1. The Divine Mercy RC Primary School - Maths Curriculum Intent

 “Teach us to count up the days that are ours, and we shall come to the heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)

At The Divine Mercy we reflect the National Curriculum aims:

• Mathematics is a journey and long-term goal, achieved through exploration, clarification, practice and application over time.  
• At each stage of learning, children should be able to demonstrate a deep, conceptual understanding of the topic and be able to build on this over time.
• We know there are 3 levels of learning: 1) Shallow learning – surface, temporary, often lost. 2) Deep learning: it sticks, can be recalled and used. 3) Deepest learning – it can be transferred and applied in different contexts.  At The Divine Mercy, deep and deepest are what we are aiming for by teaching maths using the Mastery approach.
• Mathematics is an essential part of a balanced curriculum that is both well matched to and challenging to the learner’s needs.  
• All learners should become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics with the ability to communicate mathematically when reasoning and solving problems by the application of their mathematical understanding.
• We endeavour to ensure that children develop an enthusiastic attitude towards maths that will stay with them throughout their lives and enable them to make a positive difference to their communities.
• We want our children to be able to make connections between mathematics and other areas of the curriculum, for example – science and geography

1. In this subject:

At The Divine Mercy, we believe in Mastery for all.  We are on our journey towards mastery teaching and we have tailored our approach to the children in our school.  It is our strong belief that everyone can master maths at their own level.  Teachers draw on a range of resources to create the best possible learning environment for our pupils, moving the children from the stages of pictorial and lastly to abstract.  Time is taken as decided by the teacher to revisit and consolidate topics through the year to help ensure deep learning and prevent any gaps in learning.  Reasoning is part of every lesson, and the use of talk partners, enables the children to verbalise and discuss their understanding.  Working walls in each classroom allow the children to ‘explore’ maths and remind children of key mathematical facts they need to memorise.

Assessment of National Curriculum objectives is carried out by the class teacher and the use of Teacher assessment and end of unit tests.  Tests are carried out to assess against the age related expectations of each year group.  Along with evidence in books and from lessons, assessment weeks are held termly using the end of unit tests to inform the teacher’s decisions and to pinpoint gaps in children’s learning that need consolidation or intervention. Year 2 and 6 also use past SATs papers for end of term assessments.  At The Divine Mercy, we are committed to ensuring that children are able to recognise the importance of maths in the wider world and that they are also able to use their mathematical skills and knowledge confidently in their lives in a range of different contexts.  We want all the children to enjoy Maths and to experience success in the subject, with the ability to reason mathematically.  We are committed to developing children’s curiosity about the subject, as well as an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics.  

Jesus I Trust in You

Implementation

​Throughout all key stages we use a Singapore teaching approach.  The teaching of this approach mathematics develops pupils mathematical ability and confidence without having to resort to memorising procedures to pass tests - making mathematics more engaging and interesting. The Singapore approach supports the aims of the new national curriculum focusing on developing fluency, problem solving and reasoning.

At the Divine Mercy, we will be using Maths No Problem to support mathematical learning within all phases - EYFS, KS1 and KS2. Watch the maths no problem video below to find out more about the concrete, pictorial and abstract approach used throughout Maths No Problem. 

We use a range of resources to widen opportunities for reasoning and problem solving in lessons including: Mathsteaser, I see Reasoning, White Rose Maths Hub resources, NCETM Teaching for Mastery. 

Teachers will ensure children achieve high standards by:
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• Using individual support and same day intervention to ensure all children achieve understanding in each lessons.
• Develop lessons to encourage deep thinking and reasoning.
• Spending longer periods of time on topics to develop a strong understanding.
• Using carefully crafted lessons and resources to foster deep conceptual and procedural knowledge.
• Using practice and consolidation to develop mathematical fluency and understanding.
• Teachers will use precise questioning in class to assess pupils regularly to identify those requiring intervention so that all pupils keep up.
• Teachers will ensure there are opportunities to challenge all learners in lessons. 

Singapore Maths at a glance:

• Singapore consistently top the international benchmarking studies for maths teaching
• A highly effective approach to teaching maths based on research and evidence
• Builds students’ mathematical fluency without the need for rote learning
• Introduces new concepts using Bruner’s Concrete Pictorial Abstract (CPA) approach
• Pupils learn to think mathematically as opposed to reciting formulas they don’t understand
• Teaches mental strategies to solve problems such as drawing a bar model

Maths No Problem Parental access 

To support your child’s learning, we’re giving you an online version of your child’s maths textbook and workbook called Parent Guides.

Once you're signed in, you'll be able to access maths content, help guides and lesson support for:

England

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Sign up for Parent Guides by following this link and entering this access code.

Link: https://hub.mathsnoproblem.com/self-signup/K7AIVGV

Access Code: K1TZS3L

Useful websites to support your child