Maths

Our Mathematical Vision

At Dines Green Community Primary School we aim to inspire our children to become lifelong learners; demonstrating a love for exploration and enquiry. This is to be achieved through the fulfilment of statutory requirements coupled with rich and purposeful learning opportunities.

Mathematics is an important creative discipline that helps us to understand and be a part of our world. At Dines Green Community Academy (DGCA) we want all pupils to experience the beauty, power and enjoyment of mathematics and develop a sense of curiosity about the subject.

At DGCA, we adopt positive ‘can do’ attitudes, believing all children can achieve in mathematics, and teach for secure and deep understanding of mathematical concepts.

We use mistakes and misconceptions as an essential part of the learning and provide challenge through rich and sophisticated problems before acceleration through new content.

Our Mathematical Aim

At DGCA we aim for all pupils to:

• Become fluent on the fundamentals of mathematics (see Year by Year curriculum maps) so that they develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.
• Solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of problems with increasing sophistication, including in unfamiliar context and to model real-life scenarios.
• Reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry and develop and present a justification, argument or proof using mathematical language.
• Have an appreciation of number and number operations, which enable mental calculations and written procedures to be performed efficiently, fluently and accurately.

Teaching and Learning of Mathematics

Our mathematical intent:

• Why not what: The vision of mathematics at Dines Green Community Academy embraces the aims and content of the National Curriculum, championing a ‘can do’ attitude and embracing the principles of a mastery approach. All stakeholders can articulate ‘why’ and not just ‘what’ we do or resources that we use.
• Problem solvers: All children have many opportunities – in a lesson, within a unit – to solve problems by applying their mathematical understanding to a variety of problems with increasing sophistication, including in unfamiliar contexts and to model real-life scenarios.
• The answer is only the beginning: Mathematical ideas are discussed and reasoned and not passively ‘received’ by pupils.
• Convince Me: Tasks are deliberately designed to encourage children to describe, explain, justify, convince and/or prove.

Our Mathematical Implementation

• The responsive teacher: Children’s mathematical difficulties and misconceptions are identified through immediate same day/ week formative and periodic summative assessment.
• Prevent the Gap: Children’s difficulties and misconceptions are addressed with rapid interventions within the lesson, same day and diagnostic test informed interventions.
• Teach up Keep up: The mathematics timetable prioritises additional curriculum time beyond the mathematics lesson – a ‘Maths on Track (MOT) meeting – to support deliberate practice, consolidation. Pre-teach and/or immediate intervention.

Our Mathematics Lessons

Each lesson focusses on a manageable step of new learning based on the National Curriculum

What a typical lesson looks like:

• Hook it: Introduction to new learning
• Teach it/Practice It: Live modelling of the new learning with explicit use of potential misunderstandings. All children practice together. Support and Challenge
• Do it: Up to 5 examples – 5 ‘What it is/What it’s also’. Challenge 1: Procedural fluency
• Secure It: 1 or 2 misunderstandings (True/False, Spot the mistake) Challenge 2: Conceptual understanding
• Deepen It: Applying understanding to solve new problems. Challenge 3: Mathematical thinking