At Freemantle, we work in partnership with Mathematics Mastery (Ark Curriculum Plus) and follow their programme of study.

We strive to enable all learners to be successful and enjoy mathematics. We also want learners to be equipped with an understanding of Mathematics that will be relevant and useful in their future learning and in the wider world.

The Mathematics programme is based on these core principles:

The Dimensions for Depth are the core principles in our Mathematics Mastery programme and underpin every lesson.

Our maths vision align to the dimensions of depth - we aim for learners to: 

• For learners to develop a deep conceptual understanding of mathematics.
• For learners to confidently communicate in precise mathematical language.
• For learners to become problem solvers.
• For learners to become mathematical thinkers.

We are confident that if learners understand the core principles, they will be able to remember more and do more maths, within whichever context they encounter it. 

The underpinning principles for our curriculum are:

1. High expectations for all learners
2. Explicit modelling using the CPA (concrete, pictorial, abstract) approach
3. Oracy rich, vocabulary focused lessons
4. Teaching of fluency and reasoning. 

Implementation:

Every class from EYFS to Y6 follows the Mathematics Mastery scheme of learning. Lessons are personalised and adapted to address the individual needs of the current cohort.

Most Maths lessons are split into six-parts. This six-part lesson gives a structure through which to implement the pedagogical principles of the curriculum. The different parts of the lesson allow teachers to bring the different dimensions of depth to the foreground. 

The six-part lesson:

Maths Meetings (Year R --> Year 6):

Maths Meetings are a vital part of our maths teaching and are used to consolidate key learning away from the point when a concept is introduced. They provide an opportunity to teach and revise 'general knowledge maths' which may not explicitly be covered during the maths lessons that week, such as telling the time, and also allows the daily integration of maths into the surrounding environment.

Maths meeting happen every day which means that children are practising concepts and skills on a regular basis, ensuring they are continually building on their mastery of these concepts.  

Our Mastery Curriculum

Our mathematics mastery curriculum is one which is accessible to all and maximises the development of every child’s ability and academic achievement. We deliver lessons that are creative and engaging and we want children to make rich connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence in solving increasingly sophisticated problems.

Children demonstrate mastery when they can represent concepts or skills in multiple ways, use the correct mathematical language and can independently apply the concept to new problems in unfamiliar situations. We intend for our pupils to be able to apply their mathematical knowledge across the curriculum and beyond the classroom. We want our children to realise that mathematics has been developed over centuries, providing the solution to some of history’s most intriguing problems. We want them to know that mathematics is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology, engineering and necessary for financial stability and most forms of employment.

At Freemantle we strive to equip all pupils with the skills and confidence to solve a range of problems through fluency with numbers and mathematical reasoning. As our children progress, we want them to have an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics; and to have a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject. Our pupils are encouraged to see the mathematics that surrounds them every day and enjoy developing vital life skills in this subject from Early Years to their transition to Key Stage 3.

Through work with our local Trust schools we intend to create continuity in mathematics provision, supporting our children to maintain their personal progression of skills and knowledge, seamlessly from Year 6 to Year 7.

What Success Looks Like for our Children

Success in school mathematics often focuses on achievement in summative tests. National tests are an important element; however, success in these is a by-product of the aim: learners enjoying and achieving in mathematics and developing a real interest in the subject. Success for all is about ensuring no learner is left behind as well as ensuring more learners excel in mathematics. Belief that all can achieve and a commitment to providing learning experiences that allow for this is essential to achieve success for all. Fostering learner attitudes that are based on belief in the capacity to learn rather than thinking we are either born good at maths or not can be achieved through developing resilience and “Mathematics is similarly well planned and sequenced. Leaders have thought very carefully about what should be taught and when. The same approach to teaching mathematics is used consistently throughout the school. Whether struggling or excelling, all learners benefit from deepening their mathematical understanding.

A Curriculum for All

To ensure one curriculum for all In line with the National Curriculum, it is expected that pupils will move through the programmes of study at broadly the same pace, ensuring no ceiling is imposed on what learners can achieve. While there is only one curriculum, we recognise that not all learners come to each lesson at the same starting point. For this reason, we provide additional resources, such as Ready to Progress interventions and response signposts (i.e. re-teach concepts and booster units/lessons) for every diagnostic question which are designed to help learners access the main curriculum. Differentiated independent tasks are provided as a starting point for teachers to increase challenge and increase support, which exemplify a range of adapting techniques including scaffolding, constraints, Ideas for Depth, applying the Dimensions of Depth and applying learning within an unfamiliar context.

We focus on the fundamentals

• The Mathematics Mastery curriculum is cumulative. Concepts that are taught earlier in the curriculum are revisited in the context of a new area of mathematics, enabling learners to make connections between different mathematical concepts.

• Retrieving, using and applying concepts regularly, transferring to new contexts helps develop fluency as well as conceptual understanding. Ready to Progress interventions, Maths Meetings, transitions and Do Nows allow pupils more time to practice important facts and methods.

• The Mathematics Mastery curriculum is knowledge-rich and precisely defined. The rich and broad body of core knowledge is clearly and meticulously specified in the Programmes of Study for each year group. Pupils are provided with opportunities to rehearse key facts through Do Nows, transitions, Maths Meetings, diagnostic quizzes as well as the cumulative nature of the curriculum.

• In the Mathematics Mastery curriculum, extended time is spent within a single area of mathematics. This allows teachers to spend more time developing learners’ conceptual understanding and make connections with other areas of mathematics.

We focus on understanding

For learners to make sense of a new idea or relationship, they need to incorporate it into their current understanding to connect with ideas and relationships they have encountered previously. The greater their understanding of what has been taught previously, the more sense-making they will be able to do in the future with increasingly complex mathematics.

• Tasks are sequenced to help learners build a narrative through different topics.

• These topics are then sequenced in a logical progression that allows learners to establish connections and draw comparisons.

• Multiple representations are extendable within and between different areas of mathematics.

• Using these rich models encourages learners to develop different perspectives on a concept.

• Tasks are designed so that learners are active participants and construct their own understanding of concepts.

We focus on language

Verbal and non-verbal communication is part of every sequence of learning in the curriculum including language, signs and symbols. This often starts with more informal language initially, building up to formal and precise mathematical language. Highlights

• Core facts are secured and rehearsed throughout the knowledge-rich curriculum • Systematic progression in calculation methods

• Pupils access a range of different problem types Mathematical language strengthens conceptual understanding by enabling pupils to explain and reason.

Talk is an essential element of every lesson and time is dedicated to developing confidence with specific vocabulary as well as verbal reasoning.

We focus on mathematical thinking and reasoning

To experience mathematics in full, as it is described in the National Curriculum, learners need to be given opportunities to think mathematically.

Throughout the curriculum you will see tasks that require learners to specialise and generalise, to work systematically, to generate their own examples, to classify and to make conjectures.

This is aided by our Ideas for Depth which help make these important parts of mathematics more explicit. By the time they reach school, all pupils have demonstrated a significant range of innate ways of thinking that can be harnessed in the classroom to develop mathematical thinking. We must support pupils to develop mathematical ‘habits of mind’ -to be systematic, generalise and seek out patterns.

We focus on problem solving

Mathematical problem-solving lies at the heart of the Dimensions of Depth. Teachers promote these within every Mathematics Mastery lesson, allowing access for pupils to become better problem solvers.

Task design purposefully incorporates all three Dimensions of Depth across a range of problem types, with the aim that all pupils will be able to solve non-standard problems in unfamiliar contexts. Pupils acquire a rich schema of knowledge – with facts and methods learnt to automaticity - and they gain familiarity with different problem types.

Fully Aligned with the National Curriculum

Our Mathematics Mastery curriculum is fully aligned to the National Curriculum and the recent DfE Ready to Progress Criteria. The programme focuses on curriculum design to ensure coherent, sequentially planned learning built on solid foundations and challenging for all pupils. Reading the current National Curriculum does not automatically translate itself into a clear progression of knowledge and skills. Our programme provides schools with a fully resourced curriculum that is ‘planned and sequenced so that new knowledge and skills build on what has been taught before and towards its clearly defined end points’. The objectives within each year group’s Programmes of Study relate to the National Curriculum Objectives for each phase.

This academic year our academy began a journey with the Solent Maths Hub. We are currently part of the Mastery Readiness programme, attended by three members of the Senior Leadership Team. We receive a bespoke visit from a Maths Hub leader each term - supporting the development of key actions.

We are members of a range of Solent Maths Hub Work Groups, that meet for CPD sessions each half term. We have two members of staff who attend the Specialist Knowledge for Teaching Early Maths (EYFS), two members of staff who attend the Specialist Knowledge for Teaching Maths (ECT), two members of staff who attend the SEND in Mainstream Maths group and a member of the LSA team who attends the Specialist Knowledge for Teaching Maths (Support Assistants). Team members share their learning through staff meeting seminars and also through planned INSET day CPD.