Bishop's Waltham Junior School

At Bishop’s Waltham Junior School the health, safety and well-being of every child is our top priority.

Mathematics

What is ‘Mathematics?'     

'Mathematics is a creative and highly inter-connected topic that is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment. A high-quality mathematics education therefore provides a foundation for understanding the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.' (DfE 2013)

The Curriculum

The National Curriculum highlights three main aims.

• To become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.
• To be able to reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language
• To be able to can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.

How do we teach Mathematics?

The kind of maths that your child is doing at school may look very different to the kind of ‘sums’ you remember.   Once upon a time, Maths lessons meant learning sets of numbers and rules without really knowing why methods worked – it was just ‘done that way’.  Maths lessons today are much more creative and meaningful.  We work hard to ensure that children have a real understanding of number to ensure they become fluent mathematicians.  Although there are still some number facts that simply need to be memorised, the majority of mathematical concepts and skills are taught within a framework of activities, games or tasks that have a real context for your child, allowing them to see links between a concept and something they know. This allows pupils the opportunity to reason mathematically with the ability to notice relationships and to be able to justify their response, as well as solve problems in a variety of context allowing them to demonstrate a secure understanding and the notion of mastery.       

Maths is taught daily during an hour-long lesson, and is planned and delivered within the framework of the National Curriculum.  This framework breaks the content down into a number of domains.

The domains are listed below:

click here for more information. 

• Number and Place Value
• Addition and Subtraction
• Multiplication and Division
• Fractions
• Measurement
• Geometry
• Statistics

 This was then grouped into units by the Hampshire Maths Team to ensure progression through constant re-visiting of concepts and strategies. Alongside this, BWJS has ‘tweaked’ this further to suit the needs of the pupils at our school.

Below are the overviews block by block for each year group at BWJS

Year groups use these to create weekly plans with careful differentiation catering for the needs of all abilities. Teachers will work with a combination of individuals, small groups or the whole class depending on the focus. 

Calculation Strategies

In line with the new curriculum and the methods the children are expected to use, we have updated our Mathematics Calculation Progression. If you are unsure of any strategy, please speak or email your child’s class teacher who will be happy to help you. 

Our Mathematics Calculation Progression Document is available here.

How can you help?

• Help your child to maintain a positive attitude towards mathematics - even if it is not your favourite subject!  In a link below, there are some ideas for fun activities to do at home to build confidence.
• Support your child in completing any Maths homework that they are set (without doing it for them!).
• Insist that your child regularly practises their basic skills such as their number bonds and multiplication tables - there are plenty of ways of making this fun with card games, passing a ball, playing multiplication shoot out etc.
• Have an analogue clock (one with hands and preferably numbers!) in the house as well as digital displays.  Help your child to tell the time by constantly referring to it.
• Become familiar with the way in which we are teaching calculation strategies by attending parent workshops whenever they are held at the school. 

Parent Maths Workshops 2017 - 18

During the Autumn term of 2017, we once again hosted a selection of maths workshops for parents - one based around addition and subtraction, and two based around multiplication and division.  The hand-outs for these sessions are available here.

Addition & Subtraction - Year 3

Addition & Subtraction - Years 4, 5 & 6

Multiplication & Division - Years 3 & 4

Multiplication & Division - Years 5 & 6

Times Table Rockstars

As a school, we are subscribed to Times Table Rockstars.  This is a programme we use at school, and it is supported by an app / website that can be used for Times Tables practise at home.

Times Table Rockstars - Parents Info - Year 3 

Times Table Rockstars - Parents Info - Year 4

Times Table Rockstars - Parents Info - Year 5 

Times Table Rockstars - Parents Info - Year 6