Maths

Intent

At Deer Park School, we believe that pupils should be empowered to grow as curious mathematicians, with a strong depth of conceptual understanding. Through a fluent and meaningful understanding of mathematics, our pupils are able to apply their learning across the curriculum and their wider experiences, becoming resilient and practically investigative mathematicians. We use the White Rose Mathematics scheme—as recommended by the DfES maths hub— in conjunction with materials from the NCETM, through which teachers work to support and guide their pupils through the stages of mathematical development, with a sincere focus on the depth of understanding and application at each stage. Our pupils learn to communicate mathematically, developing as confident and articulate learners with a broad range of mathematical vocabulary and the verbal dexterity to explain, examine and evaluate problem solving approaches. Our in-depth approach to critical thinking and open-ended problem solving aims to enrich our pupils with an exceptional mathematical foundation, on which our pupils are able to build successful educational careers and strong mathematical knowledge.

Implementation

Mathematics at Deer park School is planned and sequenced using White Rose Mathematics, tailored to our pupils needs with additional depth provided by the NCETM and bespoke in-school material. Our curriculum is designed to ensure careful cumulative coverage, with a taught focus on the connectivity of mathematical concepts applied throughout the school year, with precise sequencing of taught knowledge and skills to enable strong progression for all pupils. Our cumulative and in-depth application of the curriculum allows our pupils to develop a more profound depth of understanding and application, as they building on previous learning while engaging with challenging and meaningful tasks. We believe that our regular arithmetic and number-fact sessions promote confident mathematical fluency and this, along with times table knowledge support, is taught, tested and celebrated across all year groups. Maths learning is supported through adaptive online tuition for pupils in KS2, alongside weekly online number tasks and fluency activities. Through rigorous and consistently high expectations of pupils’ fluency, we ensure that pupils have the number knowledge to access the ambitious range of reasoning and problem solving ingrained in our curriculum.

Impact

Throughout Deer Park School, the most powerful and formative tool to assess and support progress is our teachers’ expert use of assessment for learning. In each mathematics lesson, teachers identify and quickly address misconceptions, enable the forging of connections between concepts, and recognise opportunities for challenge and in-depth reasoning. Teachers, specialist tutors and teaching assistants deliver targeted maths interventions to address specific learning needs and to provide additional greater depth learning experiences. Pupils are tested on their taught content each term, in addition to shorter low-stakes tests within each unit of learning. Pupil progress and attainment is carefully analysed, and the data used formatively to direct access arrangements, teacher planning and content revision.

Support and Resources for Parents

Calculation Policy-Addition and Substraction

Calculation Policy-Multiplication and Division

Supporting Maths at home

Parental guidance on maths strategies

Using and Applying Mathematics