How we teach mathematics at Crofton Infants’ School
At Crofton Infants we use the maths mastery approach to deliver our maths curriculum. Mastering maths means pupils of all ages acquiring a deep, long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of the subject. The end goal and expectation is for all pupils (with very limited exceptions) to have acquired the fundamental facts and concepts of maths for their year group. Achieving mastery means acquiring a solid enough understanding of the maths that’s been taught to enable pupils to move on to more advanced materials.
What a daily Maths session looks like at Crofton Infants
EYFS
Reception
In Early Years, children will develop firm mathematical foundations in a way that is engaging, and appropriate for their age. This will be planned using the 6 core elements of maths as follows:
- Cardinality
- Comparison
- Composition
- Pattern
- Shape & space
- Measures
The team plan a range of activities which include direct teaching, planned activities in the environment and incidental teaching to support children in the learning environment.
Key Stage 1
Daily Fluency lesson 10-15minutes. Children will develop fluency in calculation and number and be able to clearly communicate their mathematical ideas. The children will use manipulatives to support mathematical structures.
Main Maths session 1 hour. Children cover the maths mastery curriculum. Teachers follow the NCETM curriculum prioritisation framework to ensure depth of knowledge and logical sequencing of lessons. Teachers use the ready to ready-to-progress criteria from the DFE to provide a coherent, linked framework to support pupils’ mastery of the primary mathematics curriculum. Lessons use concrete manipulatives, high quality pictorial representations, quality first teaching and appropriate scaffolding to ensure all learners are engaged in every lesson.
Challenge : For those children who grasp concepts rapidly we challenge them using a range sophisticated problem, which deepen their knowledge of the same content. We also expect these pupils to independently explore the maths, make generalisations and explain their thinking systematically.
Same Day Intervention: Children are supported during the lesson to ensure they develop a firm understanding of the mathematical concept that is being taught. Teachers assess throughout the lesson to ensure that no child is left behind. Should a child not grasp the concept we use same day intervention (SDI) where the children will receive either a 1:1 or small group session to ensure they are ready for the next lesson.
Where children are working significantly below their year group curriculum, we use the Wakefield Progression steps to plan a coherent and progressive maths curriculum using a wide range of manipulatives.