Maths Intent

At St Michael’s, we aim to provide an inclusive approach to teaching mathematics with an emphasis on building resilience and self-confidence, which is accomplished in three ways:

• Firstly, we develop a conceptual and relational understanding of mathematics through a concrete, pictorial, abstract (CPA) approach supported by the Numicon methodology. We expect children to develop fluency, recall and apply knowledge efficiently and accurately.
• Next, we encourage children to use mathematical language and explicitly teach key vocabulary, which strengthens their understanding and allows them to ask and answers questions.
• Finally, we have adopted a mastery approach whereby we provide opportunities for children to reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, looking for relationships and connecting ideas.  We support children to develop an argument and provide justification or proof.

Our curriculum aims to support pupils’ to calculate accurately and efficiently, solve contextual problems, reason confidently about their mathematical choices and to have a rich bank of mathematical knowledge that is useful for secondary school and beyond.

Maths Curriculum Implementation - Long Term Progression Map

Maths is taught every day and follows the following progression map:

Our aim at St Michael’s is to enable our children to make sense of the world around them through developing an ability to calculate, reason and solve problems.

Through their growing knowledge and understanding, we encourage our children to work together, providing opportunities to experience the National Curriculum through ‘real life’ contexts alongside formal approaches. We teach mathematics using the Numicon approach. Numicon encourages children to explore maths using structured imagery and concrete apparatus, in order to understand and explain mathematical concepts.

The teaching behind the ‘Numicon‘ approach emphasises three key aspects of doing mathematics: communicating mathematically, exploring relationships and generalizing; all key elements for helping children to develop a deeper level of understanding.

Alongside the teaching methods is a practical approach to problem solving, in which children are given the opportunity to use maths equipment to practise and consolidate their skills and understanding.

To understand the importance of mathematics in everyday life, we promote:

• enjoyment and enthusiasm for learning through practical activities, making sense of new concepts
• confidence, competence and fluency with numbers and the number system
  the ability to rapidly recall facts and apply mental calculations appropriately
• the ability to solve problems through decision-making and reasoning in a range of contexts
• the use and understanding of mathematical language
• practical understanding of the ways in which information is gathered and presented
• opportunities to challenge and test findings, using appropriate and efficient strategies
• the exploration of Geometry, and development of measuring skills in a range of contexts

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The Numicon videos below further explain the Numicon approach.