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Mathematics

Learning is Remembering and Recalling...

At St. Augustine’s Catholic Primary School we aim to offer pupils a rich and enjoyable experience in mathematics by providing the knowledge, skills, concepts and processes that are appropriate to each individual and relate to the world around them.

Maths is essential to everyday life and here at St. Augustine’s we are privileged to start the journey for the future. Our curriculum provides a foundation for understanding the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.

Though our mathematics curriculum we aim for our children to become fluent in mathematics where they can solve increasingly complex problems over time. Develop a sound understanding of mathematical concepts and recall and apply their knowledge rapidly and accurately. We believe that children become confident at reasoning mathematically, make connections between subjects, generalise and use mathematical language.

The teaching of mathematics is based on the guidance set out in the new 2014 National Curriculum. Mathematics lessons consist of three main elements:

  • Consolidation (questions which consolidate learning from the previous half-term).
  • Reasoning (a challenge which gives pupils the opportunity to develop their reasoning skills and verbalise their findings, often using stem sentences such as “I noticed that…”, “I can prove this because…”, “I explored…and found out that…”).
  • Main teaching input/activities (based on the National Curriculum objectives for the year group)/plenary (to address next steps/misconceptions).

EYFS: Mathematics in the Reception class is planned for daily following the EYFS curriculum and it is an important part of continuous provision. The focus areas are:

  • Cardinality and Counting
  • Comparison
  • Composition
  • Pattern
  • Shape and Space
  • Measures

Each week there is a linked theme and the teacher rotates around the various groups within the class. Our aim in our Reception class is to start our children on an enjoyable maths journey, giving them a positive attitude and the foundation to succeed through the school.

Key Stage 1: The main focus of mathematics teaching in Key Stage 1 is to ensure that the children develop confidence and mental fluency with whole numbers, counting and place value. The children at St. Augustine’s will be working with numerals, words and the four operations, including lots of practical resources and activities within the classroom and outside in the environment. At this stage, the children will develop their ability to recognise, describe, draw, compare and sort shapes using the appropriate vocabulary. Also within this Key Stage children will be using a range of measures to describe and compare different quantities such as length, mass, capacity/volume, time and money.

Key Stage 2: The main focus of mathematics teaching in Key Stage 2 is to ensure that pupils become increasingly fluent with whole numbers and the four operations, including number facts and the concept of place value. The children at St. Augustine’s develop efficient written and mental methods and perform calculations accurately with increasingly large whole numbers, showing precision and fluency in their work.

At this stage, children develop their ability to solve a range of problems, including simple fractions and decimal place value. The children draw with increasing accuracy and develop mathematical reasoning so they can analyse shapes and their properties, and confidently describe the relationships between them. They also develop their measuring skills and make connections between measure and number.

By the end of Year 4, the expectation is that pupils have learnt their multiplication tables up to 12 x 12 in order to succeed in upper key stage two.

Talking Maths: Spoken language is very important in mathematics and at St. Augustine’s we celebrate and encourage ‘talk’ in all aspects of maths through the use of talk partners. The quality and variety of language that the children hear and speak are key factors in developing their mathematical vocabulary and presenting a mathematical justification, argument or proof.