At King Edward Primary School, we are linked to the Great North Maths Hub and our current maths leader has worked alongside the Hub for many years.
For many years we have embedded the use of White Rose Maths materials which is a mathematical approach based on the latest research. As part of our continuing journey in supporting our children to become highly effective mathematicians, we are now using the White Rose scheme across school from Reception to Year 6.
We want our children to love maths and feel confident in the subject, whilst developing their fluency and reasoning skills. We are confident the White Rose scheme will support with this.
In the Early Years Foundation Stage, we follow Master the Curriculum, a framework which is aligned with White Rose Maths and the National Curriculum, designed to help children in their early stages of education work towards maths mastery and have fun while doing so.
Our staff across school have received training in the effective use of manipulatives to support teaching and learning, not only providing support for our learners, but an opportunity to develop mathematical thinking at a deeper level.
Alongside this, children in Key Stage 1 use Mastering Number which is a major initiative from the NCETM and Maths Hubs. We have worked closely with both of these organisations since 2016 and we hope that the programme will complement the work that we already do in school.
The programme has been running in thousands of primary schools since September 2021. It is aimed at strengthening the understanding of number and fluency with number facts among children in the first three years of school. These skills are an essential aspect of children mastering the maths curriculum.
Mastering Number is wholly consistent with and complementary to the Primary Teaching for Mastery approach which is embedded here at King Edward Primary.
Lead teachers from Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 have received training and resources equipping them to give our children a short ‘number sense’ session as part of scheduled maths teaching. These daily sessions are in addition to the regular hour long maths lessons which are delivered each morning. In these sessions, children use a range of materials and representations, including a small abacus-like piece of equipment called a rekenrek.
