Mathematics
Led by Miss McCullagh (maternity). Miss Hill and Miss Squire
At Newdale, we aim to inspire all children to reach their full potential. In order to teach our children to be confident and capable mathematicians, we use a range of teaching strategies. Teachers use a wide range of resources to plan exciting and motivating lessons, which address the three aims of the curriculum: Fluency, Reasoning and Problem Solving.
In the Early Years, we believe that developing children’s understanding of numbers to 10 is critical. In September 2021, the New Statutory Early Years Framework was introduced where the new Early Learning Goals (ELG) were set out. Newdale was an Early Adopter School meaning that we have already been working on these new objectives for the past year. Teachers use the Birth to Five Matters and Development Matters objectives when planning, in order to achieve the ELG’s at the end of Reception. In Nursery, children receive regular Numbers and Patterns lessons which are adapted to meet the needs of our pupils. The scheme helps children to become familiar with smaller numbers and begin to learn how to subitise numbers to 5. In Reception, this is built on and the children that achieve ELG at the end of Reception will be confident using and applying numbers to 10. To help the children with Problem Solving and Reasoning, the school has implemented several strategies to help support mathematical development. These include regular Messy Maths activities which allow children to explore, and problem solve using natural objects and Maths Storytime which allows the children to problem solve using the characters and themes in the book. In addition to this, Nursery have introduced snack time activities which allow the children to problem solve in small groups.
In Key Stage One and Two the sequence of learning is based on a spiral curriculum approach which involves regularly re-visiting the same mathematical topic over the course of each year. Each time the content is re-visited and the students gain deeper knowledge of the topic. We teach our children a wide range of written and mental strategies to solve calculations and real-life problems. Our aim is for them to be able to confidently choose the most efficient method when solving problems or calculating the answer to a question. We make maths contextual and help our children to see that maths is all around us, in everyday life. Enrichment and extension lies at the heart of our teaching and we use opportunities such as maths challenge days to fulfil this. We have embedded a set of non- negotiable maths targets to be met by every year group. We feel that the non – negotiables will give children and parents a greater understanding of what the children’s mathematical knowledge and skills should be at a particular age.
Our Maths policy shows our aims and values clearly. Please ask a member of staff if you would like a copy of our new Calculation Policy.
Our Calculation Policy sets out which mathematical equipment and methods are taught at Newdale and shows how your child will progress in their addition, subtraction, multiplication and division calculations.
For more information about what your child will be learning about in maths, please visit their class page.