Maths.

At Christ Church we aim to offer high-quality teaching and learning to develop the reasoning skills of all pupils and foster a positive approach to Maths. Through an inclusive and collaborative approach to Maths teaching, which allows adequate time to understand and discuss key concepts, we strive to build children’s self-esteem and confidence in the subject. We focus on ensuring all children are numerate, achieve a
fluency in arithmetic and are able to apply their knowledge to real-life contexts and solve problems. To develop the children’s number fluency we ensure there are timetabled opportunities to practise, for example, arithmetic, times tables and number
facts.

Differentiation in Maths is consequently through depth rather than acceleration, allowing all our pupils to achieve their potential and at the same time not putting a ceiling on their learning. Furthermore, this approach encourages the child to take
ownership of their own learning.
We want all of our pupils to develop a love of Maths, challenge gender stereotypes and make learning fun and relevant by using technology, transferring Maths skills to other
subjects and using real-life contexts to teach skills. Our aim is for as many children aspossible to be working at age related expectations and for an increasing number to be able to apply their prior knowledge to mastery. 

In order to ensure uniformity, high standards of teaching and learning in Maths and depth of reasoning, the Maths No Problem approach is utilised in Years 1 to 5.

Foundation Stage follow the statutory framework for EYFS, using ‘Development

Matters’ and ‘Birth to Five’ in order to prepare the children for Year 1. Year 6 continue to build on prior learning and tailor their approach to individual needs, addressing gaps in knowledge and ensuring the children are secondary ready.

The Maths No Problem approach ensures progression in reasoning and number skills and a uniform teaching approach, using the same models across the years. The approach follows the Concrete Pictorial Approach and provides opportunities for all children to progress at their own pace.

End-of-unit Maths No Problem assessments are carried out in years 1 to 5, to identify gaps and any intervention needs. Year 6 also carry out assessments at least half-termly, or at the end of a teaching unit.

Assessments in all year groups help to identify gaps in learning and provide opportunities for precision teaching and interventions.

Extra teacher-led interventions are carried out with small groups of children to narrow any gaps.

All year groups carry out Maths lessons daily, with extra arithmetic sessions being planned in, to ensure there are opportunities for fluency.

The TT Rock stars program is used from Years 2 to 6, to encourage independent learning and practise times table facts. Teachers set up tournaments between classes and year groups, to add excitement and motivation.

Each year group sets appropriate homework for Maths, to encourage independent learning. Parental involvement is expected: there may be open lessons, to which parents are invited, so that parents are aware of the strategies being adopted and can support their children at home. Additional parent workshops will be arranged as required, according to the needs of individual year groups.

Staff professional development will focus on pedagogical knowledge, cognitive science research to support fluency and retrieval, peer coaching and further Maths No Problem support, depending on the needs identified during monitoring.

Christ Church will maintain its good end-of-key stage outcomes, aiming to stay in line or above with Wirral and national figures.
All children will become more confident and resilient with regards to Maths, able to apply their strong arithmetic skills and strategies to solve challenging problems. Children will talk positively about their Maths and recognise themselves as Mathematicians, confident and positive about their learning and progress.
All teachers will be competent and confident in all areas of Maths teaching and will be able to provide and receive feedback within peer teams. Teachers will understand Maths progression across the school.