Bowsland Green Primary School
Bowsland Green Primary School
Bowsland Green Primary School
Trees

Mathematics

At Bowsland Green we strive to ensure that our pupils develop a positive and enthusiastic approach to mathematics, with a skillset that will enable them to become active, lifelong learners who understand numbers, patterns and shapes in the world around them. We encourage and promote resilience within our pupils and plan activities that enable them to explore and discover key mathematical concepts so that when working either collaboratively or independently, they have the confidence to master and challenge these ideas.

At the beginning and end of each unit, pupils complete entry and exit assessments so that learning can be tailored to their needs to ensure that learning promotes good progress. Throughout a lesson, strong AfL strategies are used such as questioning and observations to ensure that learners are supported and challenged in the best way possible.

Curriculum coverage:

On Team BG, every pupil receives at least an hour of maths a day to make sure that all areas of the National Curriculum are covered.  We split our maths lessons into two parts so that AfL can best inform the direction of the lesson when our pupils return from break. As a school, we follow the White Rose overview. Here, calculation work takes priority as these are the skills that underpin all areas of mathematics. These overviews are easily accessible via the link below:

https://whiterosemaths.com/resources/primary-resources/primary-sols/

Whilst this is a guide, teachers work at the pace and needs of their class and plan lessons accordingly.

Cross-curricular maths learning is also encouraged through our enquiry-based curriculum to ensure that pupils see the concepts they learn in their morning sessions in a variety of real life contexts. This enables our learners to become more confident, makes their learning purposeful and allows them to understand the importance of maths in our lives.  

Maths in EYFS:

In Reception, our pupils have constant access to a range of stimulating and challenging mathematical activities. A range of resources are used to support independent learning. Take a look for yourselves:

Our Calculation Policy:

At Bowsland we have developed a clear policy for teaching the four main calculations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) consistently across the school which links to the White Rose scheme of learning. Please use the link below to access our policy.

Bowsland Green Calculation policy – Addition and Subtraction

Bowsland Green Calculation policy – Multiplication and Division 

Videos to support with addition and subtraction at home

The following videos have been created to support our pupils at home with some of the mathematical concepts we are learning in our maths lessons. These videos can be used at home to remind pupils of the methods we use and how to tackle questions using these. We have used concrete resources to show some of the concepts but don’t worry if you don’t have counters etc at home! Be as creative as you like! Cheerios can make great counter replacements! Some pupils may prefer to draw their thinking – use paper and pencil, a whiteboard and pen or even chalk on the patio!

We hope you find the videos useful 🙂

Our Learning Environment

Working Walls

We are very proud of our school learning environment. In every classroom, we have mathematical learning walls where we share: the steps we will be taking as part of the unit of work, a model from the lesson, new vocabulary and stem sentences which will be built up over time as a reference point to aid future learning.

Watch this space for pictures of what we have been up to…

Resources

Across the maths curriculum, pupils in all year groups use a range of resources to enable them to visualise concepts and really understand why and what is happening. Some popular examples include Numicon, Dienes, counters and multilink cubes.

Real Story, Maths Story

At Bowsland, we use the concept ‘Real Story, Maths Story’ to aid the teaching and learning of Maths. This concept follows the concrete, pictorial, abstract methodology and encourages children to use practical, visual and abstract ways to represent a calculation. Around our school, you will see examples on Maths learning walls as well as in children’s books. Please ask your child about ‘Real Story, Maths Story’ and ask them to explain it to you. Have a look at these pictures and try the examples together!

At Bowsland, we use the concept ‘Real Story, Maths Story’ to aid the teaching and learning of Maths. This concept follows the concrete, pictorial, abstract methodology and encourages children to use practical, visual and abstract ways to represent a calculation. Around our school, you will see examples on Maths learning walls as well as in children’s books. Please ask your child about ‘Real Story, Maths Story’ and ask them to explain it to you. Have a look at these pictures and try the examples together!

Problem Solving and Mastery:

Pupils are encouraged to explain their thinking and key points are challenged in different concepts and through a range of problem solving. Becoming a better mathematician means being able to explain what is happening and use this knowledge in a range of problems and contexts, as well as being able to share this articulately with others. This is ‘mastery’ maths, where pupils acquire a deep, long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of the subject and are then ready to move onto the next concept.

Maths Fluency:

Maths fluency enables pupils to recall concepts quickly and supports them with their reasoning and problem solving.

Going for Gold
Bowsland Green pupils are “Going for Gold”, which enables them to see Times Tables written in a variety of ways to help promote this instant recall of number facts. We aim for all our pupils to have secure times table knowledge, up to x12, by the end of Year 4. Once a week, pupils sit their personal coloured task with the aim of reaching Gold. Learners must get a set of questions from each colour correct three times before moving on. All resources can be found here: 

https://www.bowsland.org.uk/helping-with-maths/