Britannia
Primary School and Nursery
Britannia
Primary School and Nursery
Britannia
Primary School and Nursery
At Britannia, we aim to develop and nurture Mathematics skills which will be beneficial in future years. We understand that Mathematics is a tool for everyday life and it is used to analyse and communicate information and ideas to tackle a range of practical tasks and real life problems. We strive for our pupils to be confident mathematicians and develop a curiosity about Mathematics that will last for a lifetime.
Maths is a creative and highly inter-connected discipline that has been developed over centuries, providing the solution to some of history’s most intriguing problems. It is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment. A high-quality mathematics education therefore provides a foundation for understanding the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject. (DfE, National Curriculum for mathematics, 2014).
At Britannia, we follow the mastery approach to teaching maths, currently supported by White Rose Maths schemes of learning across the school, and supplement learning through the use of concrete and online resources, such as Times Tables Rockstars to help promote a love for maths. We are also part of the NCETM Sustaining Mastery programme, which supports and develops our mastery approach to maths at Britannia.
KS1
In order to build fluent young mathematicians, we have introduced the Number Facts Fluency programme from Number Sense Maths into all KS1 classes. The Number Facts Fluency programme builds confidence and flexibility with number, and fluency in addition and subtraction facts. All KS1 classes have a Number Facts Fluency session each day outside of their usual maths lesson.
LKS2
Our Year 3 and 4 classes follow the Number Sense Maths Times Table Fluency programme, which uses the mastery approach to secure knowledge of times table facts. The highly visual, research informed programme provides the structure and depth to times tables teaching that children need to achieve fluency in essential multiplication and division facts and concepts. A true Mastery programme, designed to achieve fluency for every child without exception. The programme develops recall of 36 core multiplication facts. Fluency in these facts provides the foundation for all written and mental multiplication and division. New facts are introduced and taught visually through the conceptual lessons, and aurally through the chanting of verbal sound patterns.
UKS2
Each class has 3 fluency sessions a week which are in addition to our normal maths lessons. 2 sessions a week are devoted to times table knowledge (KS2) with the third session used to cover any misconceptions that have arisen from recent classwork or assessments. This allows our teachers to identify and address any areas of learning that could be detrimental to subsequent maths learning in future. As we progress with the Number Sense Maths Times Table Fluency programme, it will roll up into UKS2 to ensure the automaticity of table knowledge continues with the same structures to support the pupils.
At Britannia, we use Times Table Rockstars to support the learning of our multiplication tables, both in and out of school. We regularly have competitions between classes, year groups ... sometimes even against the teachers! At the end of every half term, we complete a gig and a soundcheck (which mimics the Year 4 multiplication table check) to assess how we are getting on with learning our tables. We even have a TTRS day when we come in dressed up like rockstars! Always a highlight of the year.
We believe that knowing our tables will help us to succeed in maths so any extra time spent on TT Rockstars can only be a good thing. What are you waiting for? Every pupil has access to TTRS via their Wonde log in. Please contact your class teacher if you do not know the login for your child.
We are now also using Numbots, from the creators of the award-winning TTRS, which focuses on mental addition and subtraction. It supports the mastery journey in KS1 and provides an excellent way to practise the key fluency facts. It can be accessed using the same password as is used for TTRS so why not give it a try?
Superstar teachers!
Our teachers have recorded videos for how we teach the four operations in each year group to help support parents. The videos can be found under the 'Parents' tab on our home page or you can click here.
White Rose Maths have a parent section on their website which has a number of excellent resources, including FREE workbooks which directly link to the units being studied at school. They are free to download from the White Rose Education website or they can also be found on Amazon. Click here to go to the White Rose Education website.
