At Boney Hay Primary Academy, we value Mathematics and we want our children to understand that Maths is essential to everyday life. We want children to grow up with a deep understanding of Mathematics and we recognise that Maths teaches us how to make sense of the world around us, whether it be calculating the total amount of money we need to purchase items or weighing precise amounts of ingredients when following a recipe. Maths helps us to develop problem solving and reasoning skills that allow us to solve a variety of problems.
From Reception to Year 6, we follow the White Rose Mathematics scheme. This aligns with the National Curriculum for Mathematics, which aims to ensure that all pupils:
All children are encouraged to believe in their ability to master maths and are empowered to succeed through curiosity and resilience, while tackling the same concepts at the same time and progressing together as a whole class. The ‘small step approach’ used in the White Rose Scheme allows children to keep up not catch up as children are given the opportunity to build upon their prior knowledge. Each session includes questions designed to unpick the structure of the maths and deepen the children’s understanding. When children talk about maths concepts, they develop the vital mathematical language that helps them explain their ideas.
Through the White Rose scheme, we follow the CPA (Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract) approach in Maths lessons, which is a highly effective approach to teaching that develops a deep and sustainable understanding of maths in pupils. This means that children are first introduced to new maths concepts using concrete materials, for example sharing out cubes to solve a division problem. This is then represented in pictorial form before being shown as an abstract number sentence.
In addition to our daily Maths lessons, each class from Reception to Year 6 hold a daily maths meeting in which they work on securing number facts. In Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 we follow the NCETM Mastering Number programme which exposes children to number facts in a variety of representations. By the end of year 2, we expect children to be fluent in their number facts within 20.
As children progress from KS1 into KS2, we focus on securing times table facts. We achieve this by introducing times tables through concrete and pictorial representations and practising counting using songs and chants daily. Children also take part in regular low stakes quizzes of their times table facts each week and access Times Table Rockstars to increase their speed of recall. The table below outlines our end of year expectations for each year group, showing the number fact and times table knowledge we expect our children to have at the end of each year.
In year 4, all pupils take part in the Multiplication Tables Check (MTC).
‘The Multiplication Tables Check (MTC) is a key stage 2 assessment to be taken by pupils at the end of year 4 (in June). The purpose of the MTC is to make sure the times table knowledge is at the expected level. The MTC is an online test where the pupils are asked 25 questions on times tables 2 to 12. For every question you have 6 seconds to answer and in between the questions there is a 3 second rest. Questions about the 6, 7, 8, 9, and 12 times table come up more often. The questions are generated randomly based on the rules of the MTC.‘ (Timestables.co.uk)
We encourage pupils to access Times Table Rockstars for 10-15 minutes daily at home to build their confidence in answering times table questions on a computer speedily.
Download copies of our calculation policies as well as our yearly overviews from Reception to Year 6 to see what content is taught in each year group at each stage in the year. In addition to this, these videos from maths experts in our school demonstrate key methods used for the four operations.
Calculation Policy - Addition & Subtraction
Calculation Policy - Multiplication & Division
Times Table Rockstars – Each child from year 1-6 has their own log-in for this to practise their times table facts online at home daily
MTC Practise Times Table Test – Recommended for year 4 pupils to practise the MTC
https://talkingtimestables.uk/y4_ks2_mtc_practice_tests_multiplication_tables_check.php
White Rose Maths – Advice and guidance for parents on our Maths scheme
https://whiteroseeducation.com/parent-pupil-resources/maths#start
Hit the Button – Quickfire number fact questions
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
BBC Number Blocks – Short videos to develop the concept and understanding of number recommended for children in Reception and KS1
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/shows/numberblocks
Topmarks – Range of maths games to consolidate what pupils learn in school
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/counting
NRICH – Maths problem solving activities for children
https://nrich.maths.org/primary
ICT Games – Interactive Maths games, covering a range of skills
https://ictgames.com/mobilePage/index.html
Mathsframe – Hundreds of maths games
https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/category/22/most-popular
Lego Maths – See how much you can learn with the simple Lego brick!
Chess – Learn to play the ultimate strategy game
https://www.chesskid.com/learn/videos/an-introduction-to-chess
My Money – Resources to support using money from Young Enterprise
https://www.young-enterprise.org.uk/MMW/
The Fiver challenge – Challenge your child to start a business with just £5 in 4 weeks!
