Welcome to Maths

Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton asked why.
— Bernard Baruch, American financier, philanthropist, and statesman

Mathematics should be a subject that stimulates a child’s sense of inquisitiveness, to excite and incite an interest for its application in everyday life and not exclusively within the classroom.

The Mathematics Mastery programme sets an ambitious curriculum to provide the children with the impetus and the tools necessary to master Mathematics, thereby equipping them with the kindling to enflame the self-confidence they need for the successful application of Mathematics. The journey that our children embark on throughout our broad and balanced curriculum begins in the Early Years and, through a spiral of planned and sequenced lessons, builds upon previous knowledge to instil our pupils with the mathematical confidence and the knowledge to be secondary school ready. By the end of Year 6 we intend for our pupils to have a sound comprehension of all four of the operations, including working with fractions and decimals, an understanding of the number system and place value of large integers, connecting multiplication and division questions, making links between percentages and ratio and to confidently calculate both written and mental arithmetic problems.

In order to build a depth of understanding, we place problem-solving at the heart of our Mathematics curriculum. Pupils are provided with the opportunity to explore the maths they are learning and are empowered to seek solutions, make new discoveries and reason about their findings. Vocabulary is a key element to this intention, paralleled with the need to stimulate and develop the use of mathematical language throughout the academy. We introduce the vocabulary required for each concept as and continually model and use this language so that its use becomes embedded in the children’s learning. Our lessons include talk tasks to enable children to practise using this vocabulary whilst enabling the opportunity for them to discuss their reasoning.

The curriculum is designed, developed, and adapted to ensure that the Mathematics Curriculum is inclusive and accessible to all children at Ark Oval Primary Academy. We aim to ensure that all children are able to access Mathematics that is appropriate to their stage of learning and to make accelerated progress when compared to their peers. The curriculum is tailored in order to address the gaps exhibited in children’s knowledge from data-informed evidence to generate opportunities to accelerate, advance and support children with their learning.

We do not want to educate children who use Mathematics because they need to but because they want to: we aim to nurture our children to be inquisitive and critical thinkers so that they too will have the confidence and feel empowered to ask “Why?” questions with the vision that they too can one day solve some of the world’s greatest unanswered Mathematical dilemmas.

Mathletics

Mathletics is an online programme which supports Maths learning both in the classroom and at home. Mathletics is aligned to the national curriculum and offers a variety of online and interactive games to interest and engage your child with all of the areas of primary Mathematics.

To log onto Mathletics please click the link below:

https://login.mathletics.com/

Please click the link below for a short video on how to login and navigate Mathletics:

https://support.3plearning.com/mathletics/mathletics-parent-tour/?wvideo=kvotn0qidw

Times Tables Rock Stars

Times Tables Rock Stars is an online programme to help your child develop their times tables skills through friendly competition against themselves and also against their peers. The programme automatically increases and decreases in difficulty depending on your child’s knowledge of times tables.

To log onto Times Tables Rocks Stars please click the link below:

https://play.ttrockstars.com/auth/school/student

Please click the guide below to find out how to log in and for more information about Times Tables Rock Stars: 

What are KIRFs?

To develop your child’s fluency and mental maths skills, we are introducing KIRFs (Key Instant Recall Facts) throughout school. KIRFS are a way of helping your child to learn by heart, key facts and information which they need to have instant recall of.

How can we practise KIRFs at home?

KIRFs are designed to support the development of mental maths skills that underpin much of the maths work in our school. They are particularly useful when calculating, adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing. Instant recall of facts helps enormously with fluency in maths lessons. When children move onto written calculations, knowing these key facts is very beneficial. For your child to become more efficient in recalling them easily, they need to be practised frequently and for short periods of time.