Maths

Our Maths Intent - The Roots of our Maths Curriculum

Our maths curriculum intent is linked to our school values and sets out the core principles of our curriculum.

Loving: At Sawtry Infant School, we aim to promote a love of Maths that enables the children to become confident problem solvers and grow into creative and enthusiastic mathematicians. The children are introduced to a range of Maths problems which involve names and characters from diverse backgrounds. We take a ‘hands on’ approach to Maths learning, encouraging the children to use concrete manipulatives and explore possible answers, improving resilience skills that are transferable across the curriculum. Alongside the inspiring Maths curriculum, the children are exposed to Maths wherever possible, to promote resilience and develop their problem solving skills.

Inspirational: Our Maths curriculum promotes resilience as the children are appropriately stretched with challenges and they understand the importance of always trying their best. Maths work is celebrated in classrooms and on the whole school display, with examples of work to be proud of. Half termly ‘Maths at work’ displays are planned for, to encourage the children to develop a sense of curiosity and question where Maths skills are used in different jobs. As well as this, an estimation station is updated regularly to support the children in making logical predictions and explain their thinking.

Fun: Following the concrete, pictorial, abstract approach, our Maths activities enable the children to explore different possible methods and solutions. The continuous support of varied concrete manipulatives encourages the children to become inquisitive mathematicians and it sparks curiosity. Many Maths topics allow the children to make links from their personal experiences to their learning, for example mass, capacity and height, money and time, and this supports the development of skills that they will need in everyday life.

Educational: Our broad and balanced Maths curriculum provides the children with the opportunity to develop rich vocabulary and offers them taught skills that they will need throughout their lifetime. Learning is adapted appropriately to meet the needs of all children and to ensure everyone is able to experience accomplishment. Problem solving and reasoning skills are fundamental in other areas of the curriculum and therefore they are practised frequently in Maths lessons and Maths experiences.

Early Years Maths

Reception use a ‘planning in the moment’ approach to planning teaching, learning and provision. Resources are provided for children to guide their own learning, with the scaffold of adults to question and link children’s learning moments to the EYFS. Children have a guided maths session every day as a whole class which is taught through the White Rose Schemes of Learning.

Key Stage 1 Maths

The White Rose maths curriculum is a cumulative curriculum, so that once a topic is covered it is met many times again in other contexts. For example, place value is always covered in Autumn 1 but revisited within addition and subtraction, multiplication and division etc. 2-a-Day is also used daily to revisit topics and weekly problem solving investigations (e.g. using NRICH) to ensure children are using and applying their mathematical knowledge in a variety of contexts.

For more information please see our Maths Progression Map or speak to Miss Pennell, our Maths subject leader.