Britannia Community Primary SchoolMaths
Maths At Britannia
At Britannia Primary School, we want children to be able to collaborate and interact well with others; use their ability to reason in order to explain their thinking; and respectfully listen and respond to ideas that others have. We strive to support pupils in developing their mathematical fluency so that they can approach maths positively in everyday situations. Maths is a key life skill which is integral to everyday life experiences, and we want to support and challenge all pupils living in and around our Rossendale valley community. Many of our pupils come from families with valuable practical trade backgrounds so having high-quality maths knowledge is essential for the future successes of our pupils.
We aim to develop children as confident and successful mathematicians - resilient learners who can take on the task of using and applying their mathematics knowledge when faced with solving real life maths problems in a range of contexts. They should have a good knowledge of strategies and methods to enable them to make decisions when breaking down and solving problems involving number, measures, geometry and statistics. They should know how to think logically in order to work systematically and accurately. Our pupils should leave Britannia with high expectations of their own abilities and the capacity to use maths independently as future responsible citizens of the 21st century.
In EYFS we follow the White Rose Scheme of work. This scheme provides a secure foundation as we move onto the Maths No Problem Scheme from Year 1. Alongside the daily maths lessons we also follow the Mastering Number Approach in EYFS and KS1 to ensure all pupils are fluent with number before moving into KS2. To support children in Year 3 and 4 develop their fluency in times tables we are currently trialling the Number Sense times table programme.
Useful websites
Century Tech - CENTURY
Mathletics - https://www.mathletics.com/uk/
Times Tables Rockstars - https://play.ttrockstars.com/auth/school/student
Numbots - https://play.numbots.com/#/intro
BBC Bitesize Maths - https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/z6vg9j6
Hit the button game - Hit the Button - Quick fire maths practise for 6-11 year olds (topmarks.co.uk)
Maths No Problem
Incorporating the use of resources, problem solving, group work, the Primary Series is child-centred and fun to teach. With a focus on teaching maths for mastery, the series is designed to improve the maths confidence of learners.
This short clip explains the fundamentals of Maths learning in our school.
Teaching Maths For Mastery
The whole class works through the programme of study at the same pace with ample time on each topic before moving on. Ideas are revisited at higher levels as the curriculum spirals through the years. The scheme uses a 'blocked' approach to teaching Maths, but concepts are regularly revisited through arithmetic sessions and by linking learning wherever possible. For example, when teaching place value links can be made with other strands of maths, such as calculations, measures and data handling.
Differentiated Activities
Tasks and activities are designed to be easy for pupils to enter while still containing challenging components. For advanced learners, the textbooks also contain non-routine questions for pupils to develop their higher-order thinking skills.
Problem Solving
Lessons and activities are designed to be taught using problem-solving approaches to encourage pupils higher-level thinking. The focus is on working with pupils core competencies, building on what they know to develop their relational understanding.
Concrete Pictoral Abstract Approach
Based on Jerome Brunerâs work, pupils learn new concepts initially using concrete examples, such as counters, then progress to drawing pictorial representations before finally using more abstract symbols, such as the equals sign.
Click the link here to watch a clip which explains the CPA approach further.
Variation
The questions and examples are carefully varied by expert authors to encourage pupils to think about the maths. Rather than provide mechanical repetition, the examples are designed to deepen pupils understanding and reveal misconceptions.
International Research
By incorporating established learning research into a highly effective approach, Singapore has become a laboratory of maths teaching. The Primary Maths Series is founded on the international research of Piaget, Dienes, Bruner, Skemp and Vygotsky and has been tested and refined over the last 30 years in Singapore.
UK Evidence
The Maths No Problem! primary series was assessed by the DfEs expert panel, which judged that it alone met the core criteria for a high quality textbook to support teaching for mastery. As a result, the Maths No Problem! Primary series is the only textbook which has been placed on a list of recommended textbooks for schools on the mastery programme.
Useful Videos for Parents and Carers
Bar modelling is used to represent problems to help children see how to solve them. The bar models do not work out the answers to the problems – they simply represent the problem in a more visual way which will then help children decide what to do to progress onto solving the problem. These 2 video clips give a brief explanation about bar modelling and how this approach is applied to individual problems.