Mathematics
One of our core principles is for all children to:
'Attain the highest possible academic standards
through learning with confidence,
a positive mind-set and strong self-belief.'
At Christ Church Primary School, we equip pupils with a range of mathematical skills that will be useful and important to them every day of their lives. We practise key mathematical skills daily so that children become fluent in basic number facts such as their timestables; we also develop their ability to explain their mathematical thinking, and their ability to solve problems in many different areas of mathematics.
How do we teach Mathematics?
In the Early Years Foundation Stage, at the beginning of the year, children have two days dedicated to learning maths, which develops into a daily lesson as the year progresses. From Year 1 to Year 6. every child begins their day with a mathematics lesson. We use the White Rose Mathematics resources to provide the long term plan for mathematics as well as guidance for appropriate activities, as well as ideas for challenging activities from the National Centre for Excellence in Mathematics and 'I can see reasoning' resources.
A daily mathematics lesson includes practising mental and oral skills, reasoning activities, problem solving - which we call star challenges.
We use a variety of teaching strategies to keep the children engaged and motivated (including paired work, group work, interactive games, practical activities and the use of ICT). We also use a maths learning platform called Doodle Maths which is an excellent home and school learning programme which really aids pupils' maths learning and progress.
Assessment
The children are continually assessed by their teachers during the lesson, and have a weekly, Friday challenge to determine how secure they are in their learning to date. Additionally, we carry out regular formal assessments using PIRA assessments, which enable us to analyse the achievement of the whole class group and match planning carefully to pupils' learning needs.