Intent:

At Hawkshead Esthwaite Primary School, we believe that children should leave primary education as confident, resilient mathematicians with a deep conceptual understanding of the skills required to approach any mathematical problem. We understand that a deep grasp of mathematics is essential to enabling greater social equity and mobility.
We want our children to be successful not only in their schooling career, but throughout their adult lives. Through carefully designed lessons, with guidance from White Rose, our teachers are able to make meaningful connections between content with a high emphasis placed on enquiry. As a result of this, our pupils are encouraged to use critical thinking to find solutions to problems, therefore encountering greater depth within their maths sessions.
We want children to become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, to be able to reason and to solve problems. Our curriculum embraces these National Curriculum aims, and provides guidance to help pupils to become:
Visualisers – we use the concrete-pictorial-abstract (CPA) approach to help pupils understand mathematics and to make connections between different representations.
Describers – we place great emphasis on mathematical language and questioning so pupils can discuss the mathematics they are doing, supporting them to take their ideas further.
Experimenters – as well as being fluent mathematicians, we want pupils to love and learn more about mathematics.

Implementation:

Staff subject knowledge allows the intentions of our mathematics curriculum to be delivered successfully. Our children are familiar with resources enabling the progression from concrete to pictorial to abstract, and can access them independently where needed.
At Hawkshead Esthwaite Primary School, our curriculum maps are based on the White Rose yearly overviews which set the curriculum out in blocks enabling children to get to gain confidence in the different areas of maths. Alongside the White Rose materials, we use other resources to ensure that our offer is rich and varied. These include Focus Maths, NCETM, NRich and Deepening Understanding – these are used across KS1 and KS2 this allows us to ensure coverage of fluency, problem solving and reasoning in different formats. Teachers also implement the school’s calculation policies for progression in written and mental calculations. Pre and post unit assessments are used where appropriate along with termly assessments.
Correct mathematical vocabulary is used during lessons by all teachers and this is discussed with and explained to children who are then encouraged to use it independently. Fluency is developed through repeating, reinforcing and revising key skills. Children have the time to practise and perfect their calculation strategies. Feedback is given in a variety of ways to ensure pupils are well informed and making visible progress. Discussion is essential to learning and children are encouraged to discuss their thoughts, ideas and methods with a partner, group or the teacher. Task types are varied to suit different pupils and their learning preferences; developing reasoning remains one of our key focuses.
Investigative tasks are designed to allow pupils to follow lines of enquiry and develop their own ideas. Children work both collaboratively and independently when solving problems which require them to persevere and develop resilience.

Impact:

It is imperative that children understand the relevance and importance of what they are learning in relation to real world concepts. The children know that maths is a vital life skill that they will rely on in many areas of their daily life. They have a positive view of maths due to learning in an environment where maths is promoted as being an exciting and enjoyable subject in which they can investigate and ask questions. Children are confident to ‘have a go’ and choose the equipment they need to help them to learn along with the strategies they think are best suited to each problem. The children’s maths books evidence their work; the range of activities demonstrate good coverage of fluency, reasoning and problem solving. Our feedback and support help children to strive to be the best mathematicians they can be. Our school standards are high, we moderate our books internally and children are achieving well.

Maths Progression Map

Maths Policy

Maths Long Term Plan