Maths
At Dallow Primary School, we aim to improve the life chances of every child by ensuring that all children access a maths curriculum which is both engaging and challenging and allows them to develop the necessary skills to apply their knowledge in different contexts and areas of the curriculum. We follow the White Rose Maths curriculum, which supports a mastery approach. Skills are developed consistently over time with clear progression across year groups which allows the children to build upon the skills previously taught. We are committed to ensuring that children are able to recognise the importance of maths in the wider world and that they are also able to use their mathematical skills and knowledge confidently in their lives in a range of different contexts.
Mathematical topics are taught in blocks, to enable the achievement of ‘mastery’ over time. Each lesson phase provides the means to achieve greater depth, with more able children being offered rich and sophisticated problems, as well as exploratory, investigative tasks, within the lesson as appropriate.
There is also a whole school focus on fluency in Multiplication Tables as knowing the times tables, and their associated division facts, underpins mathematical learning and understanding; those children who have a strong grasp of them tend to be more self-assured when learning new concepts. The whole school from Y2 - Y6 engages in Times Tables Rockstars competitions!
Maths is also taught through a cross curricular approach, where skills are embedded across other subjects through IPC, and through real life experience where they use their problem solving skills eg money and time. This application of functional skills ensures the children are well prepared for secondary school and later life, where they can use what they have learnt to enter careers such as engineering, which is a key industry in our town.
Developing rich mathematical vocabulary is an essential part of our lessons as we have a high proportion of children within Dallow for whom English is an additional language. We use word of the week to develop the children’s understanding of mathematical language and address misconceptions which have been developed through their prior life experiences. For example, the definition of vocabulary such as ‘difference’ or ‘tables’ vary according to the context in which they are being used. We teach high quality worded problems in the same way that reading comprehension has been developed across the school. Using a similar practice to ‘answer it, prove it, explain it’ which the children are familiar with form their English lessons. Oracy is a large part of lessons where children are encouraged to explain their thinking using full sentences and the high expectations within this are modelled by class teachers. They are taught to apply their writing skills through using ‘maths stories’ to present their own problems and progress into mastery.