Maths

Curriculum Intent Statement - MATHS

Mathematics is an important creative discipline that helps us to understand and change the world and to be well equipped for the challenges of daily life. We want all pupils at St Philip’s Primary School to experience the beauty, power and enjoyment of mathematics and develop a sense of curiosity about the subject with a clear understanding.

We aim to create mathematicians who are inquisitive, ask questions and relish the process of solving problems.

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

At St Philip’s, we believe all children can achieve in mathematics, and teach for secure and deep understanding of mathematical concepts through manageable steps. We use mistakes and misconceptions as an essential part of learning and provide challenge through rich and sophisticated problems.

Teachers will encourage the use of technically accurate language from the beginning of the children’s mathematical journey as we believe that embedding the use of this vocabulary is essential in creating confident mathematicians. We recognise the huge importance of the children developing firm foundations and fluency in number and place value – and as such we have adopted a curriculum that places emphasis on these areas.

In line with the National Curriculum, we aim for all pupils to:

• become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics so that they develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.
• be able to solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of problems with increasing sophistication, including in unfamiliar contexts and to model real-life scenarios
• reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry and develop and present a justification, argument or proof using mathematical language.
• have an appreciation of number and number operations, which enables mental calculations and written procedures to be performed efficiently, fluently and accurately to be successful in mathematics