Mathematics is a creative and highly inter-connected discipline that has been developed over centuries, providing the solution to some of history’s most intriguing problems. 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.
The national curriculum for mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils:
The programmes of study are, by necessity, organised into apparently distinct domains, but pupils should make rich connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence in solving increasingly sophisticated problems. They should also apply their mathematical knowledge to science and other subjects.
The expectation is that the majority of pupils will move through the programmes of study at broadly the same pace. However, decisions about when to progress should always be based on the security of pupils’ understanding and their readiness to progress to the next stage. Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly should be challenged through being offered rich and sophisticated problems before any acceleration through new content. Those who are not sufficiently fluent with earlier material should consolidate their understanding, including through additional practice, before moving on.
The national curriculum for mathematics reflects the importance of spoken language in pupils’ development across the whole curriculum – cognitively, socially and linguistically. The quality and variety of language that pupils hear and speak are key factors in developing their mathematical vocabulary and presenting a mathematical justification, argument or proof. They must be assisted in making their thinking clear to themselves as well as others and teachers should ensure that pupils build secure foundations by using discussion to probe and remedy their misconceptions.
(National Curriculum 2013)
Mathematics teaches children how to make sense of the world around them through developing their ability to calculate, reason and solve problems. Mathematics 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 power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.
‘Power Maths – making maths an adventure, the whole-class mastery approach that works for every child.’ Pearson Education
At Sycamore Academy, we teach mathematics using the Power Maths scheme, which uses a mastery approach. Power Maths is a mastery programme aligned to the White Rose progressions and schemes of learning. In addition to calculation skills, the emphasis is on deepening the children’s understanding of key skills before moving on. Manipulative resources are readily available for children to use to give them practical concrete experiences, which embeds children’s understanding. We encourage all children to ‘speak like a mathematician’. The use of mathematical vocabulary to reason allows children to explain their thinking in a variety of different ways.
Power Maths is built around a child-centred lesson design that models and embeds a growth mindset approach to maths and focuses on helping all children to build a deep understanding of maths concepts. Please see below for a detailed program guide.
We believe that Mathematics teaches us how to make sense of the world around us through developing a child’s ability to calculate, to reason and to solve problems. We encourage the children to develop these key and fundamental skills through their growing knowledge and understanding of the world. Mathematics is integral to all aspects of life, and it is with this in mind that we endeavour to ensure that children develop self-confidence in their ability to approach a range of mathematical problems.
Assessment in Power Maths is integrated throughout the lessons and unit structure of the textbooks. This helps us to make regular assessments of children’s understanding to inform our teaching and assess progress. At Key Stage 1, assessments are designed to be rich and child-friendly to avoid stress, and to support us in keeping the whole class progressing together. Opportunities for same-day intervention and advice for deepening children’s understanding are also built in.
NRICH- Mathematics Resources for Teachers, Parents and Children.
NCETM- National Centre for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics
