Mathematics

At Hawkesley Church Primary Academy we aim to teach children how to make sense of the world around them by developing their ability to calculate, reason and solve problems. We aim to support children in achieving economic well-being by equipping them with a range of computational skills and the ability to solve problems in a variety of contexts by delivering a mastery curriculum.

National Curriculum aims for Mathematics are:

• become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.
• reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language
• can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and nonroutine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.

At Hawkesley we ensure our Mathematics curriculum:

• promotes enjoyment of learning through practical activity, exploration and discussion;
• develops confidence and competence with numbers and the number system;
• to develop the ability to solve problems through decision-making and reasoning in a range of contexts;
• develops a practical understanding of the ways in which information is gathered and presented; to explore features of shape and space, and developing measuring skills in a range of contexts;
• helps children understand the importance of mathematics in everyday life.
• enables children to become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.

We aim for children to master the key areas and domains in Mathematics, narrowing the gap between the most and least able learners. The expectation is that the majority of pupils will move through the programmes of study at broadly the same pace. However, decisions about when to progress will always be based on the security of pupils’ understanding and their readiness to progress to the next stage. Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly will be challenged to deepen their understanding by being offered rich and sophisticated problems and not accelerate through to new content.

Mathematics is a symbolic, abstract language. To decode this language, symbols need to come alive and speak so clearly to children that it becomes as easy to understand as reading a story. We believe that all students, when introduced to a key new concept, should have the opportunity to build competency in this topic by taking the concrete-pictorial-abstract approach.

During our daily lessons we encourage children to count aloud, practice fluency, problem solving and reasoning skills and ask mathematical questions. We develop their ability to independently select and use appropriate concrete apparatus to support their conceptual understanding and build procedural fluency. They have the opportunity to independently access and use a wide range of resources to support their work. We develop the children’s ability to represent problems using visualisation skills, including jottings and pictorial representations. Wherever possible, we provide meaningful contexts and encourage the children to apply their learning to everyday situations. Although mathematics is best taught discretely, it has many cross-curricular links.

Our school offers a demanding and varied curriculum, providing children with a range of opportunities in order for them to reach their full potential and consistently achieve highly from their starting points.