Maths

From September 2019 we are implementing our new resource for teaching maths - "Power Maths"

Power Maths, recognised by the DfE, is structured around a whole class interactive teaching model that focuses on helping all children to build a deep understanding of maths concepts and confidence in maths.

For each year group, the curriculum strands are broken down into core concepts. These are taught in blocks of lessons giving sufficient time to develop a deep and sustainable understanding of core maths concepts. Each concept is broken down into lessons. Each lesson and concept builds on prior knowledge to help children build a robust and deep understanding of the concept before moving on. Opportunities are provided for same day intervention if necessary and also for deepening activities if pupils master the concept.

Each lesson is divided up into:

• A Power Up activity designed to support fluency in all key number facts.
• Discover and share activity where children can share, reason and learn.
• Children then consider solutions as a class, with partners and independently.
• Children then get the chance to practice the skills learnt to build fluency and develop deeper understanding of mathematical concepts. Challenge questions link to other areas of maths and encourage children to take their understanding to a greater level of depth.
• Children review, reason and reflect on learning.

Key features of the mastery approach

Teaching resources

• Concrete and pictorial representations of mathematics are chosen carefully to help build procedural and conceptual knowledge together.
• The focus is on the development of deep structural knowledge and the ability to make connections. Making connections in mathematics deepens knowledge of concepts and procedures, ensures what is learnt is sustained over time, and cuts down the time required to assimilate and master later concepts and techniques.

Teaching methods

• Pupils work on the same tasks and engage in common discussions. Concepts are often explored together to make mathematical relationships explicit and strengthen pupils’ understanding of mathematical connectivity.
• Precise questioning during lessons ensures that pupils develop fluent technical proficiency and think deeply about the underpinning mathematical concepts.

Pupil support and differentiation

• Taking a mastery approach, differentiation occurs in the support and intervention provided to different pupils, not in the topics taught, particularly at earlier stages. There is little or no differentiation in content taught, but the questioning and scaffolding individual pupils receive in class as they work through problems will differ, with higher attainers challenged through more demanding problems which deepen their knowledge of the same content. Pupils’ difficulties and misconceptions are identified through immediate formative assessment and addressed with rapid intervention – commonly through individual or small group work

Calculation Policies

The calculation policy shows the Power Maths progression in calculation (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) and how this works in line with the National Curriculum. This policy shows how the consistent use of the CPA (concrete, pictorial, abstract) approach across Power Maths helps children develop mastery in both written and mental methods across all the operations in an efficient and reliable way.

We are endeavouring to upload these to this website. However, if you require more information, please contact your child's teacher or Miss Munro (Maths Lead) in year five.