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Our Learning

Being a Mathematician

Our Maths Curriculum 

At Barrs Court, daily Mathematics lessons are taught across the school. We aim to provide children with the essential Mathematics skills that they will need in everyday life, to develop their ability to recall number facts and to build their confidence and resilience. Children develop a deep understanding of concepts through opportunities to reason about their thinking in lessons. They also learn to solve problems and links are made to real-life scenarios, allowing children to apply their mathematical skills. Our curriculum provides a focussed progression in the skills and knowledge that children learn from Reception, throughout the school and children are supported and challenged appropriately, based on their individual starting points.

White Rose Maths Schemes of Learning

We follow the White Rose Schemes of Learning to teach Mathematics. This scheme was created by a team of highly experienced, leading Maths researchers and practitioners and the scheme is constantly being updated in line with National Curriculum expectations and guidance. There is a detailed curriculum for each year group and there are mixed year group curriculums for our mixed age classes. We ensure progression and coverage by following the small steps progression documents and revisiting previously taught concepts as necessary for individuals, groups or whole classes.

These schemes can be accessed by following the link below:

https://whiterosemaths.com/resources/primary-resources/primary-sols/

 

Early Years Number Sense (Reception) 

At Barrs Court we understand that children must have a strong understanding of the numbers to 10. They need to be able to play with them, make and break them, see them in different patterns and understand the relationship between them. To support the development of this knowledge within our daily Maths lessons, we use The Early Years Number Sense Programme which provides teaching resources and guidance that support the following aspects of the educational programme for mathematics in the 2021 statutory framework for the early years' foundation stage:

- Develop a deep understanding of the numbers to 10, the relationships between them and the patterns within those numbers.

- Provide rich opportunities for children to develop their spatial reasoning skills.

- Develop positive attitudes and interests in mathematics, look for patterns and relationships, spot connections, ‘have a go’, talk to adults and peers about what they notice and not be afraid to make mistakes

 

Number Facts Fluency Programme (Years 1 - 3)

We continue to deepen pupils' understanding of number facts while improving their factual fluency as they move into KS1 and Lower KS2 if necessary. We aim for children to be able to recall number facts automatically allowing them to make use of these facts to solve more complex Mathematical problems. We use The Number Facts Fluency Programme to support this area of Mathematical development. The programme teaches a defined set of addition and subtraction facts and a defined set of calculation strategies. The systematic and structured approach ensures children develop key visual pathways and learn important number relationships. This leads to a deep understanding of number and number relationships, and to becoming fluent in their recall addition and subtraction facts.

 

Daily Multiplication Challenge (Years 3 - 4)

We aim for the children to be fluent in their recall of multiplication and division facts by the end of Year 4. Times tables are taught in Lower KS2 once the children have grasped an understanding of the concepts of multiplying and dividing sets of objects and numbers in KS1. This is achieved through structured daily Multiplication Challenge sessions. Multiplication facts are taught in a specific order, building on previous learning. Children are taught to chant the facts following a specific sound pattern that helps to reduce their cognitive load and means that they learn to recognise and recall all of the associated facts. 

For example for the fact 6 x 7 = 42, children will learn to recognise the commutative fact 7 x 6 = 42 and the inverse 42 ÷ 7 = 6 and 42 ÷ 6 = 7. 

Children will continue to develop their fluency for multiplication and division facts throughout Upper KS2. 

Other Teaching Tools

Times Table Rock Stars

Progression in learning Times Table facts is mapped out and taught through our daily Multiplication challenge sessions. However, children are also encouraged to practise the Times Tables that they have been learning using the Times Table Rock Stars website/app. We also hold lots of fun, competitive events in school and with schools in the local area, such as ‘Battle of the Bands’ and ‘Beat the Teacher’ which aim to encourage children to enjoy their learning.

https://ttrockstars.com

Personal login provided 

Numbots

Children in all year groups (EYFS - Year 6) can practise number and calculation skills through engaging games using the website or free app. This app is used in school and is also available for them to use at home.

https://play.numbots.com/#/intro  

Personal login provided

White Rose 1 minute Maths app

This app is free to download on any device and links directly to our curriculum.  In EYFS, children learn to subitise (recognising amounts without counting) which they can practise through using this app. There are also games to support progression in calculation for all four operations for children across the school.

https://whiterosemaths.com/1-minute-maths  

 

Get in touch

Barrs Court Primary School
Stephens Drive, Longwell Green, Bristol, BS30 7JB

01454 867799