Maths
At
Newport
At Newport Community School Primary Academy, teachers give children the opportunity to become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, making connections between all areas of Maths through varied and frequent practice. Children’s learning focuses on developing mathematical understanding through concrete resources, pictorial representations and finally into the numerical abstract.
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Children are supported to develop a rich mathematical language which they will use to communicate with their peers, allowing them to use their creativity to conjecture relationships, justify and provide proofs. Children are inherently curious and through varied Maths teaching strategies, this curiosity is fostered and encouraged. Children are supported to develop resilience when solving problems, breaking them down into easier to manage steps. Through rich, contextual mathematics, children solve real-world problems, linked to Learning Explorations where appropriate.
For our Maths curriculum, we use a range of resources including NCETM, Times Table Rock Stars and practical, hands-on resources, and follow White Rose Maths, a small step, mastery-based scheme of learning that provides coherent sequencing for the primary Maths curriculum.
The understanding of Maths starts in Phase 1 (EYFS), where children practise their skills of cardinality and counting, and early Measure and Shape and Direction in small groups with adults and through provision. As children move into Reception classes, they begin to explore Maths in short whole-class inputs and through learning opportunities within their continuous provision.
As they move into Phase 2 and 3 (KS1 and 2), daily Maths lessons take place. Lessons are structured using a small steps approach to build understanding through the lesson with opportunities built in for children to tackle increasingly complex problems that will develop their conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge.
In Phase 2 and 3 (KS1 and 2), children’s knowledge and understanding are assessed through the use of PUMA standardised Maths tests. Gaps in learning are identified to enable teachers to plan for pupils to keep up with the appropriate learning.