pupils are expected to use an increasing amount of mathematical vocabulary with precision to explain their thinking and reasoning.

Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly are challenged through being offered rich and sophisticated problems before any acceleration through new content. The aim of this is to allow pupils to gain a greater depth knowledge of Maths. Those who are not yet sufficiently fluent, should consolidate their understanding, including through additional practice and support, before being ready to progress. Both of these concepts of challenge and support are for all pupils, including those with SEND.

Examples of our pupil’s Maths work: