Birchfield Primary School

Mathematics at Birchfield Primary School

Intent

At Birchfield we aim to develop motivated and resilient mathematicians who can be fluent in the fundamentals of maths and can confidently apply what they learn. Most of all, we want children to enjoy maths and to get excited about the challenges the subject can bring. It is important to us that children see the relevance of maths and why it is needed in life, including in unfamiliar contexts and real-life scenarios. Children need to be able to reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, presenting a justification or argument using mathematical language.  

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.  

At Birchfield we: 

• promote enjoyment and enthusiasm for learning through practical activity, exploration and discussion; 
• promote confidence and competence with numbers and the number system; 
• develop a practical understanding of the ways in which information is gathered and presented; 
• daily recap of key learning to embed knowledge into long term memory; 
• understand the importance of mathematics in everyday life; 
• expose all our children to fluency, reasoning and problem solving frequently and consistently across a unit of work; 
• use timely interventions to address misconceptions.

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