Vision

All children develop the vocabulary and skills to reason and apply their maths learning

At Kingsway we promote a love and enjoyment for maths and believe that all children can achieve, as Mathematics is such an important life skill!

We follow The Essentials sequence of learning produced by Herts for Learning, allowing pupils to spend longer on key mathematical concepts, most noticeably number. During these longer units, pupils will see mathematics in a real life context, before moving at an appropriate pace from the concrete/pictorial approach to the abstract.

This programme is designed for children to use a range of resources to support and explain their thinking. It develops students’ ability to reason and talk through their answers. We emphasise the importance of varying how we present problems to children in order for them to make connections between all areas of mathematics as well as apply their skills to unfamiliar situations. Each classroom is equipped with a range of resources to support children’s learning.

In all lessons, teachers will provide opportunities to support and deepen understanding of a concept through questioning, consolidating and variation in learning. Small steps are made to address all misconceptions and for pupils to understand the process of their thinking. Speaking and listening is a big part of our mathematical learning environment, and we aim to give children the confidence to talk about how and why they have used certain strategies.

We have a strong emphasis on mental calculation where through our weekly 30minute fluency and recall sessions where children are given the time and support to reach solutions with speed and accuracy.

In order to further promote enjoyment, and to support progress and overall attainment, the children will often use ICT with every class having access to chromebooks. The school also subscribes to Purple Mash and TTRockstars, a popular home learning tool that encourages our pupils to continue to develop their mathematical skills outside of school.

Some children can feel afraid of maths and can become demotivated from quite a young age. However, here at Kingsway, we strive to put the magic into learning so that pupils develop mathematical fluency, reasoning and problem solving skills, and of course a love of number!

These all allow us to focus our learning around the three main aims of the mathematics curriculum, which are:

• Fluency
• Reasoning
• Problem Solving

Multiplication Tables Check (MTC)

The Multiplication Tables Check (MTC) is an assessment that the Government has recently introduced for all pupils in Year 4. It is an online assessment that has been designed to assess whether pupils can recall their times tables fluently, which is essential for future success in mathematics. It will also help schools to identify pupils who have not yet mastered their times tables, so that additional support can be provided.

The MTC is compulsory, with all pupils in Year 4 completing the assessments in June. 

The MTC is an on-screen check consisting of 25 times tables questions, which means it will be completed on a computer. Your child will answer 3 practice questions before moving on to the official check and will then have 6 seconds to answer each question. On average, the check should take no longer than 5 minutes to complete.

When it comes to times tables, speed AND accuracy are important. The more facts your child remembers, the easier it is for them to do harder calculations.

Times Table Rock Stars is a fun and challenging programme designed to help pupils master the times tables! To be a Times Table Rock Star you need to answer any multiplication fact up to 12×12 in less than 6 seconds!

All children from years 2 to 6 have a username and password so they can also access this website from home. If they lose this, please see their class teacher.