Viking Primary School

Maths Intent

At Viking, children follow a concrete, pictorial and abstract learning model to make connections between strands of mathematics focusing on fluency, reasoning and problem solving. Fluency involves challenging pupils to develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately. Children follow a line of enquiry to develop an argument to justify their opinions and/or prove their answer. Children use mathematical language to reason and interpret mathematical language to solve problems by breaking them down into smaller steps. Children will use talk partners and be challenged at a personal level to solve mathematical problems whilst building resilience.

Viking Primary School follows the National Curriculum programs of study for the teaching of mathematics and aims to excel in its three core areas:

• Fluency
• Reasoning
• Problem solving

Each year group are taught to be fluent in the fundamental workings of the number system as this feeds into all number based work and wider problem solving activities.

Pupils are taught to reason and generalise about a mathematical statement. They are taught to design or pursue a line of enquiry by applying their knowledge of number relationships, because ultimately when pupils are fluent and able to reason, they can then apply these skills to a wide range of everyday problems.

Viking follows a Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract approach (as seen in our calculation policy) to the teaching of mathematics. Once pupils are secure and confident in one stage of this process, they then move on to the next.

As a school, we use a combination of the White Rose maths scheme and the Lancashire Maths scheme. This has been designed by leading experts in the field of mathematics teaching and ensures that a broad mix of fluency, reasoning and problem solving work. The files attached below detail the objectives that are taught over the year.  Each class teacher has ownership of their yearly objectives and for this reason timings may not always follow plan, however all areas will be taught across the school year.

In Foundation Stage, pupils are taught and assessed using the Early Learning Goals: Number and Shape, Space and Measure. Their progress is tracked, recorded and shared with parents and carers using our Learning Journeys and workbooks.

Calculation policy