Maths
At Ashlands, we believe that maths is for everyone and that no-one should be allowed to think that they ‘can’t do maths’. All pupils are entitled to access the essential set of rich mathematical concepts and big ideas that will allow them to flourish and become successful and numerate adults. We understand that learning maths is like building a tower; children must have firm foundations and acquire specific building blocks in a certain order. If any of these blocks of understanding are missing (due to too-rapid acceleration or insufficient depth), then the tower is shaky and can be toppled at any time.
We use the ‘Teaching for Mastery’ approach, and have invested in staff training, and resources. We teach the National Curriculum and use ‘White Rose Maths’ to inform our planning and progression.
Mastering Number in Key Stage One
In September 2022, we became part of the ‘Teaching for Mastery Workgroup’ in mastering number with the Boolean Maths Hub. This has given our Key Stage One children a greater confidence in understanding and applying their number facts. They love using their Rekenrek’s!
Lower Key Stage 2 Times Tables Focus
We have adopted a systematic whole class approach to learning our times tables in Lower Key Stage Two. This aims to break down the learning of the times tables into manageable chunks. Children learn their times tables one table at a time using the law of commutativity! (when you turn the facts around, like 2 x 10 is 10 x 2). The times table challenge uses a little and often focus, with a two minutes times test, twice a day. This prepares children well for their Multiplication Tables Check Assessment at the end of Year Four.