Our aim is that pupils at Willowbrook School:
- Develop automaticity of the basics. Instant recall of basic facts and written calculation methods frees up pupils' working memories, enabling them to experience greater success when reasoning and problem-solving.
- Become fluent mathematicians. Fluency goes beyond automaticity, and consists of accuracy, flexibility and efficiency. We only enable children to become fluent mathematicians when they reason through fluency, having discussions such as "Which approach is most efficient method and why?"
- Access their age-appropriate curriculum content. All pupils are capable of achieving in Mathematics. A mastery approach ensures that the vast majority of children move through the curriculum at broadly the same pace.
- Develop a deep understanding of Mathematics. Pupils are given lots of opportunities to deepen their thinking. We believe that children become successful at reasoning when they see teachers modelling this regularly, when they are asked probing questions, and when they are given the time and space to think about big ideas. Our pupils get access to the full breadth of the Maths curriculum, which combines fluency, reasoning and problem-solving.
Our teachers have received (and continue to receive) training around the NCETM's 5 big ideas of mastery. These principles of mastery teaching underpin our daily teaching approaches. We use the White Rose schemes of learning, which provide a coherent approach to teaching mathematics. These schemes incorporate the full breadth of the maths curriculum.
Our Maths curriculum is further enhanced by:
- Early Bird Maths. This is daily arithmetic practice in every Y1-6 class that happens between 8.45-9.05am.
- Daily counting. This happens in all year groups and supports the development of pupils' mathematical fluency.
- Ready to Progress materials. Gaps in learning are swiftly identified and children receive an appropriate intervention to target any specific gaps in learning.
There are four attachments below:
1. A document which outlines the NC progression within White Rose.
2. Our calculation policy.
3. Our Nursery Maths curriculum.
4. Our Reception Maths Curriculum.