Intent

At Pulham, we are passionate about developing and nurturing a comprehensive knowledge of number and how mathematics is all around us. Maths should be enjoyable, accessible and possible for all. We believe all children have the potential to achieve in Maths and therefore undertake the Maths Mastery approach. This allows all children exposure to maths concepts without limitations and lots of opportunities to deepen their understanding. We want our children to become confident mathematicians, able to use and apply their understanding of a variety of mathematical concepts to solve problems and reason their ideas with accurate mathematical vocabulary in both familiar and unfamiliar contexts. 

Implementation

At Pulham we encourage and nurture a “can do” attitude with Maths and begin this journey with a solid foundation of understanding the concept and value of number, building on this with small manageable steps as they progress through the year and ultimately, their Primary School education. Following extensive collaboration with our local Maths Hub, we have recently committed to be guided by the NCETM's Curriculum Prioritisation for teaching and learning. We following Mastering Number from Reception, through Key Stage One and are continuing this pedagogy into Key Stage 2, in the quest for all children to become masters of mathematical concepts at each child’s level.

A Typical Daily Maths Lesson:

• In Reception and Year 1, children will following the Mastering Number materials in their different year groups. These are short sessions that look deeply into each number and their composition. In these lessons, every child learns together using concrete resources, pictoral representations and stem sentences to embed concepts, mathematical language and understanding.

In Year Key Stage 1:

• Mastering Number sessions are separate to the main Maths lesson to further embed prior learning and understanding of number.
• A further daily Maths session is lead by the class teacher. These sessions explore new concepts, with links to prior knowledge made explicit by their teacher. Steps are small and manageable for all to learn together*. The sessions are mostly practical using concrete resources and pictoral representations to "see the Maths" before any abstract calculations are written down.

In Key Stage 2:

All children are learning together *

• 5 minutes practising times tables.
• 3 arithmetic practise questions based on the same previously taught concept, with children becoming more independent, building confidence with the concept as the week progresses.
• New learning - prior learning recap to recall previous lesson and this session's objective shared and unpicked.
• Input from teacher in which links to prior knowledge and its purpose is made explicit for the new learning.
• Next steps are introduced in small bite-sized chunks. Concepts are explicit and modelled by the teacher using concrete and/or pictoral representations to demonstrate the maths. Models follow an I do, we do, you do rotation to embed methods and understanding.
• Children then spend time applying this to problems independently.
• Learning is then built upon by further teacher input as before further independent application.
• Feedback is given during the lesson where possible. Children are encouraged to self-assess with adult leading.
• Mathematical thinking and reasoning is embedded throughout the lesson for all.

* In some circumstances, it may be that a child requires something different to their peers to help them be successful and make progress with their learning. Adjustments are made per each individual child and discussed with the Maths Lead and SENCo in this instance.

Children are taught new mathematical concepts using a CPA approach.

CPA = Concrete, Pictoral, Abstract

It is not limited to this order and not all 3 are always used or needed for each mathematical concept.

Concrete equipment supports a child’s visual understanding and physical representation of a concept - "seeing the maths" behind the calculation

Pictoral shows the concept with a drawn or picture representation to again "see the maths"

Abstract mathematical representation is the written calculation and written methods