Maths

At St Mary Magdalene Primary school we believe that children should receive an excellent foundation to Maths that is enjoyable. Our curriculum is planned to ensure that children develop fluency in basic Maths skills and have a strong understanding of number, measurement, statistics and geometry. These areas of Maths are deepened with problem solving and reasoning activities.

Every class from EYFS to Y6 follows the White Rose scheme of learning, which is based on the National Curriculum, giving children plenty of opportunities to work collaboratively and problem solve through high-quality speaking and listening. Children have daily Maths lessons, as well as opportunities to apply the skills they learn regularly in curriculum areas such as Science, DT and Computing. We focus not only on the mathematical methods but also place a significant emphasis on using and understanding mathematical vocabulary.

In both Nursery and Reception, children are given exciting, hands-on activities that enable them to explore basic number and numerical pattern. Children learn as a whole class, in small groups, as well as through stimulating activities which enable them to practice problem solving skills. This gives them the knowledge and skills they need to explore more formal teaching when they reach Year 1.

From Year 2, children challenge themselves to win medals by learning and then recalling their times-tables fluently. Not only is it wonderful to see children demonstrating our Christian value of endurance each week as they work towards achieving a times table medal, but the children in Year 5 and Year 6 also demonstrate our Christian value of compassion by tutoring their peers in order to help them win one too. Once children have learnt all of their times-tables (and won a bronze, silver and gold medal) they can compete in the weekly Fastest Time Challenge!

By the end of KS2 we aim for children to be fluent in the fundamentals of Maths and have the ability to recall and apply knowledge accurately. They should have the skills to solve problems by applying their skills to a variety of situations, including real-life scenarios. They should also be able to give a verbal and written explanation and justification of mathematical concepts. Children will be able to reason mathematically by presenting a justification, argument or proof using mathematical language.