Mathematics

Intent

At The Bramble Academy we are committed to ensuring that children are able to recognise the importance of Maths in the wider world and that they are also able to use their mathematical skills and knowledge confidently in their lives in a range of different contexts. We want all children to enjoy Mathematics and to experience success in the subject, with the ability to reason mathematically. We are committed to developing children’s curiosity about the subject, as well as an appreciation of the beauty and power of Mathematics. As highlighted in the National Curriculum, all children must be able to access fluency, reasoning and problem solving and our schemes of learning ensure this is developed.

Implementation

Maths is taught in planned, timetabled blocks and uses the White Rose Maths Scheme of Learning at its core. It promotes a mastery approach to learning. Lessons start with a retrieval-based activity aimed at developing fluency and consolidating prior knowledge and skills.Times tables rock stars is used to support this element of fluency too as both a motivational in class and home learning tool.

A yearly overview for each year group suggests the teaching time needed for every block of learning. The Autumn, Spring and Summer sections are split equally into 12 weeks comprising 11 weeks of blocks followed by a week of consolidation. During this week of consolidation, a half termly assessment is carried out along with any gap teaching required. The objectives in each block are broken down into a series of carefully planned small steps that are worked through in that order as the step sequence is designed to gradually develop children’s understanding.

Knowledge organisers specific to each year group, clearly lay out the key bodies of knowledge that need to be learned and understood. There is a strong focus on the use of key vocabulary and the use of mathematical terms throughout all lessons.

A calculation policy underpins our approach to the four operations and is designed to support consistency between years, target key vocabulary, and has the CPA (concrete, pictorial, and abstract)learning theory, first proposed by Jerome Bruner, at it’s heart.