Intent

At Newtown Primary School, we teach for mastery, equipping children with the skills of fluency, reasoning and problem-solving that they need in life.  Pupils in each year group will move through the programmes of study at the same pace.  There are opportunities for deepening understanding for rapid graspers and scaffolds to support struggling learners.  Conceptual understanding is taught at the same time as procedural fluency in order to deepen mathematical thinking.  Children will then apply their understanding through real life problem-solving activities.

Implementation

Maths is taught daily through a mastery approach and lessons last for 1 hour.  The three aims of the National Curriculum (Fluency, Reasoning and Problem-solving) should be addressed within each objective.  Lessons begin with a re-cap of previous learning using a flashback four.  Learning is then introduced through a hook/anchor task.  Children then practise the discreet skill (fluency) before moving to varied fluency, reasoning and problem-solving.  Children should be able to demonstrate skills using concrete, pictorial and abstract forms.  Children are encouraged to journal/jot their thinking when problem-solving and reasoning.

The whole class is taught together, lessons are scaffolded and depth is available for children at some point within the lesson.  However, activities will not be differentiated unless there is an identified need to do so.

Times Tables Rock Stars

Times Table Rock Stars is an online resource used to improve the speed and accuracy of multiplication recall. It provides us, as teachers, accurate data of where children need to improve.  It also allows progress to be tracked through the year.  All children have a login and competitions are held with other year groups.

Please follow the link below to access the Times Tables Rock Stars website.

Numbots

Numbots is another fantastic resource made by the makers of Times Table Rock Stars. This resource focuses on number bonds and addition and subtraction representations. 

Our Goal - for pupils to use efficient mental calculation strategies to add and subtract two-digit numbers, so that they can leave counting on their fingers behind!

Similar to TT Rock Stars, children can complete different Maths tasks to get scores and rewards.  There is a challenge zone and a story zone for children to work through.  Both of these areas give the teacher live data as to how well the children are achieving and accessing.  Children get certificates and coins for achieving on both the challenge and the story area.

Please follow the link below to access the Numbots website.