Intent

At Maltby Lilly Hall Academy we strive to provide a mathematics curriculum which is accessible to all and which will maximise the ability of each child. In line with the national curriculum, we have three central objectives that we aim to develop within our pupils.

• To become fluent mathematicians that can apply their arithmetic skills across a range of strands.
• To be able to use this procedural fluency to become mathematical problem solvers who take risks and learn from their mistakes.
• To be able to engage in mathematical reasoning which uses precise mathematical vocabulary to make connections across mathematical strands and explain their understanding of a concept.

Implementation

Maths Gym

Each of our maths lessons begins with a ‘Maths Gym’. In this aspect of the session, children will recap on mathematical strands that they have been taught before in a short session which is driven by pace. The children will draw upon their previous learning from across a range of mathematical strands in engaging activities such as ‘Target Number’, ‘Follow me’ and ‘Target Board’. This is designed to ensure children can recall mathematical concepts at pace and apply these mentally across different areas of the maths curriculum.

Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract

At Maltby Lilly Hall Academy, we recognise the importance of using concrete apparatus whenever we teach a new concept to the children. It is vital that children are able to be able to explore a concept through the use of manipulatives. This approach is applied to support depth of understanding across calculations and mathematical concepts. Children then build upon this by using pictorial representations to be able to reason and solve problems. Once they are firmly secure with the pictorial method, children can move on to formal written methods using the abstract form. In this way we endeavour to give children a firm mathematical foundation from which to build.

Bronze, Silver, Gold and Mission Impossible

We are passionate about ensuring that children are appropriately challenged in each and every maths session. As such, for recorded work, we structure our activities with Bronze, Silver, Gold and Mission Impossible. Bronze will consist primarily of procedural fluency activities. Both Silver and Gold will build upon this with problem solving and reasoning style activities which give children opportunities to apply the skill they have been learning in the taught maths lesson. Mission Impossible is then an open-ended, more challenging problem or set of problems which requires a higher level of mathematical thinking in order to solve and explain their reasoning.

Impact

Every child engages in procedural fluency, problem solving and reasoning in each session and begin to be able to make connections between mathematical strands. We aim to develop the resilient child through giving children the opportunity to engage in challenging problem solving activities which stretch them. In doing this we strive to give children a firm foundation on which to build which will allow them to become confident mathematicians in the wider world.