Mathematics at Wantage CE Primary School

Mathematics is an important creative discipline. We want all pupils at Wantage CE Primary School

to experience the beauty, power and enjoyment of mathematics and to develop a sense of curiosity about the subject.

At Wantage CE Primary School, we foster positive ‘can do’ attitudes, believe all children can achieve in mathematics, and teach for secure and deep understanding of mathematical concepts. We use mistakes as an essential part of learning and provide challenge for all pupils through rich and sophisticated problems before acceleration through new content.

“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.”

National Curriculum – Mathematics programme of study

We aim for all pupils to:

• Become fluent in the fundamental of mathematics so that they develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately
• Solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of problems with increasing sophistication, including in unfamiliar contexts and to model real-life scenarios
• Be able to reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry and develop and present a justification, argument or proof using mathematical language
• Have an appreciation of number and number operations, which enables mental calculations and written procedures to be performed efficiently, fluently and accurately to be successful in mathematics

Mathematics Lessons

Mathematics lessons are 45 minutes long and focus on one key concept of mathematics in each lesson.  Children of all prior attainments will be challenged through the tasks: Do it, Secure it, Deepen it. Some children may need some support with this and further practice.

Do it!

Children will be given opportunities to practise the key concept. They will see a variety of different types of questions and will explore misconceptions.

Secure it!

Children will be given opportunities to reason about the concept. They explain how they know something is true or false; be able to find the odd one out; and decide if something is always, sometimes or never true.

Deepen it!

Children will be given opportunities to deepen their understanding of different concepts by applying their knowledge to solve problems and make links to other areas of mathematics.

Extra core number skills session

In addition to the main maths lesson, there will be a 20 – 25 minute session where children will be learning core number skills. These sessions follow the Big Maths Scheme of Work. Each day children will practise: Counting,  Learn its (practising key number facts such as times tables or single digit addition facts), It’s Nothing New (where learners make connections in mathematics), and calculation (mental and formal methods for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division  will be practised).

TT Rockstars

Each child from Year 2 will be learning the multiplication tables up to 12 x 12 and related division facts. Wantage CE Primary school uses TT Rockstars as a way of practising and learning the tables. It is a carefully sequenced programme of daily practice. There are online games for the children to play as well as worksheets for them to complete each day. Children are able to log on to any of the games at home for extra practice.