Introduction

The teaching and learning of mathematics at Our Lady of Hartley is designed to help children appreciate that maths underpins many aspects of our lives and the world around us: from designing rockets to fly to the moon to buying a loaf of bread at the local shop. As part of the children's development, we help them understand that the mathematical skills of fluency, reasoning, pattern seeking and resilience are essential to science, technology and engineering and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment. At Our Lady of Hartley, the Collins Busy Ants scheme of work is used as the foundation for our programme of sequential learning, where key topics and skills are developed year-on-year, ensuring a progression that enables children to reach their full potential. The  structure of the Collins Busy Ants scheme securely embeds the 5 principles of a mastery approach in the children's learning of maths (please see the attached guide for more information). The programme also includes a newsletter for each topic containing useful tips and information to help parents support their child's learning.     

Maths in the Early Years

Within the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, Mathematics is one of the four 'specific areas' of learning. At Our Lady of Hartley, the children find mathematical opportunities and challenges all around them - through both teacher-directed and child-initiated activity. We build on their understanding of counting objects by helping them realize that steps, claps and jumps can also be counted, thereby enhancing the educational value of their play. As the children’s sense of number develops, together with their automatic recall of number bonds to ten, they begin to order, group and compare different values, exploring the composition of numbers and using the language of maths e.g. 'more than', 'fewer', 'equal to'.  In developing their understanding of  shape and position, the children begin to compose and decompose shapes, identify and create repeating patterns and develop spatial reasoning skills through the manipulation of 2D and 3D shapes.

Maths in action at Our Lady of Hartley

Cross curricular links

Science: Mathematical skills and understanding are essential for accurate measurements required in a science investigation. Scientific deductions and conclusions are often based on a comparison of values.

D&T: Accurate measurements are required to successfully take a project from the planning drawing, through the prototype stage to the finished product.

Literacy: Children use and develop their speaking and listening skills as they learn to articulate their mathematical reasoning and discuss their problem-solving ideas with their peers.

Geography: Whether reading grid references and learning about longitude and latitude, measuring distances on a map, comparing centres of population or the temperature of molten lava, mathematics and geography are closely intertwined as the Earth obediently complies with the laws of nature.   

Links to useful websites     

https://nrich.maths.org/

Problem solving activities for all ages  

http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/maths/interactive/index.htm

Lots of fun, interactive games in all areas of primary maths