At Gilbrook Primary School we pay great attention to the teaching of mathematics across both key stages. There is a strong emphasis on reasoning and problem solving and we try to investigate this area of maths from a practical point of view, relating problems to everyday situations, where possible.
The National Curriculum 2014 states that:-
Mathematics is a creative and highly inter-connected discipline that has been developed over centuries, providing the solution to some of history’s most intriguing problems. It is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment. A high-quality mathematics education therefore provides a foundation for understanding the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.
The National Curriculum for mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils:-
- Become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including the varied and regular practice of increasingly complex problems over time.
- Reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, understanding relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language.
- Can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of problems with increasing confidence, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.
With this in mind, the purpose of mathematics at Gilbrook is to develop:-
- positive attitudes towards the subject and awareness of the relevance of mathematics in the real world,
- competence and confidence in using and applying mathematical knowledge, concepts and skills,
- an ability to solve problems, to reason, to think logically and to work systematically and accurately,
- initiative and motivation to work both independently and in co-operation with others,
- confident communication of maths where pupils ask and answer questions, openly share work and learn from mistakes,
- an ability to use and apply mathematics across the curriculum and in real life,
- an understanding of mathematics through a process of enquiry and investigation.
At Gilbrook we aim to provide a stimulating and exciting learning environment that takes account of different learning styles and individual additional needs and uses appropriate resources to maximise teaching & learning. We use a variety of resources to plan our lessons, including White Rose Maths Hub and Power Maths. White Rose supports the ideal of depth of knowledge before breadth. It supports pupils working both individually and as a group and provides plenty of time to build reasoning and problem solving elements into the curriculum. These schemes provide teachers with exemplification for maths objectives which are broken down into fluency, reasoning and problem solving (key aims of the National Curriculum 2014). They support a mastery approach to teaching and learning and have number at their heart.
We also use Times Tables Rock Stars. TT Rock Stars is a carefully sequenced programme of daily times tables practice. Children concentrate on a times table appropriate to their level and individual needs. This daily practice has successfully boosted times tables recall speed for hundreds of thousands of pupils over the last 8 years in over 14,000 schools – both primary and secondary – worldwide. The pupils at Gilbrook enjoy TT Rock Stars; practising and becoming more secure with their times tables helps in all areas of their mathematics. Mathematics is taught daily in both key stages.
