Writing Intent

At Oakfield Primary School we place great importance on building children’s confidence and enjoyment in the acquisition of Mathematical concepts from when they enter us in Nursery to when they leave us in KS2 fully equipped to tackle the next stage of their learning journey and beyond.. The intent of our mathematics curriculum is to provide children with a foundation for understanding number, reasoning, thinking logically and problem solving with resilience so that they are fully prepared for the future. Maths is a skill we use on a daily basis and is an essential part of everyday life. Therefore, mathematics forms an important part of our curriculum where we endeavour to ensure that children develop an enjoyment and enthusiasm for maths that will stay with them throughout their lives and empower them in future life. We believe that unlocking mathematical fluency is an essential life skill for all learners and is a pre-requisite to being able to reason and solve problems mathematically. Our aim is to develop a positive culture of deep understanding, confidence and competence in maths that produces strong, secure learning.

The National curriculum states that: Mathematics is a creative and highly interconnected discipline that has been developed over centuries, providing the solution to some of history’s most intriguing problems. It is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment. A high-quality mathematics education therefore provides a foundation for understanding the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject. (N.C. 2014)

The National Curriculum for mathematics aims to ensure all pupils:

• become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils have conceptual understanding and are able to recall and apply their knowledge rapidly and accurately to problems
• reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language
• can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions

As a school, we recognise that the key to unlocking the potential in our children is through the development of basic mathematical skills and the understanding of mathematical concepts. We therefore place great emphasis on the use of concrete resources and pictorial representations at all ages, to enable children to fully understand the concepts and principals, when presented with abstract calculations and questions. Our maths curriculum is progressive; at KS2 it is designed to develop competencies to equip pupils for KS3 where they will build on KS2, make connections and solve increasingly sophisticated problems.

Our curriculum is frequently reviewed to ensure that is it current and effective and teachers are supported and aided in their teaching of mathematics through appropriate high quality CPD ensuring confidence in securing the understanding of the concepts that they are required to teach. Our curriculum allows children to better make sense of the world around them by making connections between mathematics and everyday life. The structure of the mathematics curriculum across school shows clear progression in line with age related expectations. Teaching curriculum content in blocks allows children to explore skills and knowledge in depth and gain a secure understanding of particular subject matter. A concrete, pictorial, abstract approach provides children with a clear structure in which they can develop their depth of understanding of mathematical concepts.

• We have embedded a Mastery approach which ensures that all children have the opportunity to reach their full potential and experience success. We promote a secure understanding of mathematical concepts and processes, combined with a genuine procedural fluency. A child who has mastered a particular skill is able to apply their understanding and solve different types of problem, including where the skill is either embedded in a different context, or where a choice of method has to be made. Some children will be able to achieve mastery with greater depth. This means that they are able to apply their understanding of a concept in a wider variety of contexts, some of which are more difficult. They can manipulate the facts they know and the skills they possess in order to solve more complex problems. More developed forms of mathematical reasoning are central to this process, and enable the recognition of a link between operations and processes. Children who master a concept easily are expected to deepen their understanding, for example by applying it to solve problems embedded in mathematical investigations or more complex contexts. Children who do not master an objective with the rest of the class are supported through a same day intervention to enable them to gain more experience and achieve success. Therefore all children have the same start point at the beginning of each maths lesson and can all move forward together.

Outlined is the school overview, long term plan and medium term plans for Maths at Oakfield Primary School.