Mathematics

Here at St Mary Magdalene Academy Primary, our pupils are given the opportunity to develop their mathematical potential through a rich, engaging and ambitious curriculum. We want our children to feel confident in using and applying mathematics in a wide range of situations and believe that maths is uniquely powerful in helping us to solve problems, making sense of and describing our world. It is a fascinating subject, dealing with the nature of number, space, pattern and mathematical relationships. Useful and creative, it requires not only facts and skills, but also understanding gained through exploration, application and discussion. We want our children to be confident to ask and answer questions, openly share work and learn from mistakes. In mathematics, we aim to develop lively, enquiring minds encouraging pupils to become self-motivated, confident and capable in order to apply the knowledge and skills learnt through the curriculum and solve a range of mathematical problems.

The school follows the national curriculum, which aims to ensure that all pupils:         

• become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice and application of knowledge in relation to increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils have conceptual understanding and are able to recall and apply their knowledge rapidly and accurately

• can 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.

More information about Maths can be found in the Maths Statement and Calculation policies attached below.  

To support pupils to continue to make progress at home, SMMA Primary have subscribed to two different maths based apps. 

In either paper form or online, Times Tables Rock Stars is a carefully sequenced programme of daily times tables practice. Each week concentrates on a different times table, with a recommended consolidation week for rehearsing the tables that have recently been practised every third week or so.

This format has very successfully boosted times tables recall speed for hundreds of thousands of pupils over the last 8 years in over 14,000 schools - both primary and secondary - worldwide.  It is also a lot of fun - with pupils able to choose their own rock name and belonging to their class band.  This is a great way to boost speed and accuracy.

A user guide for parents and carers is available below

Times-Tables-Rockstars-letter-for-parents.pdf

Sumdog is an unique online learning engine.  Each pupil at the school has an individual login.  As they play games, they answer maths questions. Through their answers, Sumdog adapts questions personally to each individual, progressing them through the curriculum at their own pace.  Questions are drawn from relevant skills, mixing the current learning focus with revision. You can visit their website here:  https://www.sumdog.com/