Mathematics

Our school curriculum is driven and shaped by our school vision, which informs everything that we do.

St Nicholas provides a welcoming, inclusive and aspirational learning environment at the heart of its community. We nurture, encourage and support all children, adults and their families to be the best as God intended. Following God’s example of love and trust, we develop resilience and creativity in all we do.

Learning, loving and encouraging through Christ.

An uncompromising focus on pupils’ personal development has made St Nicholas Church of England Primary Academy a place where pupils always come first. Ofsted 2019

At St. Nicholas, each class uses the Mastery approach, which allows the children to develop a deeper understanding of each mathematical concept. Through using this approach in our teaching and learning of mathematics, all children are given the opportunity to achieve success.

Our Mathematical Learning Journey

As a school, we follow the ‘White Rose’ scheme of learning, making adaptations where necessary.

Fluency

Children are given the opportunity to develop their fluency within each concept through precision teaching with the class teacher or teaching assistant. They are then given the opportunity to practise these skills independently in a variety of different forms to ensure a good understanding. Paired ‘maths talk’ is actively encouraged.

(Year 3, Place Value. Taken from the White Rose)

Problem Solving and Reasoning

Once a child has demonstrated their fluency within a mathematical concept, they then work towards mastery within this area. This will include a variety of reasoning and problem-solving activities where the children are able to show a deeper mathematical understanding and make connections within other areas of mathematics.

(Year 3, Place Value. Taken from the White Rose)

What are the benefits of this approach?

Progress is clear to both adults and children.
Children are NOT in maths groups so never feel like they cannot do maths.
ALL children aspire to move their learning on to the next step within a lesson.
Independence is promoted.
Assessment is accurate and robust.
Planning is personalised.
All adults are utilised and have impact.
A buzz is generated around maths in all year groups.
Children are suitably challenged on a daily basis.
Resilience in maths is encouraged.
Problem solving, reasoning and mastery have become part of daily lessons / culture.
Everybody is aspirational.
More children are reaching the expected standard and greater depth is catered for / encouraged.
Maths is always moving forward and growing.

Each stage of this learning journey encourages the use of a range of resources to further develop mathematical understanding.

These include:

Concrete: items that the children can pick up and manipulate to show their understanding e.g. place value counters.

Pictorial: images to enhance understanding, which are either provided for the child or drawn by the child to demonstrate their understanding or to show how they worked something out.

Abstract: calculations.

100 + 100 + 30 = 230

PiXL assessments are used on a regular basis.

We use Pre-Teach with key children to ensure that they are well prepared for their lessons. Our motto is ‘keep up, not catch up’, meaning any additional support is provided as soon as possible.

Whole School Overview

EYFS LTP Overview

Whole School Overview

Mastering Number

‘Mastering Number’ is often referred to as the ‘phonics of maths’, which allows children in EYFS and KS1 to become number confident by practising key skills. The same approach is applied higher up the school in years 4 and 5 to help with the children’s understanding of multiplicity. It also prepares the children for their end of KS2 SATs and the MTC in year 4.

Ways to support your child at home

KIRFs

Within in each year group, children are taught facts that they need to be able to recall quickly and without having to spend lots of time working out the answers. We call these ‘Key Instant Recall Facts or KIRFs. Each term, a new set of KIRFs is shared. Within maths lessons, the children focus on a few facts each week (KIRFs of the Week). It would be really helpful to work through these with your child at home on a regular basis. It is always useful to look at facts from younger year groups just to make sure that these don’t get forgotten over time. Please do talk to your child about their learning at home. Maths is all around us and can be carried out in a variety of different ways, for example cooking, counting out money and testing your child on times tables during a car journey, etc.

Maths Journals

Children in KS2 each have a White Rose Maths Journal and complete tasks on a weekly basis.

Websites

As a school, we have subscribed to the following websites:

Times Tables Rock Stars (Years 2 – 6)

The children are encouraged to use this at home in order to develop their quick recall of multiplication facts. Each week success stories are celebrated in our Friday Celebration Assembly. We are also able to challenge other schools within the Trust and a 30-mile radius. This supports the children in their preparation for the MTC in Year 4 and End of Key Stage SATs.

Year 2 have access to TTRS from Term 2, with an emphasis on using this from Term 3 once they have covered both multiplying and dividing.

https://play.ttrockstars.com/auth/school/student

If you have any questions about the teaching and learning of mathematics at St. Nicholas, please do not hesitate in contacting your child’s class teacher or Mrs Lee, our Mathematics Lead.

Numbots (Years 1 and 2)

NumBots is an online game that helps children develop fluency and understanding in addition and subtraction. It uses a game-based approach with two main modes: “Story Mode,” where children progress through a sequence of levels to build skills, and “Challenge Mode,” where they can practice speed and recall. The program aims to build a strong math foundation from the ground up, moving from basic number sense to solving problems with two-digit numbers.

1-minute Maths

1-Minute Maths - App on the Amazon Appstore