Maths

Without mathematics there's nothing you can do. Everything around you is mathematics. Everything around you is numbers.

- Shakuntala Devi

No employment can be managed without arithmetic, no mechanical invention without geometry.

- Benjamin Franklin

Vision

Our vision is to nurture articulate, confident, curious mathematicians with a love for the subject. We want our pupils to have an understanding and appreciation that maths is a fundamental part of everyday life and the world we live in.

For a one page overview of maths in Penwortham please click the image below.

What do the children learn and when?

To learn more about progression in maths please click the image below.

How do we teach maths?

From Nursery to Year 6, we teach maths using the Mastery approach which consists of five big ideas: coherence, mathematical thinking, variation, fluency and thoughtful use of representation and structure.

To support our planning of small, sequenced steps for successful Mastery teaching, we use a range of resources such as White Rose, NCETM and DfE ‘Ready to Progress’ guidance which we review and adapt to ensure learning is accessible to all.

We place a high emphasis on mathematical talk and our lessons include regular opportunities for the children to discuss their understanding and explain their thinking, both with adults and their peers. Accurate use of vocabulary is a key feature of our lessons, with teachers modelling and expecting it from the children from Nursery up to Year 6.

In Nursery and Reception, maths planning is informed by guidance from Development Matters, White Rose and the NCETM ‘Six Areas of Early Mathematics Learning’. Children have the opportunity to develop their early mathematical skills through child initiated play and adult led activities in both the indoor and outdoor areas. In addition to this, whole class maths sessions are taught daily.

Online platforms such as Times Tables Rock Stars are used to boost mathematical skills.
We use Times Tables Rock Stars to encourage fluency in multiplication and division facts with regular tournaments. Weekly tasks are set on Mathletics for homework to consolidate learning.

We also work very closely with the SW London Maths Hub to ensure we have the most up to date guidance and training.

Assessment

Teachers continuously assess throughout each lesson. Through prompt intervention or targeted questioning we ensure that the learning needs of all children are identified and addressed with the necessary support or challenge.

We use formal Testbase assessments twice a year to support teachers' judgements and the statutory KS2 tests at the end of 6.

Our learning

What pupils at Penwortham say about maths:

Archie - I really love Maths and I want to help people who aren’t so confident to become more so. I look forward to helping organise TTRS tournaments too, writing in the Globe and generally helping others.

Abdullah - Maths is my favourite subject and I would really like other children to love it too. I am looking forward to helping out and giving tips for getting out of the learning pit!

Aya - I love Maths! I have really enjoyed the TTRS tournaments and am looking forward to organising more of them. Times tables are very important if you want to do well in Maths

Maths Week 2022 - ‘Maths Makes the World Go Round’ focused on the importance of maths in the world around us and encouraged children to explore how they can take their love of maths into possible future careers. We also found out about mathematicians from a range of backgrounds who have inspired us and helped change the world through maths.

Click here (Maths Week Highlights)

Enrichment

Maths Bee - in the Summer term we shall once again be holding our own Maths Bee for Years 4, 5 and 6 where the children have to answer as many times tables and division facts as they can in 1 minute in front of a hall full of children! Each year the standard just gets better and better and we are excited to see how fast our amazing, brave competitors are later this year. Click here to read more about the buzz in previous years!

Chocolate Trading at Deloitte - please click the image below to find out more

How to help your child at home

If you would like to know more about how we teach maths using resources (manipulatives), please click here. There are also some great child led videos which are a useful guide for showing the mastery approach to calculations, and are particularly helpful for highlighting the vocabulary your child will use in school.

Click below to watch.

How we teach short division (bus stop method)

How we teach column addition (compact method)

How we teach column subtraction (without exchange)

How we teach column subtraction (with exchange)

How we teach column subtraction (compact method)