Mathematics
“Good mathematics is not about how many answers you know…it’s how you behave when you don’t know.”
What is Maths Like at Loxley?
As well as being an essential every-day life skill, mathematics is a creative and interconnected subject which has intrigued humans throughout the centuries. At Loxley Primary School, children become both confident in their practical use of mathematics but also curious and enthusiastic learners of maths. To achieve this, we balance the need for procedural fluency with conceptual understanding. We aim for all children to have mastery of Maths!
Fluency and computation
At Loxley Primary School, we regularly practice number bonds and multiplication tables. Staff demonstrate and teach concepts and strategies with an emphasis on clarity, continuity, progression and the precision of mathematical language. Mathematics becomes increasingly fun and less laborious once children have quick recall of number facts.
Children also have opportunities to choose their own methods of computation to tackle reasoning problems however staff suggest more efficient methods as appropriate. Children are encouraged and rewarded for showing their working out (even if this is incorrect). Staff tackle any misconceptions judiciously on an individual and class level.
Maths Mastery at Loxley
At Loxley, we embrace mastery in mathematics; developing children’s depth of understanding and creatively challenging their knowledge before moving on to other areas of learning. By using variation in the way similar problems are presented and approached, we provide our children with the confidence and experience to identify and use their mathematical skills in a wide range of contexts, both within maths lessons, and throughout the wider curriculum.
To aid conceptual understanding, children see and use visual representations (models and images) of the maths they are learning and use physical apparatus such as Numicon. After mathematical strategies have been modelled for them, children have opportunities to demonstrate concepts themselves.
Reasoning and Problem solving
Loxley pupils from the earliest stages are encouraged to talk about their mathematical understanding and use reasoning skills to discuss and explain how they have reached different answers. Children apply their mathematical skills to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication as they progress through the school.
Our children love proving their understanding of mathematical processes by solving puzzles and real world problems.