Maths

At Suttons Primary, we believe Mathematics is an essential tool for everyday life.  It is a whole network of concepts and relationships which provide a way of viewing and making sense of the world.  It is used to analyse and communicate information and ideas and to tackle a range of practical tasks and real life problems.  We incorporate mathematics into a wide range of cross-curricular subjects and seek to take advantage of multi-cultural aspects of mathematics.

Our scheme of work is developed from the National Numeracy Strategy Framework for Teaching Mathematics and takes into consideration the needs of our children.   It is our aim to develop:

• a positive attitude towards mathematics and an awareness of the fascination of mathematics
• competence and confidence in mathematical knowledge, concepts and skills
• an ability to solve problems, to reason, to think logically and to work systematically and accurately.
• initiative and an ability to work both independently and in cooperation with others
• an ability to communicate mathematics
• an ability to use and apply mathematics across the curriculum and in real life
• an understanding of mathematics through a process of enquiry and experiment

Our approach to the teaching of mathematics within the school is based on three key principles:

• a mathematics lesson everyday of between 60 minutes, plus and additional 15minutes of skill development
• a clear focus on direct, instructional teaching and interactive oral work with the whole class and group
• an emphasis on mental calculation including number facts and time tables (Time tables challenges for Year 2 to Year 6)

Through careful planning and preparation we aim to ensure that throughout the school children are given opportunities for:

• practical activities and mathematical games
• problem solving
• individual, group and whole class discussions and activities
• open and closed tasks
• a range of methods of calculating eg. mental, pencil and paper and using a calculator
• working with computers as a mathematical tool

Children with Special Education Needs (SEN) are taught within the daily mathematics lesson and are encouraged to take part through carefully differentiated activities.  Learning Support Assistants (LSAs) provide additional intervention sessions for Mathematics through guidance from the class teacher.

Within daily mathematics lesson teachers not only provide activities to support children who find mathematics difficult but also activities that provide appropriate challenges for children who are high achievers in mathematics.

It is our school policy to provide parents and carers with opportunities to work with their children at home.  These activities may only be brief, but are valuable in promoting children’s learning in mathematics.

Resources