Stanford Junior and Infant School
Living together - Learning together
The curriculum at Stanford Junior and Infant School
Traditionally, Maths has been taught by memorising key facts and procedures, which tends to lead to superficial understanding that can easily be forgotten. At Stanford, we believe that children should be able to select which mathematical approach is most effective in different scenarios.
All pupils can achieve in mathematics! There is no such thing as a ‘Maths person’, that is the belief that some pupils can do maths and others cannot. A typical Maths lesson will provide the opportunity for all children, regardless of their ability, to work through Fluency, Reasoning AND Problem Solving activities.
Maths is a journey and long-term goal, achieved through exploration, clarification, practice and application over time. At each stage of learning, children should be able to demonstrate a deep, conceptual understanding of the topic and be able to build on this over time.
There are 3 levels of learning:
The deep and deepest levels are what we are aiming for by teaching maths using the Mastery approach.
Multiple representations for all!
Concrete, pictorial, abstract
Objects, pictures, words, numbers and symbols are everywhere. The mastery approach incorporates all of these to help children explore and demonstrate mathematical ideas, enrich their learning experience and deepen understanding. Together, these elements help cement knowledge so pupils truly understand what they’ve learnt.
All pupils, when introduced to a key new concept, should have the opportunity to build competency in this topic by taking this approach. Pupils are encouraged to physically represent mathematical concepts. Objects and pictures are used to demonstrate and visualise abstract ideas, alongside numbers and symbols.
Concrete – children have the opportunity to use concrete objects and manipulatives to help them understand and explain what they are doing.
Pictorial – children then build on this concrete approach by using pictorial representations, which can then be used to reason and solve problems.
Abstract – With the foundations firmly laid, children can move to an abstract approach using numbers and key concepts with confidence.
A mathematical concept or skill has been mastered when a child can show it in multiple ways, using the mathematical language to explain their ideas, and can independently apply the concept to new problems in unfamiliar situations.
At Stanford School we are focussing on developing our basic maths skills. Each class dedicates 15 minutes of the day to basic maths - we focus on mental maths skills, calculations and number.
We have lots of exciting resources to help us improve our basic skills, including number squares, fans, whiteboards, dice, counters, stopwatch challenges and iPods.
We also enjoy helping each other with basic skills and pair up with our partner classes for some of these sessions, which we really enjoy!
Here are examples of the Maths Basic Skills targets for each year group:
The following Calculation Policy has been designed to meet the requirements of the National Curriculum 2014 for the teaching and learning of mathematics, and is also designed to give pupils a consistent and smooth progression of learning in calculations across the school, Please note that early learning in number and calculation in Reception follows the "Development Matters" EYFS document, and this Calculation Policy is designed to build on progressively from the content and methods established in the Early Years Foundation Stage.
The Calculation Policy is organised according to age stage expectations as set out in the National Curriculum. However it is vital that pupils are taught according to the stage that they are currently working at, being moved onto the next level as soon as they are ready, or are working at a lower stage until they are secure enough to move on.
We are introducing a new Mathematics challenge aimed at developing quicker recall of the multiplication facts (times tables). The new National Curriculum from 2014 states that: ‘By the end of year 4, pupils should have memorised their multiplication tables up to and including the 12 multiplication table.’
The new Key Stage 2 tests that came into place this year has an arithmetic test specifically on calculations. Therefore to ensure children are confident and prepared, learning tables’ facts plus recalling these quickly and accurately will give children a distinct advantage.
Learning multiplication facts does not have to be boring and repetitive; we will be encouraging the children to recall facts in different ways through games, challenges and investigations as well as the weekly speed tests that will be held in class each week. We will be using an online resource, in school, called TT Rockstars, which focuses on times table challenges, improving pupil’s rapid recall. This will be completed in class and will follow a programme of teaching and learning times tables. Pupils must though spend the time trying to learn the facts to make it easier in the classroom. Each child will have a record sheet for them to copy in their multiplication facts and record their progress.
The rewards for this will be bronze, silver and gold stickers that will be presented by class teachers and eventually the children will receive the platinum certificate for Multiplication Excellence which will be presented in the Friday assembly. Each year group will have their own targets which are outlined below:
FS and Y1- Counting on in steps of 2, 5 and 10
Y2- 2, 5 and 10.
Y3- 2,3,4,5,8,10
Y4- ALLTABLES FACTS TO 12× 12
Y5- ALL and completed 12× 12 mixed tables square in under 8 minutes
Y6- ALL and completed 12× 12 mixed tables square in under 6 minutes
TT rockstars is a daily practice of the times tables, through listening to rock music. Pupils have to answer 50 questions and time themselves. This will then work out your rick status. The idea is that pupils’ rapid recall will become quicker for each times table.
Here are some websites that offer games, grid challenges and interactive tests:
For more information please go to the website www.ttrockstars.com
The booklets below have some great information about the level and type of work we do in class and aome helpful ideas for home learning activities:
A parents guide to the new National Curriculum (not Foundation/Seedlngs class). More information can be found on the Rising Stars website
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Year 1 have been learning how to represent numbers in digits and as words. We have enjoyed playing Match the Pairs and Bingo this week to help us.
In year 1 Maths we have started a new module this week; Place Value (within 100.) Today as our starter activity we used 10s to count to 100. We did this by throwing beanbags into a target of 10. We then had to calculate our score up to 100.
"Me and my partner got all our bean bags in the target, so we got 100 altogether."
"We missed a few so we got 60."
Year 1s today have been using new vocabulary today to direct mini people around their maps.
Forwards, Backwards, Left and Right
We really enjoyed moving the people from place to place and using our new directional vocabulary.
Child A: This is the best way to do maths!
Child B: I can send him to the beach and then to the swimming pool.
Child C: I know my left and my right now.
This week it has been healthy eating week and we have focused on healthy lifestyles and learning about which foods we should have more/less of. Children have learned some new vocabulary such as 'carbohydrate' and 'protein'. We have also learned about Clean Air Day.
We have also been learning about sharing into equal groups in maths. We shared out bananas for monkeys at the zoo and shared out dinner for the 3 bears.
As part of our Maths lessons this week we have been learning about ratio, proportion, profit and loss. As a class we have looked at a recipe that was intended to make 6 cupcakes and we had to calculate the ingredients needed to make 42 for the class (and a few extras for teachers of course!). Once we had calculated this, we researched the size of packaging our ingredients were sold in, for example butter in 250g. Continuing our research skills, we compared the cost of the ingredients across different supermarkets. So to end the week we combined our baking and maths skills to measure accurately, portion up the mixture and decorate some yummy cupcakes! These were definitely enjoyed by all! 👩🍳
Year 6 pupils showed their Maths knowledge with a fun activity, working in small teams. Mrs Smith & Miss Chilvers were so impressed with their teamwork and skills- great work Year 6! ⭐️
Year 6 had an afternoon scavenger hunting! To help with their Maths revision, they worked in teams to find the different questions around the school. They scanned each QR code to reveal the question, worked as a team to solve this and then collect the letter to form a funny joke! Some questions were fun challenges…. Stand as a scary scarecrow for 30 seconds! Year 6 are ready for their tests today! #youvegothis #year6sats ⭐️
Year 6 have been busy investigating circles. We learnt the different parts of a circle and how to find the diameter and radius of different size circles. We did this n a variety of ways and are now confident in solving reasoning questions on this!
In maths we have started to learn about perimeter and what it means. The children enjoyed taking our learning outside where we walked around the perimeter of shapes in the playground. They also used chalk to draw shapes in the quad for their peers to work out the perimeter by counting the sides of the square slabs.
We had a wonderful afternoon in Year 1, our grown ups came to look at how we learn Maths. We even had some juice and biscuits. Thank you to everyone who attended and left such lovely feedback.
"It was lovely to see all the creative ways that are used to teach Maths"
"It was really informative and fun ton see how children learn Maths"
"It was lovely to see how much they love being here"
"Staff friendly, welcoming and knowledgeable"
Pupils worked together to find the area of different triangles. They used the formula for the area of a triangle to solve the different reasoning and problem solving question!
Today in Maths we have been estimating using a number line to 20. We had to estimate where different numbers to 20 would be. At first, we found it tricky but by the end of the lesson we had the hang of it!
"I liked trying to find out where the number would be like a detective like Miss Purshouse said"
"I found it hard but I got better at it"
"I liked finding the numbers"
Pupils in year 6 have been learning how to use long division to help solve a range of questions. This method is tricky, however all pupils showed great resilience and never gave up! Well done Barley and Blossom!
Today in Miss Purshouse's Maths group we have been Mathematicians. We investigated the playground and found numerals to 20 hidden around, there were even numbers that were bigger than 20 hidden to trick us! We put the numbers in order, and had a go at writing our own number lines from 10 to 20.
WH "It was so FUN!"
CS "I found a bigger number than 20"
EH "I knew where my number should go"
Year 4 have been working really hard on practising times tables, in preparation for the multiplication checks this year. We have been learning through songs, chants, daily quizzes, problem solving activities and interactive games. Keep practising at home as well, as we're making great progress!
In Maths we are learning about angles and have been using a protractor to measure and draw angles accurately.
Juniper class were completing a practical activity on how to add fractions with different denominators. We used our common multiples knowledge to help us work these out! 🧮➕
This week Reception children have been using cubes to measure how tall different objects are in the classroom. Look at all the measuring we did!
In Maths, Juniper pupils have been working on division of numbers using the formal method. The pupils used peer coaching to help and support each other in the understanding of this difficult skill- Well done Juniper Class!!
Today we went on a shape hunt for squares and rectangles which has been our focus in Maths this week. We looked inside and outside, then counted all the squares and all the rectangles that we could find. Here are some of the things we found!
In Year 6 we have daily arithmetic practice, it has turned into quite the competition amongst the table groups to see who can answer the quickest and come to the whiteboard to share how the problems can be worked out.
As you can see, lots of children are very keen to share their ideas!
Our current unit in maths is division, which has been a little tricky as we have been working on 4 digit divided by 2 digit numbers. Today, we used factor pairs to help solve division problems - we used peer coaching partners to help to solve these problems and set mastery challenges for one another.
As you can see, some of our peer coaches today really enjoyed their roles! Well done Barley Class!
Today the Foundation children finished their Maths unit by making their very own fruit patterns. (It was hard not to eat the fruit before we made a pattern!)
Foundation children have been learning how to compare amounts in maths. They have made two groups of bears – one with less and one with more bears. They also made towers – one with more cubes and one with less cubes. Look at our amazing work.
