Maths
Our Vision
In a world where the language of maths is international, it is vital that we teach our pupils to communicate in such a way. Maths is a tool that unlocks many doors for our pupils, both in their every day life and to support them with future career potential. Pupils encounter problems to solve throughout their entire life and through a well-structured maths curriculum, we are able to provide pupils with the skills to understand and tackle such problems regardless of the context. Maths provides pupils with clear opportunities to build confidence, self-esteem and resilience, all of which are crucial to survive in an ever-developing society.
Our Aims
At VPA, we deliver a maths curriculum that creates children who:
- Understand the foundations of maths through place value
- Have a clear knowledge of the four operations
- Can recall key number facts fluently and confidently, including times tables
- Can problem solve and reason with resilience and perseverance
- Have the skills and knowledge to apply to every day contexts
How it is Taught
We teach maths daily across school. We have developed a carefully constructed mathematics curriculum which focuses on developing maths skills in blocks. This means that, half termly, we explore a single area of maths across the school, with the view that all learners will master this key area. Each lesson has a clear structure, with a counting element, a times table element, a main fluency focus and a reasoning or problem solving element. Our lessons have a strong focus on children’s ability to calculate quickly and accurately using models and images, beginning with the ‘Maltesers’ method in KS1 and progressing to formal written methods throughout KS2. In maths, we operate a same day intervention approach, so that pupils who require additional practice following any single maths lesson benefit from additional time to work with an adult in that area within the day, or during the following morning’s early bird maths session. Any pupils at risk of underachievement in maths are well understood and additional intervention continues to focus on age appropriate expectations and securing the skills they need to thrive within lessons.
Maths Blocks – Long Term Curriculum
Calculation Policy
