At Preston Hedges, we have developed a strong and consistent approach to Mathematics that ensures that our pupils progress and achieve well.
In EYFS, Mathematics follows a 2 week cycle: in Week 1, Number is taught over 3 days, and in Week 2, Shape is taught over 2 days. This is then repeated. Sessions are introduced with a mental starter, which is followed by teacher input to the class. Children then either undertake a focused ‘job’ or work with their teacher on an activity related to their learning. Maths can be found widely in the continuous provision – we have tills, coins, tape measures, a variety of shapes and even a number shed to keep children entertained and learning through creative play in our indoor and outdoor spaces.
As we move into Year One, lessons have a consistent structure to support childrens’ learning. Each lesson starts with a mental objective linked to the national curriculum that is taught interactively through whiteboard work and mental calculations. Each lesson also has a main objective and a challenge objective linked to this, which are taken from the different strands of the mathematics curriculum. These include:
- Arithmetic
- Fractions
- Decimals and percentages
- Measure
- Shape
- Statistics
We believe in a consistent approach to the discipline across the school to ensure core teaching features are discernible from EYFS to Year Six. All lessons are taught with ongoing assessment in mind, allowing teachers to personalise learning journeys, and support children to make outstanding progress from their varying individual starting points.
Lessons promote high levels of engagement through focused questioning, paired talk and pacy delivery. This means children take an active role in their learning.
In Years Two to Six, we systematically approach the learning to support the building of conceptual understanding that develops into using and applying.
Over a week, we teach an arithmetic session to build knowledge of the four core operations and fractions, and then progress onto 2 sessions of concept learning based upon the strand being covered at that point in the term. We then provide a session for independent learning to check conceptual understanding and address any misconceptions, followed by a reasoning session to put the concepts into practice in a problem solving session. This systematic process ensures that our children build strong procedural and substantive knowledge and can apply this well.
The school has a progressive Calculation Policy to allow each year group to scaffold learning. A link to the policy is here.
Preston Hedge MAT Calculation Policy 2023
Times Tables
We recognise that having excellent times tables knowledge is a vital part of being successful in Maths, therefore the journey starts in EYFS and builds all the way to Year 6.
In Year 2 – Year 6, one of the ways to support learning their tables is through the app Times Table Rockstars (TT Rockstars). For information on the different elements on the app, please click the link below:
TT Rockstars – info for parents
