Maths
A St Joseph’s learner will enjoy maths and value its importance in everyday life. They will have a firm grasp of the fundamental ideas and be able to apply them to more complicated maths. They will be confident in calculating and be able to draw upon mental strategies when needed. They will learn to reason and problem solve, developing the skills needed to succeed now and in the future.
Our school's maths programme of study follows the National Curriculum and is supported by the following resources: Oak National Academy, White Rose Maths, Purple Mash, Century Tech and Times Table Rock Stars. We do not follow a single, published scheme of work but make best use of challenging and appropriate resources to help embed reasoning, problem solving and arithmetic skills and knowledge. Every year group has a long term plan (LTP) which has been carefully mapped by the subject leader to ensure coverage of the National Curriculum. Teachers use this to support their planning but will, of course, develop their own medium-term plans to support the different needs and requirements of their own class.
The national curriculum for mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils:
- become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.
- reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language
- can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions
Long-Term Plans by Year Group, Calculation Policy and Supporting Your Child
Please scroll down to view our most up-to-date calculation policy, key ideas from each Key Stage and ideas that you can use to support your children at home.
If you have any questions or queries about this, please contact Miss Denny via the school office.
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Calculation Policies
Our calculation policies outlines the strategies/ideas and formal methods that are used in each year group. If you require further information or support, please do contact the school- our teachers are always happy to clarify methods and support you should you require it.
Supporting your child at home
There are lots of ways that you can support your child's maths learning at home. Our teachers are always happy to discuss how you can best support your child.
Early Years
Support maths in Nursery and Reception by counting with your child and drawing/showing them the numbers 1-10. Count whenever you can so that your child becomes familiar with the number names, sounds and order. This is a fun and engaging way to develop number understanding and it really will make a difference to your child's learning.
It couldn't be easier to count steps, for example when you're walking to school or out in the garden so count steps, hops and jumps- it's all beneficial! As a challenge, try counting backwards or starting from a different number to zero (0).
Look out for numbers within an everyday environment; price labels, bar codes, number plates, doors, signs, numbers are everywhere! So are shapes; search for them and point them out!
Playing games with a dice will help children become confident in subatising numbers to 6. Board games are also great for counting spaces, using language about how many more spaces needed and counting totals.
See: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/cbeebies/episodes/b08bzfnh?page=2 for some short numberblocks episodes on the CBeebies iPlayer.
Times Tables
Learning your times tables and having that quick-fire knowledge can make other areas of maths much easier. With the introduction of mandatory times tables check scheduled for Year Four children in the summer term 2022, there has never been more emphasis on the importance of this valuable, life-long skill.
Here are some ideas to support times table learning at home:
- Practising times tables by rote.
- Asking your child multiplication questions out of order – such as ‘What’s 11 x 12? What’s 5 x 6?’
- Asking your child the related division facts: ‘What’s 8 divided by 4? What’s 54 divided by 6?’
- Using arrays to help your child memorise times tables – you can use fun objects like Smarties or Lego bricks to make it more entertaining.
- Giving your child word problems to test their skills, like ‘If Peter has 800ml of orange juice and needs to share it between four friends, how much can they each have?’
Online learning for times tables
Times Tables Rock Stars is a fantastic website to help your child recall multiplication and division facts quickly. Make sure they visit: https://ttrockstars.com/ so that they can compete against their friends and teachers!
Other fun games include:
Times Tables Games (maths-games.org)
Learn to Count with fun Counting Games for KS1 Children (topmarks.co.uk)
Times Tables Games for 7 to 11 year olds (topmarks.co.uk)
Teaching Tables - Free Times Tables Games and Whole Class Teaching Tools from iR Online
Free Multiplication, Addition, Subtraction, Division Games
Maths in the Early Years
Developing a strong grounding in number is essential so that all children develop the necessary building blocks to excel mathematically. Children will be taught to count confidently, develop a deep understanding of the numbers to 10, the relationships between them and the patterns within those numbers. By providing frequent and varied opportunities to build and apply this understanding children will develop a secure base of knowledge and vocabulary from which mastery of mathematics is built. In addition, our curriculum includes rich opportunities for children to develop their spatial reasoning skills across all areas of mathematics including shape, space and measures. Our children will develop positive attitudes and interests in mathematics, look for patterns and relationships, spot connections, ‘have a go’, talk to adults and peers about what they notice and not be afraid to make mistakes.
To find our more about our early years curriculum, please visit:
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School - Learning In Early Years (st-josephs-rugeley.org.uk)
Maths in KS1
In key stage 1 pupils:
Develop confidence and mental fluency with whole numbers, counting and place value. This should involve working with numerals, words and the four operations, including with practical resources [for example, concrete objects and measuring tools].
Learn to recognise, describe, draw, compare and sort different shapes and use the related vocabulary.
Learn to use a range of measures to describe and compare different quantities such as length, mass, capacity/volume, time and money.
By the end of year 2, pupils should know the number bonds to 20 and be precise in using and understanding place value.
Pupils should read and spell mathematical vocabulary, at a level consistent with their increasing word reading and spelling knowledge.
Maths in Lower KS2
Pupils:
Become increasingly fluent with whole numbers and the four operations, including number facts and the concept of place value.
Develop efficient written and mental methods and perform calculations accurately with increasingly large whole numbers.
Develop their ability to solve a range of problems, including with simple fractions and decimal place value.
Develop mathematical reasoning so they can analyse shapes and their properties, and confidently describe the relationships between them.
Can use measuring instruments with accuracy and make connections between measure and number.
By the end of year 4, pupils should have memorised their multiplication tables up to and including the 12 multiplication table and show precision and fluency in their work.
Pupils should read and spell mathematical vocabulary correctly and confidently, using their growing knowledge.
Year 4 Times Tables Check
In June 2025, children in Year 4 will be taking an online times tables test to assess their knowledge of all times tables up to and including 12 x 12. This test will take no longer than 5 minutes and will include 25 multiplication questions. The children will be given 6 seconds to answer each question.
If you would like any more information then please see Miss Denny.
Maths in Upper KS2
Pupils:
Extend their understanding of the number system and place value to include larger integers
Make connections between multiplication and division with fractions, decimals, percentages and ratio.
Develop their ability to solve a wider range of problems, including increasingly complex properties of numbers and arithmetic, and problems demanding efficient written and mental methods of calculation.
Are introduced to the language of algebra as a means for solving a variety of problems.
Classify shapes with increasingly complex geometric properties and that they learn the vocabulary they need to describe them.
Pupils should be fluent in written methods for all four operations, including long multiplication and division, and in working with fractions, decimals and percentages.
Pupils should read, spell and pronounce mathematical vocabulary correctly.
Support in maths:
All children have maths lessons every day, however we know that some children may need more support in this than others. To help children who may need more support or who are on the SEN register we may:
- give adult support during maths lessons
- offer extra resources to help
- give visual prompts
- offer a specific 1:1 or group intervention e.g. Plus one / Power of 2
Where possible, this support will be given during maths lessons so children do not miss out on the full curriculum.