Maths

Maths is taught daily at Starks Field to support children in becoming fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, be able to reason mathematically and problem solve by applying their mathematics to variety of problems. Children are taught maths in their normal classes. We follow the National Curriculum programme of study for maths.

Throughout the school, children work on the three key areas of fluency, reasoning and problem solving to ensure they develop a good understanding of topics that are studied. Children regularly work on developing their reasoning skills in order to explain how to solve problems and pupils are regularly challenged to investigate problems, such as those available on Nrich www.nrich.maths.org.

Fluency in maths, where children practise a variety of problems, such as calculations, is important so that children can recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately. We build on this, with children using reasoning to make links between key concepts. For example when working on their times tables or number bonds we see if they can make connections and continue patterns:

8 + 2   = 10
2 + 8   = 10
10 – 2 = 8
10 – 8 = 2

4 × 2 = 8         8 ÷ 4 = 2

40 × 20 = 800        800 ÷ 20 = 4

We also teach children to become fluent in their times tables so that by the end of Year 4 they know all their times tables up to the 12s.

In support of their times tables knowledge, we use TTRockstars (https://ttrockstars.com/login) in Key Stage 2, which gives the children a fun way to practise their tables online, earning coins for every correct answer and being able to spend them on their avatar. Children in KS2 regularly test their knowledge in a timed situation with music playing in the background. We have termly competitions, celebrating the classes and individuals who perform highly.  Children in KS2 can log on to practise, compete in competitions and earn coins to spend on their avatar with their own login (six letters) and password (normally three numbers). Teachers have provided children with their passwords.

Arithmetic skills are now assessed at the end of KS1 and KS2. Children learn strategies to solve all four operations in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Parental support with everyday maths is a very important part of developing a child’s confidence in maths. Here is a link to a website that may help: www.familymathstoolkit.org.uk