Maths at Penns Primary School

What is mathematics and why is it important?

Mathematics is the means by which we observe and make sense of our world. In this subject, students learn to understand, explain, predict and represent events, make informed choices and tackle everyday problems. Mathematics is of central importance to modern society. It is key to jobs in our digital economy and critical to science, technology, finance and engineering. Mathematics is necessary for any employment or independent life and we encourage our children to recognise this.

We aim to prepare children for the next stage of their education and lay the foundations for successful lives after school. We recognise the importance of preparing children for the jobs of tomorrow, which will require greater mathematical skills than in the past, including thinking mathematically in order to use technology that as yet doesn’t even exist.

Mastery

Our teaching aims are aligned with those of the National Curriculum: fluency, reasoning and problem solving – both in the mathematics lesson and across the curriculum. We place strong focus on the acquisition of basic number facts and fluency in arithmetic procedures, alongside developing conceptual understanding enabling pupils to solve increasingly complex problems in maths, across the curriculum and later in the workplace and life in general.

We teach for mastery; this means that all children are taught one set of mathematical concepts and the big ideas in mathematics. Lessons are carefully crafted in order to allow all pupils to access these concepts and ideas and explore the rich connections between them. We have high expectations of our pupils and strive to make the mathematics curriculum accessible to all, providing different tools to scaffold learning and questions to challenge deeper thinking. Pupils across a year group will move through the programmes of study at broadly the same pace. We recognise that all children need a deep understanding of the mathematics they are learning in order that future learning is built upon firm foundations.

At Penns Primary School we believe everyone is capable of learning mathematics, given sufficient time, good teaching, appropriate resources and effort. We aim to build resilience in pupils to ensure all pupils leave us with sound mathematical skills, which will enable them to realise their potential. Part of this approach includes adopting a ‘growth mindset’.

Planning

We believe that the key to success with all learners is quality first teaching. This is promoted through ongoing bespoke professional development. Planning is underpinned by the 5 Big Ideas of Teaching for Mastery using a textbook from the DfE approved list, Power Maths, to provide a coherent learning journey. 

Maths at Penns Primary School

What is mathematics and why is it important?

Mathematics is the means by which we observe and make sense of our world. In this subject, students learn to understand, explain, predict and represent events, make informed choices and tackle everyday problems. Mathematics is of central importance to modern society. It is key to jobs in our digital economy and critical to science, technology, finance and engineering. Mathematics is necessary for any employment or independent life and we encourage our children to recognise this.

We aim to prepare children for the next stage of their education and lay the foundations for successful lives after school. We recognise the importance of preparing children for the jobs of tomorrow, which will require greater mathematical skills than in the past, including thinking mathematically in order to use technology that as yet doesn’t even exist.

Mastery

Our teaching aims are aligned with those of the National Curriculum: fluency, reasoning and problem solving – both in the mathematics lesson and across the curriculum. We place strong focus on the acquisition of basic number facts and fluency in arithmetic procedures, alongside developing conceptual understanding enabling pupils to solve increasingly complex problems in maths, across the curriculum and later in the workplace and life in general.

We teach for mastery; this means that all children are taught one set of mathematical concepts and the big ideas in mathematics. Lessons are carefully crafted in order to allow all pupils to access these concepts and ideas and explore the rich connections between them. We have high expectations of our pupils and strive to make the mathematics curriculum accessible to all, providing different tools to scaffold learning and questions to challenge deeper thinking. Pupils across a year group will move through the programmes of study at broadly the same pace. We recognise that all children need a deep understanding of the mathematics they are learning in order that future learning is built upon firm foundations.

At Penns Primary School we believe everyone is capable of learning mathematics, given sufficient time, good teaching, appropriate resources and effort. We aim to build resilience in pupils to ensure all pupils leave us with sound mathematical skills, which will enable them to realise their potential. Part of this approach includes adopting a ‘growth mindset’.

Planning

We believe that the key to success with all learners is quality first teaching. This is promoted through ongoing bespoke professional development. Planning is underpinned by the 5 Big Ideas of Teaching for Mastery using a textbook from the DfE approved list, Power Maths, to provide a coherent learning journey.