At South Bank Primary our maths curriculum across the whole school supports learners to become resilient and work efficiently by making links between concepts, facts and relationships. Our aim is for all children to enjoy and succeed in mathematics and secure a deep understanding of mathematical concepts.

Beginning with these concrete methods, all children can become competent mathematicians, appreciate the importance of maths and develop a passion for maths.  

Maths is celebrated in Friday Celebration Assemblies, where Maths work is regularly rewarded and pupils are recognised for their effort, achievement and resilience during maths lessons. 

We understand the importance of early mathematic experiences and how a strong grounding in number and spatial reasoning skills equips children to be confident mathematicians.

From EYFS, staff instil a growth mindset and develop children’s resilience with mathematical concepts. They are encouraged to ‘give it a go’ and know that mistakes are a natural part of learning.

Curriculum

We recognise the value of early math experiences and the way that a solid foundation in number and spatial reasoning abilities prepares children to be competent mathematicians.
Beginning in the EYFS, teachers cultivate a growth mentality in the children and use mathematical ideas to build their resilience. All children are encouraged to ‘give it a go’ and know that mistakes are a natural part of learning.

Daily 5

Children begin their daily maths lessons engaging in a  ‘Daily 5’  fluency activity, which allows recall of previous learning (from last lesson/ last week/ last unit/last year), to sustain prior learning and consolidate number facts. The ‘Daily 5’ tasks also allow the opportunity to cover some less frequently taught units.

Power Maths

From Y1 – Y6, teachers follow Power Maths which supports   “The Big 5 Ideas” for mastery where teachers use coherence, representation and structure, mathematical thinking, fluency and both conceptual and procedural variation to ensure effective learning.

Power Maths is designed to spark curiosity and excitement and help nurture confidence in maths. 

Every lesson starts with a Discover task to get children to solve a problem that aims to generate curiosity.

During lessons children are given the opportunity to use manipulatives to model their mathematical thinking and explain their reasoning through shared and paired work using appropriate mathematical vocabulary. Power Maths follows an  “I do, we do, you do” approach which is followed so children become confident in understanding mathematical concepts and applying this knowledge.

Power Maths Characters 

Children are supported by the  Power Maths characters. The characters model the traits of growth mindset learners and encourage resilience by prompting and questioning children as they work. Each character has a different trait: Sparks – is helpful and supportive and will remind children of things that may help them. Dexter – is determined. When he makes a mistake, he learns from it and tries again. Astrid – is brave and confident and is not afraid to make mistakes. Ash – is curious and inquisitive, he loves to explore new concepts. Flo- is flexible and creative and often comes up with new methods.

These characters appear frequently in Textbooks and Practice Books, to promote discussion, help model methods, alternatives and misconceptions, and pose questions. They also encourage and support children, too: they are all hardworking, enthusiastic and unafraid of making and talking about mistakes.