Intent & National Curriculum Objectives

The school aims for all pupils to achieve the following outcomes:

• Fluency: Develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.
• Problem Solving: Apply mathematics to a variety of problems with increasing sophistication, including unfamiliar contexts and real-life scenarios.
• Mathematical Reasoning: Follow a line of enquiry and develop justifications, arguments, or proofs using mathematical language.
• Number Appreciation: Develop an appreciation of number and operations to perform mental calculations and written procedures efficiently, fluently, and accurately.

Characteristics of a Good Maths Lesson

A good mathematics lesson at Hambrook is defined by eight key elements:

1. Teacher Expertise: Knowing the mathematics, being an expert in what is taught, and using appropriate vocabulary and resources to demonstrate concepts.
2. Appropriate Resources: Providing children with manipulatives and representatives to support their learning.
3. Focused Learning Objectives (LO): Having a clear intention so children are aware of their learning journey.
4. Involvement and Progress: Ensuring all children are involved in the learning process and making progress within the lesson.
5. Assessment: Integrating both formative and summative assessment opportunities into the lesson.
6. Vocabulary: Explicitly teaching mathematical vocabulary.
7. Modelling: Utilizing vital modelling strategies within the lesson experience.
8. Discussion: Encouraging children to talk about and discuss new concepts and strategies.

Curriculum Coverage & Resources

• White Rose Schemes of Learning: Used to ensure the curriculum is taught thoroughly and clearly. Each class utilizes both a yearly overview and a medium-term overview broken into small, manageable steps.
• NCETM Professional Development: Used alongside White Rose resources to support teaching.
• Planning Adjustments: Teachers use and adapt small-step guidance based on class needs. If a child works below the curriculum, teachers look at the previous curriculum.

Teaching Approach: TRY IT, USE IT, PROVE IT

Every mathematics lesson utilizes a three-tiered approach to ensure all children face appropriate challenge, weaving problem solving and reasoning throughout:

• TRY IT (Fluency): Activities that give children the opportunity to practice the taught objective. They may use different representations at this stage (e.g., base 10 counters, bead strings, abstract calculations).
• USE IT (Problem Solving): Activities where children apply the objective to a problem, such as word problems, finding missing numbers, listing possibilities, or using inverse operations.
• PROVE IT (Reasoning): Activities where children reason, look for patterns, or talk through misconceptions (e.g., "Always/Sometimes/Never" questions, "Convince me" tasks, or identifying mistakes).

Learning Times Tables

Hambrook uses a carefully sequenced approach to reduce cognitive load and build sequential knowledge of 36 "building block" facts (up to 9×9):

• Year 2/3 Target: Covers the 2x, 5x, 3x, 4x, 8x, 6x, 7x, and 9x tables. By the end of Year 3, children should have 28 facts learned and 8 remaining.
• Year 4 Target: Learns the remaining 8 facts to complete the building blocks, plus 21 additional multiplication facts (covering 11x and 12x up to 12×12) required for the times table check.
• Daily Routine: Starting in Year 3, children complete a daily workbook introducing facts simply.