We currently run 10-day time timetables across Years 1-6. Maths lessons are timetabled daily across days 1-9. In some year groups, Maths is also timetabled on day 10; this is dependent on cohort needs and is adaptable to meet priorities.

Maths is timetabled for between 1 hour, 15 minutes and 1 hour, 30 minutes daily, dependent upon the cohort.

Timestables rehearsal takes place within the timetabled Mathematics lesson.

National curriculum expectation regarding multiplication tables:

By the end of year 4, pupils should have memorised their multiplication tables up to and including the 12 multiplication table and show precision and fluency in their work.

At the beginning of each lesson, children will take part in a mental maths warm-up, which will address their recall of multiplication tables.

Children also access Timestable Rockstars, which is an application designed to improve recall of multiplication tables in an engaging way. Children are encouraged to use this at home as regularly as possible and will have experience of this once every half-term in a Maths lesson in school.

The recall and accuracy of multiplications for each child is assessed and monitored using teacher judgements on Learning Ladders and pupil achievements on Timestable Rockstars.

Intent for multiplication tables

The National Curriculum states: ‘By the end of year 4, pupils should have memorised their multiplication tables up to and including the 12-multiplication table and show precision and fluency in their work.’ At Temple Meadow, out aim is to ensure that all children leave primary school confident and competent with all aspects of mathematics, including multiplication tables. This will also provide children with a skill that helps to unlock inter-curricular units, as well as providing pupils with a skill for life.

Implementation for multiplication tables

At the beginning of each lesson, children will take part in a multiplication table learning activity, which will address their recall of multiplication tables. These activities will be games designed to engage all learners and provide children with songs, rhymes and activities to remember tables up to and including 12x12. Teachers will also use knowledge retrievers to check understanding of timetables.

Children access Timestable Rockstars, which is an application designed to improve recall of multiplication tables in an engaging way. Children are encouraged to use this at home as regularly as possible and will have experience of this once every half-term in a Maths lesson in school. The Timestable Rockstars leaderboard in the KS2 Corridor is changed weekly to encourage competition and an increase in speed and accuracy.

Year 3 and Year 4 cohorts will undergo regular multiplication table mock testing, which will enable current standards to be evident and target setting to be completed to enhance standards further.

Impact for multiplication tables

A secure understanding of the multiplication tables not only provides a skill for life, but is the key aspect of unlocking many other principles within the mathematics curriculum. The impact of this will be measured using our internal assessment system and formative assessments.

Fluency, reasoning and problem-solving are stated in the national curriculum as the key aims for showing progress:

Aims

The national curriculum for mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils:

• 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.

All children will begin each unit by working through the fluency-based skills linked to that specific unit of work. Once complete, the teachers will provide the children with reasoning challenges which require the children to think mathematically and often explain their answers. Finally, children will be required to solve problems linked to the unit they are studying. This requires them to bring together all of their knowledge from fluency and reasoning and think logically about breaking a problem down to find the correct solution.

When teaching a new topic, teachers will always consider previous experience. If the topic has not been taught before, then the children will begin using concrete materials. As their confidence and knowledge grows, the children will move onto pictorial representations of problems before finally attempting abstract representations.

Concrete, pictorial and abstract example:

Knowledge retrieval

Each child will begin a lesson with a knowledge retrieval. The knowledge retriever will ask children to answer a question linked to prior knowledge/learning. From this, children are regularly revisiting previous units and teachers can judge if knowledge is secure.

Practise

Children will have a new concept modelled to them by the teacher and then practise these skills to a range of questions in their exercise books. Dependent upon the stage of the learning journey, these questions will be fluency, reasoning or problem-solving based.

Challenge

After practising their newly acquired knowledge to a range of questions, the children will then have an opportunity to apply this to a challenge question. This is designed to be a question that a child answers independently by using their new knowledge. For statutory assessment year groups, these challenge questions can be examples of past SATs questions.

To ensure pupils have high expectations set of them, and the use of vocabulary is consistent throughout school, teaching staff refer to the Calculation Policy for agreed mathematical terminology. The Calculation Policy refers to Singapore Mathematics vocabulary, along with more specialised terminology for more abstract units. Pupils also become familiar with the terms, ‘Varied Fluency’, ‘Reasoning’ and ‘Problem Solving’ within their mathematical journey each academic year.

Pupils will often use collaborative techniques, such as SNAP 2, to talk with another member of the class. When doing so, pupils have the opportunity to rehearse key vocabulary.

Our continuous provision approach ensures some aspects of Maths are evidenced within other subject areas. This allows more time in the Mathematics curriculum to masker key concepts. Therefore, units such as statistics are taught within a scientific of geographical lesson.

Abstract concepts, such as time, are delivered continuously throughout the school day. This ensures pupils see time as a real concept and can draw on current experiences. Each classroom is equipped with a 12-hour and 24-hour digital and analogue clock. This allows pupils to see the link between 12-hour and 24-hour representations of time.

Teachers use live working walls to display relevant modelling, use of key vocabulary and examples of outcomes. Children are actively encouraged to engage with this resource, when working through a Maths learning journey. Learning walls should have the following headings: Big problem, fluency, reasoning, problem-solving.

Teachers will use the different headings on the learning wall as they enter each phase of the learning journey.

All planning for Maths is captured on one grid. This is then uploaded to a shared area so all staff can access this if required.

Examples of planning:

Each classroom environment has a Maths table-top display, which contains all items that pupils will require in the majority of day-to-day maths lessons. This includes: egg boxes, cubes, dienes, number lines, abaci etc. In order to support teachers, there is a clear resource catalogue set up so that the expected classroom resources can be identified. This resource catalogue also details the resources stored centrally in the resource cupboard, which is for more specialist mathematical units such as measurement.

Example:

A number formation strategy, which will work similarly to that of pen licencing, enables pupils to master this fundamental skill early in their mathematical learning journey. Pupils will practise their number formation within their exercise books, as modelled by the teacher. Once at the expected standards, pupils will receive their award.  The display board is located in the KS1 building and will be updated regularly to celebrate those children achieving expectations consistently when forming numbers.

Inclusion is vital across the curriculum but particularly through our Maths curriculum. Children are taught Maths in sets, as this allows children to move at a pace that is appropriate for their learning. We have high expectations of all children to achieve their very best, at their own pace and learning level. Teachers must skilfully differentiate access to mathematical concepts and consider the scaffolding required for each pupil to achieve their next steps within our assessment system. All learning must always meet the needs of all pupils.

Assessment is an ongoing process in Maths. Children receive verbal and written feedback (in line with our Feedback and Presentation Policy) in every lesson to allow them to make good progress. Children are encouraged to make judgements about how they can improve their own work and that of their peers based how successfully they have met the Learning Intention set for the lesson. Learning Intentions link to the statements on the Learning Ladders and are discussed with the children at the start of each lesson, so they are able to assess their own success.

Teachers and learning support gather evidence on children’s progress within the Learning Ladders and this allow us to track their progress, as well as identifying their gaps or next steps in learning. The Learning Ladders are kept ‘live’ by teachers, and are updated regularly, to maintain an accurate picture of progress in Maths.

Once children have secured an objective within the learning ladders they earn a ticket in the Safe of Success. This is a motivational strategy to encourage children to be fully involved in understanding their own next steps in learning and celebrating their success once achieved. Once per term children in the Safe of Success are entered into a prize draw. 

Typically, a pupil who has mastered the entire Year 1 curriculum they would move into Year 2 at 100 points. Mastery then within Year 2, will see the pupils score increase to 200 at the beginning of Year 3. This progresses through the school in the same way.

We would typically expect children to achieve at least 70 points progress each academic year to be progressing though the National curriculum.

The Gap analysis tool is vital to support teachers when planning for individual children next steps.

In Year 2 and 6 children sit statutory assessments (SATs) and will have many experiences of mock SATs throughout the academic year.  

We make smart links to Science, Geography and Computing.

Our continuous provision approach ensures some aspects of Maths are evidenced within other subject areas. This allows more time in the Mathematics curriculum to masker key concepts. Therefore, units such as statistics are taught within a scientific of geographical lesson.