Mathematics

Intent 

‘To develop confident mathematicians who can apply a mastery understanding in real life situations.’  

At Thirsk there is an expectation that all pupils reach and maintain high standards in Maths. Lessons are carefully planned to allow children to develop their conceptual and procedural knowledge. Variation is also a key aspect of all lessons to ensure fluency is built and reasoning skills are deepened.

 

 

Implementation: 

EYFS 

 

In nursery staff provide many opportunities to develop Maths through the provision, daily routines and focused group activities.  

Each day daily routines are used to develop Mathematical understanding. Opportunities include: 

  • The class receives a 10 minute warning to Tidy Time – Active Listening used, adult shows 10 fingers, teacher explains there is 10 minutes to Tidy Time and then puts the 10-minute sand timer on for children to see. 

  • The class receives a count 0- 10 at the end of Tidy Time. Adults model this with fingers. By 10 all children must be on the carpet showing job done. As soon as they are on the carpet they join in counting with the adult and use their fingers. 

  • Number bond chart- The adult models ticks on the chart and records each number visually. The class practise counting one number per object (tick) counting. The adult models how to work out how many more needed to reach the top of the chart. Children practise automatic recall of one more/ less within 1- 10. 

  • Snack Area. Children must read the menu and make the correct amount for the fruit they have chosen, for example, 3 yellow cubes for a banana or 5 red cubes for an apple. No payment- no snack! 

  • Show and tell circle time. Objects must be lined up smallest to largest – a child decides where their object belongs in the line, then the class decide if it is correct. Children roll two large dice and add the amounts. Children count that amount round the circle to see whose turn it is to speak. 

Each day there is focused time for number rhymes: 

  • Rhyme Time- The class learn a new number rhyme every week and practise every session.  The number rhyme is for addition or subtraction. Adults model the words: addition, subtraction, plus, take -awaymore, less, fewer and equals. Many of our children learn this language and use it in context. Children learn to count their fingers and show the correct amount for 0 -10. We also challenge pupils with number bonds, for example, “We started with 5 ducks, now we have two left, how many have we subtracted? What does this tell us about making the amount 5?”.    

 

Target Children 

For those children who are finding number difficultthe nursery teacher organises focused interventions and TA/ teachers support them whilst completing 

Theme 

There are 3 maths/ shape activities related to the theme (which lasts 3 weeks). These are in the focused maths area. Opportunities for children to develop Maths are in all provision areas.

 


 

 Reception 

 

Reception teachers follow Glow Maths to ensure coverage of the EYFS curriculum.  Glow Maths is used to help plan lessons and identify potential misconceptions. Children are taught as a whole class and there is little differentiation in the content taught but there is clear differentiation in the questioning and scaffolding children will receive to deepen their understanding.  

 

From September 2020 Reception will follow the Numberblocks Maths approach and use NCETM to help plan Maths sessions.  

 

Numberblocks Maths sessions in reception include: 

 

-5-minute episode with a clear Maths focus 

-Talk and discuss together- Teachers will ask the children what they noticed and key vocabulary will be brought out.  

-Teachers will present slides with clear pictorial variations for the children to engage with.  

- Enabling Environments/ Active learning – maths will be extended into the wider Early Years environment where children engage in meaningful activities and explore mathematical concepts. 

-Creating and thinking critically- Teachers develop opportunities for problem solving and reasoning in the provision.  

 

 

Daily Counting 

-Reception children participate in daily counting or number songs focussing on counting in multiples of 1,2,5 and 10. This develops their mathematical fluency preparing them for Y1.  

 

Theme 

There are 3 maths/ shape activities related to the theme (which lasts 3 weeks). These are in the focussed maths area. Opportunities for children to develop Maths are in all provision areas.  

 


 

 

KS1/KS2 

Within KS1 and KS2 teachers use the White Rose overview and national curriculum statements to ensure all objectives are covered across the year. In addition to thisstaff use classroom secrets, power Maths, NCETM and twinkl to access resources to develop fluency, problem solving and reasoning.  Within pupils’ books you will find the year group objectives they are working against regularly updated by staff. Staff tick off objectives when there is evidence of independent fluency, problem solving and reasoning 

KS1 and KS2 use McKie Mastery as a teaching tool for Maths. Children are not taught following the standard teaching model. They are grouped based on their next steps. Each group will have the same next steps and targets. Maths is taught in eight-week cycles and the groups are reviewed at the end of each cycle. Teachers moderate books and groups are changed accordingly. 

Mckie Mastery Lesson Structure (Daily) 

Starter for 10- Children complete 10 arithmetic style questions independently. This part of the lesson is strictly timed to develop children’s pace in answering questions. The questions are based on the four operations and are used to develop children’s mathematical fluency.   

First 5 minutes- Partners share Learning Objectives and Success Criteria. (Partners must share LO and SC orally)  

Lessons include 1 or more teaching cycles: 

Teacher model- Teacher models an example/ process/ skill/ applied knowledge and this is challenging, short and sharp.  

Guided Practice- The teacher guides the children. The children complete each small step. The Maths process is taught in manageable steps and will challenge children.  

Partner Practice- Children complete examples/ process with the support of a partner. Partners will complete questions together and use partner check by checking answers are correct and unpicking mistakes.  

Independent- Children complete tasks which evidence LO independently.  

 

 

Developing Mathematical Fluency 

In addition to fluency being developed within Maths lessons KS1 children participate in daily counting and oral times table chants. Y2 also use times tables rock stars. KS2 complete 15 minutes of multiplication daily. This includes chants, times tables rock stars and times tables tests.  

 


 

Impact 

The impact of Maths across the school is regularly checked through monitoring of teaching slides and lessons. Pupil voice is also conducted with a range of groups and work is monitored at the end of each teaching cycle amongst staff and leaders.  

Our goal is to develop independent mathematicians who have exposure to fluency, problem solving and reasoning. A mastery understanding among pupils is developing through challenging lessons and questioning. Learning walls present challenging vocabulary and concrete/ pictorial/ abstract representations to scaffold the learning.