Curriculum Intent

At St Thomas’s, we recognise that maths is both a key skill within school, and a life skill to be utilised through everyday experiences. A high-quality maths education provides a firm foundation for understanding how maths is used in everyday life and develops a pupils’ ability to reason mathematically and solve problems. Through the teaching of maths, we aim to develop:

• A positive attitude towards maths and an awareness of the relevance of maths in the real world.
• An ability to solve problems and think logically in order to work systematically and accurately.
• An ability to work both independently and in cooperation with others
• Competence and confidence in pupils’ maths knowledge, concepts and skills.

Primary overview

Wherever possible, the maths curriculum will provide opportunities to establish links with other curriculum areas. Spelling tests in English should include spellings of key mathematical terminology and mathematical vocabulary should be used when applicable. Pupils’ data collection and analysis skills can be further developed through the conduction of physical experiments in Science, using units of measurement, calculating averages and interpreting results. Pupils should record their finding using charts, tables and graphs. Data analysis, pattern seeking and problem-solving skills should also be developed through the teaching of Geography while pupils’ understanding of time and measurements of time can be developed through discussions of historical events in History. ICT will be used to enhance pupils’ maths skills through the use of online resources.

Throughout St Thomas’s, maths is taught as a discrete lesson and as part of cross-curricular themes when appropriate. Long Term and Medium-Term Plans have been taken from the White Rose Maths schemes of learning. The LTPs give an overview of the coverage at each stage and have been designed to support the aims and objectives of the new National Curriculum through a mastery approach to teaching and learning. They have number at their heart and a large proportion of time is spent reinforcing number to build competency. In line with White Rose Maths training, teaching staff at St Thomas’s use a concrete, pictorial, abstract approach to teaching number and lessons regularly include an element of reasoning and problem solving.