Maths - Teaching & Learning

Curriculum Intent

At Dundonald Primary School we inspire children to become confident, curious and collaborative mathematicians. Children achieve a high standard in numeracy and gain a secure foundation of mathematical knowledge, skills and concepts. Through small steps, our pupils develop their fluency, reasoning and problem-solving with an ability to apply these skills in real-life contexts. Children use a variety of concrete, pictorial and abstract representations and key mathematical vocabulary to demonstrate their understanding. We provide a stimulating Mathematics curriculum where children are challenged to take risks and develop a growth mindset.

Curriculum Implementation

What does Teaching Maths at Dundonald look like?

→ It is achievable for all; we have high expectations and encourage a positive Growth Mindset towards maths in all pupils and carefully scaffold learning so everyone can make progress.

→ It creates deep and sustainable learning; lessons are designed with careful small steps, questions and tasks (deep - deeper - deepest).

→ It is built on something that has already been sufficiently mastered; pupils' learning of concepts is seen a continuum across the school.

→ It encourages children to reason about a concept and make connections; pupils are encouraged to make connections and spot patterns between different concepts (e.g. the link between ration, division and fractions) and use precise mathematical language.

→ It values conceptual and procedural fluency; teachers move maths from one context to another (using objects, pictorial representations, equations and word problems).

→ Problem solving is central. This develops pupils' understanding of why something works so that they truly have an appreciation of what they are doing rather than just learning to repeat routines without grasping what is happening.

→ It challenges through diving deeper. Rather than moving onto next year's concepts, teachers set tasks to deepen knowledge and improve reasoning skills within the objectives of their year group.

What is taught in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2?

We teach Maths through daily lessons that focus on equipping children with the skills and abilities they need to understand and solve a range of problems in different mathematical contexts.

In Key Stage 1 these are number, statistics, geometry and measurement with the additional areas of ratio and proportion and algebra by the end of Key Stage 2.

There is a strong emphasis on calculation, reflecting the demands of the new National Curriculum, which states that children should:

Become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils 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
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.

Maths Mastery

At Dundonald, we believe that every child is a mathematician. Our aim is for all children to enjoy mathematics and have a secure and deep understanding of fundamental concepts and procedures in the subject. We want children to see the mathematics surrounds us every day and develop vital life skills in their lessons.

In line with Government policy and best practice, children are taught to become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, reason mathematically using mathematical language and apply their knowledge and understanding to problem solving tasks.

In order for the children to master mathematics and develop fluency, where possible, we employ the CPA approach:

Concrete = providing children children with objects and resources to manipulate. Examples include Numicon, Bead Strings and Place \Value Counters.

Pictorial = representing thinking through jottings and images. These may be sketches of resources or models such as bar models and part-whole models.

Abstract = using formal representations such as methods using signs, symbols and digits.

Children develop mathematical understanding through exposure to a variety of representations (concrete, pictorial and abstract) designed to expose the structure of mathematics and the 'why'.

Please find more information on Maths Mastery in KS1 (Year 1/2) and KS2 (Y3 to Y6) in the workshop presentations:

Maths Mastery in Y1/2 Maths Mastery in Y3/4 Maths Mastery in Y5/6