Maths

Maths at Manor Field Infant School 

Curriculum Intent

At Manor Field Infant School, we believe that Mathematics and developing fluency, problem solving and reasoning skills are key to the children's education. Through the Maths curriculum, we will help children develop the skills and knowledge that will enable them to become lifelong learners. Primarily, we want all children to engage with and enjoy our Maths curriculum, no matter their age or stage and to develop and flourish during lessons. At Manor Field Infant School we believe in ‛teaching maths for mastery‛. In lessons we employ approaches that help pupils to develop a deep and secure knowledge and understanding of mathematics at each stage of their learning, so that by the end of every school year or Key Stage, pupils will have acquired mastery of the mathematical facts and concepts they've been taught. Within the concepts being taught children who have been identified as having a secure understanding of a concept are challenged with questioning and extensions to deepen their conceptual understanding. This is fundamental to their learning journey and here at Manor Field Infant School we focus on every child as an individual.

The national curriculum for mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils:

• Become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including the varied and regular practice of increasingly complex problems over time.
• Reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, understanding relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language.
• Can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.
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Mastery Approach

At Manor Field Infant School in January 2017, we began our journey for ‘Teaching for Mastery’ by introducing a mastery approach to our teaching and learning. Since September 2019, we have taken part in a ‘Teaching for Mastery Workgroup’, allowing us to further embed the ‘Teaching for Mastery Approach’.

The mastery-learning model means spending greater time going into depth when learning a concept or procedure and not racing through the curriculum. A mastery approach means that we are taking learning at a steadier and deeper pace, trying to ensure that children are not left behind; as well as providing deeper and richer experiences for children who are above the national expectation for their age. Effective teaching for mastery is underpinned by five big ideas.

Five Big Ideas

Coherence
Lessons are broken down into small connected steps that gradually unfold the concept, providing access for all children and leading to a generalisation of the concept and the ability to apply the concept to a range of contexts.

Representation and Structure
Representations used in lessons expose the mathematical structure being taught, the aim being that students can do the maths without recourse to the representation.

Mathematical Thinking
If taught ideas are to be understood deeply, they must not merely be passively received but must be worked on by the student: thought about, reasoned with and discussed with others.

Fluency
Quick and efficient recall of facts and procedures and the flexibility to move between different contexts and representations of mathematics.