Maths

What does maths look like at GLPA?

Mathematics is a key aspect of the curriculum and along with reading, writing, speaking and listening, including oracy, it makes a significant contribution to the development of pupils as thinkers and learners.

At Green Lane Primary Academy, we aim to do two things; encourage and develop a lifelong love of maths; and to teach pupils to be confident, fluent mathematicians who can reason and problem solve successfully as skilled and competent adults.

Maths is taught progressively and sequentially across the academy and begins the moment they begin in Nursery.

In the Foundation Stage, we know that pupils should be taught through practical ‘hands on’ learning experiences. There is a focus on mastery of early number. Frequent and varied learning opportunities right across the setting allow pupils to develop an understanding of relationships and pattern. They begin to reason about number, and problem solve through practical activities.

In Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, we use a way of teaching maths called Same Day Intervention (SDI).

SDI works perfectly to meet the needs of our pupils. By teaching using the SDI strategy, there are opportunities;

  • For direct teaching, modelling and scaffolding
  • For all pupils to work independently, in pairs or in groups
  • For all pupils to develop procedural fluency, varied fluency and reasoning and problem solving
  • For teachers to assess understanding and progress before either re-teaching, consolidating learning or extending pupils, on the same day
  • To use structured models and images across the lesson.

Alongside SDI, pupils are taught to quickly recall times tables facts. This helps them with, and gives them confidence with, all areas of maths. They become efficient, accurate mathematicians.

For those pupils who need support, in addition to SDI, we use a range of high-quality, trusted resources. An example of this is something called Ready to Progress, which is published by the DfE (Department for Education) and NCETM (National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics).

In addition to making lessons more engaging, manipulatives allow children to move through the CPA (Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract) approach to secure their understanding of mathematical concepts.

Concrete–The “doing” stage. Children experience and handle physical objects as they attempt to grasp a new concept.

Pictorial –The “seeing” stage. Children see or draw diagrammatical representations of objects in order to move from physical to abstract understanding.

Abstract–The “symbolic” stage. Children can access problems that are modelled using abstract symbols such as +, -, x, ÷, <, >.

Calculation strategy

Calculation methods at GLPA are based on the Delta calculation strategy.

Assessment

Children are assessed against the early learning goal in EYFS and the ready-to-progress criteria in Years 1-6. National assessments are administered at the end of Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

Maths Progression

Long term plan

Maths in Real Life

Data collection on Ribblesdale Avenue Year 2

Year 2 children have conducted their own mathematical investigation in the local community. We walked up and down Ribblesdale Ave trying to find answers to questions such as ‘What is the most popular colour of car?’ Children used tally charts to record their findings before returning to class and presenting their data using pictograms and bar charts. Finally the children interpreted their data by creating and answering their own questions.

Year 3 Visit Garforth Train Station

Year 3 children had an exciting maths lesson on the platform at East Garforth this morning! In class the children have been learning about time (using both analogue and digital clocks) as well as duration. We enjoyed working out the duration of our walk from the classroom to the platform, the time between expected incoming trains and predicting our arrival time back in Rowan and Oak based on our walk down to the station. There were lots of cheers as some children walked back into their class and saw the 24 hour clock on the class board was showing the exact time they had predicted as they left the platform! The children behaved very sensibly and it was really fun to use our maths learning in a practical way outside of the classroom!