Mathematics at Heston Primary School
National Curriculum
The National Curriculum for mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils:
- become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately;
- reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language;
- can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.
Our Maths Curriculum
Our Heston Maths Curriculum helps pupils to ‘gain enjoyment through a growing self-confidence in their ability’. Teachers provide opportunities that enable pupils to practise and apply facts, concepts, methods and strategies.
As well as the National Curriculum, our Heston Maths Curriculum is based on the following resources: White Rose Maths, Power Maths, ISeeReasoning, NCETM and DfE Maths Guidance. We use White Rose and Power Maths as starting points and adapt them to address the needs of our learners.
Maths Vision
Our aim is for all children to enjoy mathematics and have a secure and deep understanding of fundamental mathematical concepts and procedures when they leave us to go to secondary school. We want children to see the mathematics that surrounds them every day and enjoy developing vital life skills in this subject.
In Autumn 2017, Heston Primary School began transitioning towards a mastery approach to the teaching and learning of mathematics. Mastering maths means pupils acquiring a deep, long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of the subject. We understood that this would be a gradual process and take several years to embed.
Through teaching for mastery, we aim for our learners to deepen their understanding of mathematics, rather than memorising key procedures or resorting to rote learning. This is achieved by:
- Breaking the learning down into ‘thinkable’ chunks or small steps;
- Ensuring that each step is mastered before moving on;
- Revisiting and building on previous learning thereby developing fluency. Pupils build fluency by learning their number bonds, times tables and increasing their knowledge and rapid recall of number facts;
- Using representations, vocabulary, sentence stems and equipment to draw out mathematical understanding;
- Providing opportunities to reason and make connections – this helps pupils to remember;
- Including all learners.
We use the Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract approach as one of our main mastery approaches and it is being implemented from Reception to Year 6. Concrete and pictorial representations of number are used before moving on to the abstract. Building these steps across a lesson helps pupils better understand the value of digits and the relationship between numbers and the real word.
We aim to address the school-entry gap in maths knowledge by teaching core facts and concepts in EYFS. This strong foundation helps our pupils to develop a greater breadth and depth of understanding later ultimately leading to our pupils experiencing success and therefore enjoyment.
How can I help my child at home?
Primary Maths Challenge
Primary Maths Challenge
Last week a group of our year 6 pupils entered a Primary Maths Challenge, a national competition organised by the Mathematical Association. They had to complete 25 problem-solving questions in 45 minutes. The challenge started off with relatively easy questions but by the end, the problems were very tricky! For example, 'The sum of the digits of 2023 is a prime number. How many years will it be until the sum of the digits of the year is a square number?' After completing the challenge, our learners said that they actually enjoyed the struggle of puzzling through a hard problem and then getting the satisfaction of finally working out the answer! We were very proud of the resilience they showed!
All of our participants passed and were eligible for a silver certificate. Well done to the 10 children who took part. We have submitted the results to the Mathematical Association and are awaiting news of anyone who has made it through to the next round. Watch this space!