Mathematics Curriculum Intent

When teaching Mathematics at Bottesford Junior School, we intend to provide a curriculum which caters for the needs of all individuals and sets them up with the necessary skills and knowledge to become successful in their next steps in life. We incorporate sustained levels of challenge through varied and high quality activities with a focus on fluency, reasoning and problem solving. A wide range of mathematical resources are used and pupils are taught using the CPA (concrete, pictorial and abstract) approach wherever suitable and we encourage resilience using GRIP strategies. Our curriculum allows children to better make sense of the world around them relating the pattern between mathematics and everyday life.

As oracy is a key life skill, our aim is to create a vocabulary rich environment where talk for maths is a key learning tool for all pupils. We intend for the teaching of key vocabulary to be a driver for pupil understanding and to develop the confidence of pupils to explain mathematically. All children will have opportunities to identify patterns or connections in their maths and they can use this to predict and reason and to also develop their own patterns or links in maths and other subjects.

At our school, great emphasis is placed on “quick” and “mental” maths.  There is a greater content of oral work and mathematical vocabulary.  The intention being to improve the children’s ability in recalling number facts and building confidence in number handling.  They can then progress to written methods having developed this confidence.

Additional material from various published maths schemes is used to support mathematical activities.  We want to develop mathematical thinking, problem solving and investigating.  Pupils are given the opportunity to develop their ability in computation (use of the four rules of number) and YES we do put a great emphasis on the learning of multiplication tables which is often given as a homework task.  We want to develop a good understanding of number and pattern relationships within this subject so that the children can apply the maths they have learnt.

Curriculum Overview

Mrs Ogle and Mr Brown are the joint subject leaders for maths.