A member of Dales Academies Trust Our entire curriculum, including Mathematics, is underpinned by the Parable of ‘The Wise and Foolish Builders’
The Wise and Foolish Builders
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
At Oakbridge, we teach Maths Mastery which offers small steps of learning so all children can experience success. Maths Mastery offers reasoning opportunities throughout which encourages children to explore and develop their understanding of number.
This approach to teaching maths means that instead of learning mathematical procedures by rote, pupils develop a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts. This will enable them to make connections and apply their learning in different situations. Mastery is developed through the ‘Five Big Ideas’.
These ‘Five Big Ideas’ are embedded within our maths teaching to ensure pupils develop secure foundations in maths and can apply their knowledge to reason, investigate and problem solve in a variety of ways.
Representation and Structure
New concepts are introduced through a variety of carefully chosen representations and structures, to help all pupils see and understand the maths. These could include the use of double-sided counters, part-part-whole models, ten-frames, bar models, place value counters, base-ten or even stem-sentences. These representations become mental images that students can use to think about and discuss mathematics, supporting them to achieve a deep understanding of mathematical structures and connections.
Variation
The purpose of variation is to draw closer attention to a key feature of a mathematical concept or structure through varying some elements while keeping others constant. There are two elements to variation: conceptual and procedural. Both of these elements support pupils to develop a deeper understanding of the maths.
Conceptual variation: new concepts are introduced in a variety of ways so pupils recognise clearly what the concept is, and also what it is not! An example of this might be when introducing rectangles, that a square is a rectangle, but a rhombus is not – and why!
Procedural variation: activities and questions are carefully sequenced using small steps to connect the maths and draw attention to the structure. Pupils are encouraged to notice, reason logically and make connections to identify what is kept the same, what has changed and why!
Fluency
A secure understanding of early number is carefully built on to develop fluency and automaticity of key facts, such as number bonds and multiplication and division facts. Pupils also develop fluency of procedures, such as written methods for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Pupils are encouraged to make connections and therefore use and apply their knowledge flexibly to other contexts.
Mathematical Thinking
Mathematical thinking and discussion is at the heart of our lessons and includes looking for patterns and relationships, making connections, conjecturing, reasoning, and generalising. Pupils work on ideas, think about them, reason with and discuss them with others using precise mathematical language. We aim for reasoning to be throughout lessons, for all pupils, not at the end of lessons for some.
Coherence
Lessons and units of work are broken down into small, connected steps that gradually unfold and develop the concept. This provides access for all pupils to develop a deep and connected understanding of mathematics enabling them to apply the concept to a range of contexts.
Maths in EYFS
In Foundation Stage, our children receive short, taught maths sessions each day. One is based on the NCETM’s Mastering Number programme which focuses on number, and the other is based on the White Rose long term plan, which also encompasses shape, space and measure. Both of these can be seen by clicking on the links below. We aim to develop pupil’s maths knowledge in continuous provision in EYFS.
Click here to view our White Rose long term plan for EYFS
Click here to view our overview of Mastering Number in EYFS
Our calculation policy has been developed to guide teachers, parents, and pupils through the progression of strategies for the four operations—addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division from Year 1 to Year 6. It outlines how calculations are taught across the school and supports a consistent, structured, and mastery-based approach to mathematics
The policy has been created with reference to the NCETM Curriculum Prioritisation materials, with additional content incorporated to reflect the evolving needs of our pupils. It is a working document that will be reviewed and refined regularly in response to curriculum changes, teacher feedback, and pupil progress.
At the heart of this policy is the CPA approach (Concrete–Pictorial–Abstract), which is used flexibly to meet the needs of all learners. As far as possible, strategies and representations are introduced alongside one another to develop deep, secure understanding of number and calculation. Children are encouraged to explore a range of methods to develop fluency and confidence in both mental and written strategies. Children should only move on to abstract methods when they have demonstrated a secure understanding of the underlying concepts using concrete and pictorial representations. If a child experiences difficulty at any stage, they should be encouraged to revert to earlier representations to rebuild understanding and confidence. As children progress, representations should be modelled alongside each other (e.g. bar models used while introducing column methods) to maintain connections between conceptual and procedural understanding.
Supporting Documents and Resources
In Years 1-6, staff use the ‘Curriculum Prioritisation Curriculum Maps‘ from the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) to guide their teaching over the school year:
The DfE Ready-to-Progress criteria Mathematics guidance: key stages 1 and 2 (covers years 1 to 6)
The NCETM Calculation Guidance (October 2015), which offers a comprehensive reference for best practice in teaching calculations ncetm-calculation-guidance-october-2015.pdf
Maths Calculation Policy