At Linthwaite Clough, we place emphasis on the importance of developing mathematical knowledge and understanding – mastery of maths. Practitioners give children a wide range of opportunities to develop their maths skills. Confident Creative Learning sessions are utilised to help children see maths in different, more realistic, contexts and they are given time to explore, reason and problem solve in different curriculum areas in more detail.

Intent

At Linthwaite Clough School, all children…

• Should be fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics.
• Develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly.
• Reason and problem solve by applying mathematics to a variety of increasingly complex problems.
• Build on their knowledge from the previous year and key stage.
• Develop resilience that enables all children to reason and problem solve with increased confidence.
• Should use CCL to allow them to investigate maths in different contexts and curriculum areas and work alongside practitioners in areas they are less confident in (support groups).
• Should understand mathematics is an important aspect of everyday life and see the benefits of the subject.

Implementation

In school, all children…

• Should have at least 4 maths lessons per week which include elements of fluency, reasoning and problem solving.
• Will be challenged through differentiation whatever their ability.
• Use concrete manipulatives to develop their understanding of new and abstract concepts.
• Are assessed on a half-termly basis to ensure progression and gaps in knowledge addressed. This is recorded in the back of maths books so children can see the progress they have made.
• Revisit topics from different year groups in the form of a quiz regularly.
• Will have extensions put in throughout a topic once they have shown they have fully understood a concept.

Impact

•  Most children reach the end of year expectations.
•  Many have a positive opinion about maths.
•  Children recognise whether they need to use written calculations or whether they can complete them mentally.
•  Children talk positively about maths.
•  Work in books shows clear progression and steps for development.
•  Children can explain their learning rather than the task they undertook.
•  Children show pride in their work.
•  Children are able to rapidly recall facts.