Maths at Palmarsh

At Palmarsh we want every pupil to develop a love of maths. Maths is taught so that children can be fluent in number, can reason mathematically and are able to solve number problems. It is our intent to promote a lifelong, positive attitude towards maths and provide our children with a wide mathematical education taught in an enjoyable, relevant and creative way. We like to encourage that everyone can work out the answer through the use of methods and manipulatives. 

At Palmarsh, we aim to teach maths through the mastery approach. Maths is taught daily using the White Rose materials (which implement the 2014 National Curriculum) and this encourages fluency, reasoning and problem solving using a wide range of mathematical methods; including mental and written. 

The 4 areas of the National Curriculum are:

• Number
• Measures
• Geometry
• Statistics 

How we do this:

We teach using as concrete-pictorial-abstract model. This means introducing the children to concrete materials that illuminate mathematical structure, helping them to visualise the structure through images and drawings and recording the maths with abstract mathematical symbols. We aim for the children to be able to move fluently between the three different ways of representing mathematics questions or problems.

Fluency:

Fluency, both procedural and conceptual, is of the utmost importance in maths, particularly when it comes to gaining confidence. For this reason, a big emphasis will be put on learning number facts. The children will then learn how to use those facts to infer other facts. Good knowledge of number facts will allow children to calculate rather than count when they encounter mathematical problems.

Reasoning:

Mastery learning takes place through rich mathematical discussion. The children will be encouraged to explain their answers and make justifications. They will learn to challenge each other's mathematical thinking and to have their thinking challenged. Through discussion, the children will explore misconceptions and work towards mathematical generalisations.

Year 4 Multiplication check:  

From June 2022 the government have introduced a 'multiplication check' that all pupils in year 4 must take. On a computer children are asked 25 questions from the 2-12 times tables. They are given 6 seconds to answer each question. Times tables are used in all different aspects of maths. Here are a few websites that you can use to practise these: 

Hit the Button - Quick fire maths practise for 6-11 year olds (topmarks.co.uk)

Daily 10 - Mental Maths Challenge - Topmarks