Maths at Hatfield Peverel Infant and Nursery School
Year One children enjoyed learning about directions, using positional language of forwards and backwards. They applied their learning of left and right, forwards and backwards to give partner instructions to move through a maze. They even found ERIC!
As part of ‘No Pens Wednesday’, year two children took part in a ‘Curly Whirly’ challenge! They had to try to stretch a Curly Whirly as long as they could in only 3 minutes without it breaking! They researched and found out effective techniques used by expert Curly Wurly stretchers! They then had to measure how long their Curly Whirly was to find out the winner. 29cm was the longest!
Maths working walls are changed frequently throughout the year in each class, supporting children with their learning.
Intent – What we are teaching in Maths
At Hatfield Peverel Infant and Nursery School, we believe that being confident and skilled mathematicians is a key life skill. Through our mathematics curriculum, we help children to gain the skills and knowledge they need to become fluent in the basics of mathematics, to work systematically, to reason and to solve problems. We aim for all children to have an enthusiasm for mathematics, enabling them to make better sense of the world around them, by identifying connections between mathematics and everyday life.
We actively encourage and promote an open mindset, so that all our children have aspirations to achieve in mathematics. We want every child to believe in themselves and have a “can do” attitude when it comes to mathematics. Misconceptions and deliberate mistakes are planned for and included in lessons, so that challenge, resilience and reasoning can be promoted.
We want all children to enjoy mathematics and to experience success in the subject. We aim to foster a passion and curiosity for mathematics, which will remain with children as they journey through life and learning.
We aim for all of our children to be strong mathematicians who:
- Can recall and apply key mathematical knowledge rapidly and accurately, moving between a range of contexts, representations and making connections.
- Can solve problems through a variety of representations and contexts by understanding and applying mathematical concepts, building skills to tackle new problems and apply these to real life situations.
- Develop their abilities to reason by talking and writing to explain their understanding of maths, using mathematical language effectively to reason, justify and prove.
Implementation – How we are teaching mathematics
To ensure consistency and progression, as a school we follow the nationally recognised White Rose Mathematics scheme (Version 3.0) and those resources that align with it, including Master the Curriculum. The White Rose curriculum is cumulative, where once a topic is introduced and initially covered, it will be met again in different contexts. This ensures that a structured and sequenced curriculum integrates and builds upon previous learning.
Within our nursery, the Master the Curriculum scheme supports the development and progression of mathematics and aligns with White Rose Maths (Version 3.0) in readiness for Reception, enabling a seamless transition.
Our curriculum follows the White Rose ‘Small Steps to Progression,’ where the main learning objectives from the National Curriculum are broken down into teaching blocks (units) across each term. Mathematical topics are taught in blocks, to enable the achievement of ‘mastery’ over time. These teaching blocks are broken down into smaller steps, to help children understand concepts better. Each lesson phase provides the means for children to achieve greater depth. Time is also built in for assessment and re-visiting previous learning. Assessment links directly to the curriculum taught and is used to identify gaps, misconceptions and next steps. Staff are reflective and adaptive in their approach to their teaching and use both ongoing, formative and summative assessment effectively.
At Hatfield Peverel Infant and Nursery School, we understand that mathematics at an early age sets the foundations for later learning and helps to foster a positive attitude, a natural curiosity and confidence in the subject .Children in our nursery begin to develop their maths skills, language and understanding of simple concepts. Our nursery children have lots of opportunities to practise and consolidate their understanding of mathematics, through stimulating practical and play-based activities and experiences.
As children move through our school, teachers use clearly modelled methods and strategies and careful, challenging questioning to deepen mathematical understanding. They analyse and assess where additional support is needed and provide adaption and scaffolding effectively to ensure all children achieve their potential.
We follow a ‘Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract’ approach to aid children’s understanding of abstract topics, where children are introduced to new mathematical concepts through the use of concrete resources. Research shows that when children are introduced to a new concept, working with concrete physical resources and pictorial representations leads to a better understanding of abstract concepts.
The National Curriculum states that one of the core principles of the curriculum is that children “become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice.” At Hatfield Peverel Infant and Nursery School we understand that sufficient, good quality practice enables the development of procedural fluency (the ability to select the appropriate strategy and skills to correctly solve calculations and problems). We are reflective in our teaching, and will adapt lessons to the needs of our learners, including incorporating extra practice and scaffolding when required.
MASTERY MATTERS
As a White Rose Maths school, we use a mastery approach to maths teaching across all stages of EYFS through to Year 2. This is a research-driven teaching and learning method that meets the goals of the National Curriculum. Teaching for mastery means pupils acquire a deep, long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of the subject. Achieving mastery means that children have acquired a solid enough understanding of the mathematics that has been taught to then enable them to move on to more advanced learning with confidence.
Our mastery approach:
- Puts numbers first: Our schemes of learning have numbers at their heart, because we believe confidence with numbers is the first step to competency in the curriculum as a whole.
- Puts depth before breadth: We reinforce and revisit knowledge again and again.
- Encourages collaboration: Children can progress through the schemes as a group, supporting each other as they learn.
- Focuses on fluency, reasoning and problem solving: It gives children the skills they need to become competent mathematicians.
NCETM Mastering Number
Throughout the school, the children additionally follow the NCETM Mastering Number Programme to strengthen understanding of number and number fact fluency, with daily sessions delivered in all Reception and Key Stage 1 classes.
SEND and Mathematics
Effective quality first teaching is the key to enabling all children to participate and develop their mathematical knowledge and skills. Scaffolds within lessons are a vital component to ensure that all learners receive a balance of support and challenge. At Hatfield Peverel Infant and Nursery School, children with SEND will be closely supported in accordance with their One Plans and EHCPs, where appropriate. Although we adopt a ‘mastery’ approach to mathematics at our school, we recognise that a small number of our pupils may require an adapted, alternative curriculum. If a child’s needs are best met by following an alternative plan, including coverage of the content from previous years, the class teacher and support staff will work in collaboration with the SENCo to make specific arrangements for this provision.
Impact – What the children have learnt
Our approach to the teaching and learning of maths, results in a fun and engaging curriculum that embeds understanding and knowledge through hands on, practical activities and develops efficient written methods. Our maths curriculum prepares all children, including disadvantaged and SEND, to acquire the knowledge they need to succeed in life. We strive for every child to achieve their full potential in mathematics, develop a love of number, shape, measures, data and problem solving and be ready for their next stage in learning and to inspire their aspirations for the future. The impact of our maths curriculum result in children having a positive view of maths, due to learning in an environment where maths is promoted as being an exciting and enjoyable subject in which they can investigate and ask questions. Children are confident to ‘have a go’ and choose the equipment they need to help them to learn along with the strategies they think are best suited to each problem. They are taught to know that making mistakes is part of learning and aids progress. Through discussion and feedback, children use mathematical language and vocabulary about their maths lessons and speak with enthusiasm about their love of learning in maths.
Hatfield Peverel Infant and Nursery School is a place when mathematicians thrive!