Maths

Our Statement of Intent

We intend to provide a high quality, engaging and creative mathematics education for all children. Our mastery maths teaching is underpinned by the Five Big Ideas; representation and structure, mathematical thinking, variation, fluency and coherence. We want children from Early Years to Year 2 and beyond to master maths, number sense and we believe that every child can succeed. As teachers we work collaboratively to ensure all children can access age-related learning through a small step approach and provide a range of fun, exciting and hands on opportunities for children to develop as efficient mathematicians who understand that maths is an essential life skill. We want to inspire children to become courageous risk takers and encourage them to make marvellous mistakes in order to learn from them. We aim for children to become fluent in the fundamentals of maths and begin to reason mathematically by making generalisations and follow a line of enquiry. Children across our school are immersed in the rich language of mathematics and use this to enhance their reasoning and problem solving skills across a range of contexts with increasing sophistication. We want all children to see themselves as mathematicians and understand the relevance of each skill they develop throughout their time at Stanford.

Mathematics - Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage EYFS 2021

Developing a strong grounding in number is essential so that all children develop the necessary building blocks to excel mathematically. Children should be able to count confidently, develop a deep understanding of the numbers to 10, the relationships between them and the patterns within those numbers. By providing frequent and varied opportunities to build and apply this understanding - such as using manipulatives, including small pebbles and tens frames for organising counting - children will develop a secure base of knowledge and vocabulary from which mastery of mathematics is built. In addition, it is important that the curriculum includes rich opportunities for children to develop their spatial reasoning skills across all areas of mathematics including shape, space and measures. It is important that children develop positive attitudes and interests in mathematics, look for patterns and relationships, spot connections, ‘have a go’, talk to adults and peers about what they notice and not be afraid to make mistakes.

Purpose of Study – National Curriculum 2014

Mathematics is a creative and highly inter-connected discipline that has been developed over centuries, providing the solution to some of history’s most intriguing problems. It 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.