Maths

“We will always have STEM with us. Some things will drop out of the public eye and go away, but there will always be science, engineering, and technology. And there will always, always be mathematics.” Katherine Johnson

                  

Maths is a creative, fun an engaging subject, which is hugely connected to our day-to-day lives. At HPAK, we believe that children from all background can succeed in maths. Our aim is for all our children to develop a love for maths and become confident, fluent mathematicians who exceed the national expectations and can use their mathematical skills to solve problems.

Mathematics at Harris Primary Academy Kenley is taught daily in hourly lessons that include an arithmetic and retrieval practice (Knowing More remembering More), followed by whole class teaching, pair and group practice, and finally independent tasks.

We believe a mathematician needs to be:

• analytical – able to spot similarities and differences
• critical – able to identify problems and mistakes
• a problem solver – resilient enough to approach a problem from different angles
• inquisitive – want to know why, and how things work
• precise – able to understand precisely what is, what is not, and what is a grey area

          

Accordingly, we use a mastery approach to support children with their calculation and reasoning skills and our calculation policy supports these methods. To be able to access many of the types of reasoning and problems they will encounter, children must be arithmetically fluent; therefore, we structure our teaching and progression of learning in order to ensure that our children develop the necessary arithmetic skills. Furthermore, becoming critical, problem solving mathematicians means being able to explain how they arrived at an answer, why that answer is right, and what might happen if a particular variable was changed. By practising all of these skills, we  teach our students to have a deep, conceptual understanding of mathematics, rather than simply arriving at the correct answer. This enables them to apply the skills in a range of contexts, including real-life scenarios, and become true, passionate mathematicians.

HPAK Maths Lead - Mrs M Kan