‘Mathematics is a creative and highly inter-connected 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.’ (National Curriculum 2014)

Aim

Brushwood Junior School aims to provide high-quality mathematical knowledge and understanding to each and every pupil according to their individual needs to ensure that all pupils:

• Become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through the 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.

Intent

At Brushwood Junior School, we aim to:

• Ensure our children have access to a high- quality maths curriculum that is both challenging, rich in context and enjoyable.

• To build upon children’s knowledge and understanding from Year 3 to Year 6.
• To provide our children with a variety of mathematical opportunities, which will enable them to make the connections in learning needed to enjoy greater depth in learning.
• To help our children become confident mathematicians, who are not afraid to ask questions and to take risks.
• To develop resilience that enables all children to reason and problem solve with increased confidence.

Implementation

• Planning: Our curriculum is coherently planned and lessons follow the small steps outlined by the White Rose Maths Hub and progression within each area of calculation follows the programme of study outlined in the 2014 National Curriculum. A Concrete, Pictorial and Abstract approach is applied to lessons, supporting children through their understanding of mathematical processes. The teaching of Maths takes into account the entire class through rigorous planning and assessment. Revise and Review consolidation lessons are also used to revisit previous learning and ensure Maths skills are embedded.
• Challenge for all children: Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly are challenged through rich reasoning questions and problems. Whilst those who are not sufficiently fluent continue to consolidate their understanding through additional practice, focus groups and questioning.
• Assessment: Formal and informal assessment is an integral part of the teaching and learning process. Teachers make assessments of pupils daily through regularly marking pupils’ work, analysing errors and misconceptions, questioning individuals and making observations.
• Moderation: Moderation takes place internally among staff at Brushwood and externally between local schools through book scrutinises, learning walks and pupil voice interviews. Links with our local feeder school allows an understanding of progression across EYFS and KS1.  
• Fundamental maths skills are taught daily: Daily, key mathematical skills are recapped to support fluency in place value, the four operations and fractions.
• Resources: High quality resources are used in conjunction with White Rose Hub, such as NRich, Third Space Learning and NCETM to support, stretch and challenge all children within the classroom.  In addition, the school’s calculation policy is used to ensure a coherent approach to teaching the operations across our school. A range of reasoning resources are used to challenge all children, giving them the opportunity to apply their understanding in a variety of different contexts.

Impact

The impact of our curriculum is monitored through:

• Outcomes of KS2 tests
• In school attainment tracking
• Pupil voice – questionnaires and pupil book reviews
• Engagement in enrichment activities
• Subject Leader monitoring – Lesson visits, scrutiny of books, assessment, action plan, pupil interviews and questionnaires.
• Governor Reports

White Rose Primary Scheme of Learning

At Brushwood, we follow the ‘White Rose Primary Scheme of Learning’. This scheme provides teachers with exemplification for maths objectives that are broken down by key aims of the National Curriculum, as well as daily fluency, reasoning and problem solving questions. White Rose Maths support a mastery approach to teaching and learning and ensure teachers stay in the required key stage, whilst supporting the ideal of depth before breadth. It also supports pupils working together as a whole group and provides plenty of time to build reasoning and problem solving elements into the curriculum.

Please see the attachment below to find out what your child will be learning in Maths.

Times Tables at Brushwood

Children are expected to know all multiplication facts, up to 12 x 12 by the end of year 4, in order to take the national Multiplication Tables Check (MTC).Times tables are taught and tested in families, using the skills of doubling, halving and the commutative properties of multiplication i.e. 2 x 3 = 6, therefore, 3 x 2 = 6.

Year 3 will recap multiplication facts learnt in Year 2, reinforcing the 2, 5 and 10 times table. By the end of Year 3, children will have covered the 4, 8, 3 and 6 times tables.

Year 4 will build on this to reinforce the 3 and 6 times tables before moving on to the 12, 7, 9 and 11 times tables.

Times Tables Rockstars 

To support our children with practising their multiplications, we use ‘Times Tables Rockstars’ as an online and fun learning platform.  All children have individual usernames and passwords to allow them to access the website at home. 

Useful links