Maths                  

What is the vision for mathematics at The Phoenix Primary School and Nursery?

 At The Phoenix Primary School and Nursery, our vision for mathematics is to inspire, stimulate and excite students’ fascination for the subject, enabling all students to learn key skills relevant to the wider world. Through robust planning and outstanding teaching, students will develop their knowledge in key mathematical concepts: place value, four operations, shape and fractions, decimals and percentages, etc. They will also foster a pleasure and satisfaction in solving mathematical problems. In mathematics lessons, students are encouraged to think independently, whilst being given the opportunities to become resilient and confident learners. This means that they will be able to solve mathematical problems, that increase in complexity, both within a unit of work and throughout a child’s journey through the school.

Mathematics is a discipline that is open to all; regardless of ability, gender, cultural background or ethnicity. Therefore, the maths curriculum will offer all children the opportunity to:

• Become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, through varied and frequent practise with increasingly complex problems over time.
• Develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.
• Reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language.
• Solve problems by applying their mathematical knowledge to a variety of standard and non-standard problems with increasing sophistication.
• Break problems into a series of simpler steps and persevere in seeking solutions.
• Prepare and apply their skills effectively in everyday situations; in their future learning and in the workplace.
• Apply their skills to a range of everyday scenarios, including how climate change continues to develop and affect the world as we know it. 
• To apply mathematical approaches and concepts to their work in other subjects; particularly in Science, Design Technology and Geography
• Cement the necessary building blocks to provide solid mathematical knowledge prior to the transition into secondary school, further and higher education.

How is the vision for mathematics to be achieved?

Students who take part in mathematics lessons at The Phoenix Primary School and Nursery will:

• Be taught key concepts sequentially, within and across year groups
• Experience lessons that build upon prior knowledge and previous learning to develop and consolidate new skills.
• Have their needs met via carefully differentiated tasks that address the priorities of all students.
• Receive teaching that focuses on high expectations and step-by-step modelling, allowing new concepts to be understood more easily.
• Investigate a range of fluency, problem-solving and reasoning questions within each lesson.
• Experience high-level questioning and use of mathematical terminology to help explain their reasoning and further their understanding.
• Have each lesson meticulously planned using the White Rose Maths Curriculum.
• Apply mathematics as much as possible to problems they will encounter in their daily lives, through the use of graphs, statistics and data to analyse modern-day threats and changes to society – including climate change.
• Share and celebrate achievements in mathematics, both in school and in the wider community.
• Visit places and /or organise extra-curricular trips which encourage and inspire children to think mathematically
•  Take part in internal and external maths competitions.

How does the school know if the Mathematics curriculum has been effective?

Firstly, students who have followed the school’s mathematics curriculum will be effectively prepared with the key skills, knowledge and vocabulary to access more specialised mathematics curricula in secondary school. They will also have developed the mathematical skills essential to their success as adults in later life. Some children will also have become sufficiently inspired to follow careers where the application of mathematical skills and knowledge is key. 

Our mathematics curriculum will have been a success if, with every new concept, children can:

• Represent it in a variety of ways.
• Explain it to someone else.
• Create their own examples.
• See connections between specific mathematical concepts and other facts or ideas.
• Recognise it in new situations and contexts.

Formative arithmetic and reasoning assessments will be used on a weekly basis, with the questions chosen at the direction of the class or set teacher. Summative assessments (using White Rose Maths) are completed half-termly, giving teachers the opportunity to comprehensively track attainment throughout the academic year.

In addition to formative and summative assessments, progress in relation to the key objectives and mathematical skills of individual lessons are recorded against a bookmark located inside the front cover of exercise books.

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