Maths
Our vision:
“At Craneswater, all children will become resilient, fluent mathematicians with an ability to tackle problem solving.”
Our key principles:
• All children can learn to do maths.
• Fluency, Reasoning and problem solving are embedded within each of our units across all year groups.
• Children are supported in their understanding through the use of concrete, pictorial and abstract.
What does maths typically look like at Craneswater?
• Children are taught within mixed ability classes by their class teacher.
• Lessons begin with ‘fluency starters’ that encourage children to develop their mental strategies. They explore efficiency and discuss different ways of working things out.
• Concrete manipulatives are available in every classroom and are accessible for children to use as directed or independently.
• Children can choose their starting points in lessons and are able to move themselves on if they feel they are able to do something. Children complete 5 questions that are similar and are then challenged in more depth.
• Challenges are readily available for children to move onto at their discretion or as directed by the class teacher or teaching assistant.
• Children are encouraged to use the correct mathematical vocabulary and use their reasoning skills when answering questions. They are also encouraged to explain their rationale in tackling problems.
• Through their time at the school, children will develop their written calculation methods in line with the Calculation Policy.
• Additional time, outside of lessons, is given to teaching and learning multiplication facts. Children complete regular times tables assessments which are differentiated and aim to improve their score over time.
• Children enjoying maths and engaged in what they are doing.
Maths Activities at Home
Many of our parents have asked for some possible maths activities that they can do with their child at home to support their passion for maths. Here are some suggested activities and some resources that you can print off. Oral and mental work is beneficial and supports all aspects of maths teaching in school. The best rule is ‘little, often and varied’ so that your child is engaged. The most effective thing to do is to be positive about their maths learning and engage with your child about what they are doing, show an interest and question them on what they have learnt.
Mr McMaster – Maths Manager
Activities:
-
Quick-fire times-tables and related division facts
-
Number bonds – what goes with …… to make …… Play matching pairs.
-
Doubling and halving numbers
-
Ordering numbers
-
Play card games such as pontoon, sevens
-
Baking – practising the skills of measuring and reading from a scale
-
Talking about time, e.g. How long is it until lunch time? The journey takes 2½ hours, when will we arrive? We need to be there at 2.00 pm, when do we need to leave home? Many children will still need practice with reading clock times, particularly minutes past and minutes to the hour.
-
Guess my number - This is a useful game for playing on a journey. As your child plays the game they will practise thinking about the order of numbers. Start the game by saying to your child ' I am thinking of a number between 1 and ??'. Explain that the aim of the game is to guess the mystery number by asking questions and that you will only answer 'yes' or 'no'.
Children soon learn that it is more useful to ask "Is the number bigger than 5?" than to ask 'Is it 7?" Older children can progress to guessing mystery numbers up to 100 and can ask more complex questions:
'Is it an odd number?'
'Is the number a multiple of 10?' (e.g. 20, 30, 40) -
Handling amounts of money when shopping, working out total costs, working out change, checking receipts.
Printable resources:
Online resources:
All children have individual logins for this site. Please see your child's class teacher if unsure.
SATs Example Questions
In 2016, the end of KS2 assessment test changed from the old format to a new system of papers. As previously, there is no requirement for the children to use calculators in KS2. There are still 3 papers to complete in the week of SAT’s but they are as follows:
Paper 1- ARITHMETIC PAPER (30 mins) - to test the children’s ability to answer pure calculation type questions.
​
Paper 2- REASONING (45 min) – to test the children’s ability to apply their maths knowledge in a variety of different scenarios and problems.
Paper 3- REASONING (45 mins) – to test the children’s ability to apply their maths knowledge in a variety of different scenarios and problems.