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Maths Statement
Maths
Our Goal Passion for Learning...
At Bentley St Paul's, we want our all our children to have a passion for learning where they gain life – long learning skills; a sense of adventure; the ability to enquire and make emotional connections.
Our Christian Values
Friendship, Forgiveness, Trust, Peace, Wisdom, Responsibility, Respect and Reverence underpin all that we do and are the foundations of our drivers.
Aspirational Learners |
Global Citizens |
Respectful Communicators |
Resilient Individuals |
Our Tools
| Mastering Key Skills | Gaining Knowledge | Engaging in Experiences | Summoning Creativity | Learning from Inspirations |
At Bentley St Paul’s, our intent in teaching mathematics is to foster a lifelong passion for learning while equipping our pupils with essential mathematical skills and knowledge. We aim to develop confident, competent mathematicians who can apply their understanding in real-world contexts.
Our curriculum is designed to promote: Deep Understanding: We ensure that mathematical concepts are taught through an in-depth understanding, enabling pupils to grasp core ideas, make connections across different mathematical topics, and apply their knowledge creatively. Fluency and Accuracy: We aim for all pupils to develop fluency in mathematical procedures and processes. This includes number fact recall and mental arithmetic, ensuring that they can tackle complex problems efficiently and accurately. Problem-Solving Skills: Our curriculum nurtures problem-solving abilities and mathematical reasoning, encouraging pupils to approach challenges with resilience and a logical mindset. Growth Mindset: We cultivate a culture of aspiration and perseverance, where mistakes are viewed as valuable learning opportunities. This aligns with our Christian ethos, promoting a supportive environment for nurturing positive attitudes towards learning. Inclusivity: We are committed to ensuring all pupils, regardless of their background or ability, have access to high-quality mathematics education, fostering a sense of belonging and purpose.
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 broad and balanced 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. 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 from EYFS to Year 6; 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.
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How We Teach
Our Maths curriculum provides breadth and balance, is relevant and engaging and is adaptive and personalised to match the needs and abilities of all our children to ensure that all pupils are able to excel. As a school, we believe in the importance of following the concrete-pictorial-approach as a means to developing a solid understanding of mathematical concepts which can be applied in a variety of contexts through reasoning and problem solving challenges. Children receive a minimum of 5 hours maths tuition each week with one session focusing on arithmetic proficiency and times table skills. From EYFS to Year 6, we adhere to our calculation policy which outlines the progression of strategies and methods to be taught and we have an accompanying vocabulary progression document which we also follow. We have created our medium-term plans in line with White Rose small steps. From EYFS to Year 6, children follow the scheme of ‘White Rose’ which supports children in learning the fundamentals behind the meanings of numbers and exploring other key mathematical areas. Our maths curriculum is also supported through the implementation of resources from ‘Classroom Secrets.’ White Rose and Classroom Secrets use ‘small steps’ to break down the teaching sequence into small achievable steps. Where children require additional support, ‘scaffolds’ are used to support children further to ensure that they have secured the small step before moving on. These ‘scaffolds’ may be in the form of returning to concrete resources or pictorial representations. For children who understand a concept quicker, challenges are used to deepen and challenge learners further within the curriculum area with Classroom Secrets being used to enhance provision for fluency and problem-solving and reasoning. Each lesson is introduced by a flashback of previous learning. Progression documents such as our calculation policy are carefully used to ensure that children are not being stretched outside their year group but rather deepened within it. Within daily teaching, children will be reminded/taught fact sentences linked to previous/current learning which will constantly be referred to within the lesson. Through the use of spaced learning, they will have many opportunities to apply these fact sentences; modelling will support children in developing their ability to reason and explain their answers using them. Daily assessment is incorporated throughout the lesson through live and verbal feedback. Where children require additional support, our catch up programme is used to support children ensuring that they are ready for the next ‘small step’. Termly assessments are used as a diagnostic tool to ensure that teachers are adapting learning to meet the needs of all children and ensure that any necessary interventions are targeted specifically to meet the needs of children.
Times tables play an important part in our maths learning, with children developing their fluency in rapid recall of tables up to 12 x 12 by the end of year 4. While the rapid recall of times tables are being developed, children are also learning how to apply and manipulate their understanding of this to reason and solve problems. Children from Y1 – Y6 have the opportunity to consolidate and apply their times tables knowledge through Monster Mash on Purple Mash with access at school and at home. Regular practise in school through the use of weekly tests allow children to build upon their knowledge of number bonds before they begin to apply their knowledge to times tables facts.
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Impact
By the end of Year 6, transitioning to secondary school, we aspire that a Bentley St Paul’s mathematician will have developed a bank of efficient and accurate skills that can be used to calculate effectively. These will have been underpinned by the C-P-A process so children understand rather than just do, which ultimately will allow children to identify when answers do not make mathematical sense. Children will be able to apply these calculation skills and understanding of other areas to become confident and resilient problem-solvers with the ability to reason and articulate their ideas mathematically. Due to the embedding of fact sentences, children will have the language to be able to justify, reason and explain their answers.
Catch Up / Consolidation
Throughout our daily sessions, end of unit tests and assessment for learning, we recognise the importance of providing time for children to consolidate their knowledge, revisit previous concepts and prepare for new learning. Providing these sessions gives children the opportunity to use a range of concrete manipulatives to consolidate and build upon what they already know. Raising attainment and promoting good progress of all of our pupils in Mathematics requires a systematic, research-based approach focused on securing deep conceptual understanding before accelerating to new content. At Bentley St Paul’s, we recognise the importance of identifying those gaps the children may have, and use specific interventions and whole-class teaching sessions to ensure children are ready to adopt new learning. This is best achieved through:
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