Mathematics

At St Laurence Church Junior School, our intent is to promote a culture of enjoyment of mathematics and foster a resilience in pupils’. We aim for all of our children to become fluent, reason mathematically and solve problems with increasing sophistication.

Maths is taught daily in ability groupings across year groups.   Our curriculum is in line with the programme of study detailed in the National Curriculum for Mathematics.  Maths lessons are carefully planned and structured showing clear, progressive steps.  The idea is to teach each concept in depth, before moving on too quickly.  We focus on using concrete, pictorial and abstract representations in order to deepen children’s understanding of different concepts.  These are then re-visited throughout the academic year to ensure key learning has been embedded.

In line with the National Curriculum we aim to ensure that pupils:

• become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including 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

Alongside this, children are taught mental strategies to develop their speed with number; formal written methods to complement these and a range of problem-solving strategies to increase their confidence and handling of mathematics. We use Times Tables Rock Stars to promote the learning of multiplication and division facts at home.  This is a carefully sequenced programme of daily times tables practice that is accessible to all pupils in Key Stage 2. The online tool is aimed at improving multiplication facts recall speed and pupils are encouraged to climb the ladder to stardom whilst reinforcing and learning mathematical facts.

Homework is key to supporting children's learning and for the majority of the year pupils are given, and expected to complete, a weekly piece of homework.