Maths

White Rose Maths at Mulgrave Primary School

At Mulgrave, we believe that mathematics is integral to all aspects of life and it is with this in mind we endeavour to ensure that children develop a confidence in their ability to approach a range of mathematical problems and make sense of our world. We aim not only to prepare our children for the next stage of their education but also to lay the foundations for successful lives after school and for the jobs of tomorrow, which will require great levels of mathematical knowledge and an ability to think in depth mathematically.

In our school, children are encouraged to explore and enjoy maths across the curriculum – bringing meaning and relevance through the interconnection of subjects such as Science, Computing and DT as well as many more. Furthermore, we aim to give all our pupils, particularly the most disadvantaged, the knowledge, experiences and ‘cultural capital’ necessary to become educated citizens and to succeed in life. We aim to cultivate enthusiastic mathematicians by enhancing their knowledge not only through our curriculum offer but also our and enrichment events.

The aims of our maths teaching at Mulgrave Primary School are aligned with the three core aims of the National Curriculum (fluency, reasoning and problem solving): both in the mathematics lesson and across the curriculum. We recognise that pupils need to learn basic number facts and acquire fluency in procedures, alongside developing conceptual understanding if they are to be able to reason and solve increasingly complex problems in life and later in the workplace. As a school, we have chosen the White Rose scheme of learning to help us achieve our intent.

We aim to ensure that all pupils:

• Become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics 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 non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.

In direct reference to National Curriculum, we will ensure that:

• Pupils acquire ‘core mathematical knowledge’ which will allow them to start to experience success and therefore begin to associate maths with ‘enjoyment and motivation’.
• Pupils have access to a wide range of fluency, reasoning and problem-solving questions, activities and tasks.
• The curriculum will be adapted to the needs of pupils and any gaps will be identify and closed.
• New content will ‘draw on and make links with’ previously acquired knowledge following a carefully sequenced curriculum that is ‘intelligently designed’.
• Before more complex strategies are taught, pupils should be confident using the linked facts and methods that form the strategy’s ‘building blocks’.
• Pupils will benefit from low stakes testing to ensure that they are well-prepared for assessments which will not only increase knowledge retention, but also improve pupils’ confidence in maths.

Please click on the links below for further information:

• Maths-in-Early-Years.pdf
• Maths-Year-1-6-2.pdf
• Free-maths-games-and-websites-to-support-your-child.pdf
• Frequently-Asked-Questions.pdf
• National-curriculum-and-Ready-to-progress-2024-2.pdf
• WRM-calculation-policy-2024-All-year-groups.pdf