Maths

Our Intent

At Southwark, we understand mathematics is an essential discipline and is at the very forefront of our children’s past, present and future. At Southwark, our children learn through the Mastery approach that mathematics education provides a basis for understanding and becoming an active member of our national and global society. Our children are increasingly equipped with ability to fluently reason and to have a true sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.

Southwark currently has an established, well sequenced curriculum based on the Mastery approach and utilising the White Rose scheme of learning, which is adapted to suit the needs of our children. The teaching of maths facts and methods is sequenced through using these resources, ensuring our lessons are systematic, clear and well planned. This curriculum has been developed over a number of years and class teachers and support staff are very familiar with our approach to Maths here at Southwark.

At the very heart of our mathematics curriculum is the fundamental belief that every single child can achieve. In the majority of cases our children are taught to achieve their year groups content. Where appropriate children may have lessons which recap on prior learning to accommodate missed learning due to the COVID 19 pandemic or as part of a small step sequence to build up to their year group learning or work at a level of challenge that is more appropriate for their developmental stage. All children are actively encouraged to achieve greater depth through daily challenges which are available to all children. In cases were children aren’t taught their year groups content a carefully planned bespoke ambitious sequence is developed with class teacher, SEND, maths lead and where appropriate external agencies.

Through the implementation of the mastery approach our children have a secure and deep understanding of mathematical concepts. Our ambitious maths curriculum encourages children to make connections with their prior knowledge to understand new concepts. At the very heart of our mathematics is a conceptual based approach where our children know how and importantly why particular procedures are in place. Children will develop a conceptual understanding through variation which will allow our children to make sense of their mathematics e.g. numbers represented in a variety of ways. As well as conceptual variation, children will add to their understanding through procedural variation where children develop their understanding of mathematical ideas stage by stage. Our conceptual approach ensures greater retention and an ability to quickly remember forgotten concepts through reconstruction of mathematical connections.

Our children experience a rich mastery diet through a well thought our lesson structure which not only develops children’s understanding of mathematics but puts children at the very heart of

Our approach to times tables

At the very centre of the mathematics curriculum at Southwark is a strong emphasis on times tables/number facts. Maths, is a big subject and we appreciate there is more to it than times tables/number facts and there is more to times tables/number facts than learning them off by heart. However, a lot of the rich, interesting maths is all about the multiplicative/numerical relationships and these are hard to fully grasp without fluent recall of the tables.
In year 1 children are expected to recall their number bonds up to 20. In year 2 children are expected to recall their 2,5 and 10 times tables. In year 3 children continue their recall by learning the 3,4 and 8 times tables. By the end of year 4 we expect all children to be able to quickly recall all of their times tables up to 12x12 and children will complete an external formal times tables check at the end of the year 4. Post year 4 we expect children to instantly recall all times tables, which can only be achieved by regular
practice.

We believe the best approach to learning times tables is regular practice which is why it is so important that children practice both in school and at home.

In school:

- Children will practise their times tables/number facts every morning during morning work.
- Children will regularly practice times tables as part of their mathematics lessons.
- Children will have regular access to school laptops to use Times Tables Rockstars.
- Children will have a weekly times tables quiz where they will be tested on the times table/s/number fact/s they have been focussing on that week.
- Every half term children will complete an internal times table test to check children’s progress learning their year groups times tables.

It is our intention that most children will have instant recall of their year group times tables. At this point, children who have demonstrated instant recall will move onto learning their division facts. This will be taught in a mixed approach with children learning division facts whilst regularly practicing their times tables to ensure they maintain their instant recall.