‘Without mathematics, there’s nothing you can do. Everything around you is mathematics. Everything around you is numbers.’ – Shakuntala Devi, Indian writer and mental calculator

‘Mathematics is the most beautiful and most powerful creation of the human spirit.’ – Stefan Banach, Polish mathematician

At Lydgate Junior School, our intention is for our children become confident, competent and curious mathematicians.

We aim to develop a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about mathematics through problem solving, discussion, practical investigations and making connections between representations of mathematical ideas. We encourage children to reason mathematically and discover solutions, alongside learning the facts that they need in order to become fluent in working with numbers.

Our Calculation Progressions for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division set out the steps that the children will follow in order to develop their conceptual understanding of the written calculation procedures that they learn. By the end of Key Stage 2, we aim for our children to have the knowledge and skills required in their everyday life and be prepared for further study at Key Stage 3.

We plan a ‘mastery curriculum’ in mathematics using a framework from White Rose Maths Hub which we adapt to suit the needs of our children. We also use published materials called 'Power Maths'. The intention is to ensure that every child has mastered the core learning in each unit of work. We use concrete and visual representations of calculations as a key feature, helping children to understand mathematical concepts rather than simply carry out a successful calculation procedure. Lessons are planned in small steps to enable all children to keep up, with built in challenges designed to encourage higher attainers to think deeply about the maths they are learning.

We begin all maths lessons with rehearsal of key facts and skills to aid fluency. We have created a list of fluency key skills for each year group. We believe that quick recall of these essential facts will enable children to progress further as it frees up their working memory to solve more complex problems. As well as quick recall, we aim for the children to use the skills flexibly to solve a range of problems.

We ask the children to rehearse times tables facts as often as possible, including at home. Year 3 and Year 4 teach and rehearse the tables daily with the intention that all children will be able to recall multiplication facts up to 12x12 by the end of Year 4. The plan for when the tables are taught and rehearsed throughout the school can be found here. The whole school use the Times Tables Rock Stars website to motivate them to practise (your child will have a personal log in). You can find further activities and games to play at home here.

Read our full Mathematics Curriculum Statement here.

Our Governor Subject Lead for Mathematics is: Gehan Sri-Pathmanathan