Maths and the new curriculum St Mary’s Catholic Primary School Maths and the new curriculum

By the end of the session……. Understand the background to the changes to the curriculum in maths. Understand what your child is expected to know at the end of their year group (year 5 and 6) Understand how we teach maths at St Mary’s.

By the end of the session….. And……… Know the types of questions children have to answer in national assessment tests – and try some!! Know how you can help your child achieve even better by helping at home.

Principles underlying Curriculum 2014 in maths Raising attainment and heightening expectations. – benchmarked against age related expectations in other ‘high performing’ nations. Deeper learning rather than superficial learning (children are no longer allowed to move onto the next year’s objectives). Removal of levels to help this. Children's achievement are measured as emerging, expected and exceeding end of year expectations. All children mastering calculation with confidence. More time on fewer topics. Focus on Fluency, reasoning and solving problems.

A ‘Mastery’ Curriculum Based on three strands, which should underpin all mathematics… FLUENCY: in the fundamentals of mathematics, through varied and frequent practise with increasingly complex concepts over time; REASONING: conjecturing relationships and generalisations; developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language; PROBLEM SOLVING: applying their mathematics to a range of problems with increasing sophistication.

Fewer Things; Greater Depth The new curriculum has been designed to ensure that teachers spend more time on fewer topics; This should mean that ‘deep learning’ rather than ‘superficial learning’ takes place; Children’s learning will be extended in depth within their own year group’s expectations rather than moving onto another year’s expectations; Children need to achieve all their year group’s objectives in order to be at ‘expected’ level.

What about our more able children? The curriculum is progressive, i.e. each objective is broken down into smaller steps to be worked on throughout the year so that the full objective is achieved by the end. Therefore, more able children will be moved to the next steps quicker than average children and, when they meet the full objective, they will work on reasoning and problem solving tasks linked to this objective. This also explains why a child can achieve ‘expected’ level at the start of the year but, as the objectives get harder, may slip to ‘working towards’ expected standard.

Higher Expectations Although there are fewer objectives to cover in a year, many of these objectives are more difficult, with many being moved ‘down’ from a higher year group. The expectation is that more time is spent on these objectives to ensure ‘deep learning’ takes place – this is based on the Singapore system of mathematics; A full list of the new objectives are in the handout; Examples of new content introduced at different year groups are as follows…

Year 5 Examples Read Roman numerals to 1000 (M) and recognise years written in Roman numerals (not in any previous primary curriculums); Know and use the vocabulary of prime numbers, prime factors and composite (non-prime) numbers; establish whether a number up to 100 is prime and recall prime numbers up to 19 (previously Y6); Recognise cube numbers and the notation (³); Multiply proper fractions and mixed numbers by whole numbers (not in any previous primary curriculums).

Year 6 Examples Read, write, order and compare numbers up to 10 000 000 (not in any previous primary curriculums); Multiple / divide 4 digits by a 2-digit number using the formal written methods (not in any previous primary curriculums); Add and subtract fractions with different denominators and mixed numbers; multiply simple pairs of proper fractions; divide proper fractions by whole numbers (not in any previous primary curriculums); Calculate the area of parallelograms; calculate, estimate and compare volumes of cubes and cuboids using standard units (cm³/m³) - not in any previous primary curriculums; Illustrate and names parts of circles, including diameter, radius and circumference (not in any previous primary curriculums).

Calculation Strategies There are a variety of methods we teach children to use when calculating, using the four arithmetic operations. These can be seen on the calculations policy. The emphasis now is ‘mastery’ and ‘fluency’ in one method for each operation…

Expectation in addition and subtraction Year 5 Year 6 Add and subtract whole numbers with more than 4 digits using formal column addition and subtraction. Rounding to check answers to calculations and determine, in the context of a problem, levels of accuracy. Solve addition and subtraction multi-step problems in contexts, deciding which operations and methods to use and why. Use my knowledge of the order of operations to carry out calculations involving the 4 operations Use estimation to check answers to calculations and determine, in the context of a problem, an appropriate degree of accuracy Solve addition and subtraction multi-step problems in contexts, deciding which operations and methods to use and why

Expectation in multiplication and division Year 5 Multiply numbers up to 4 digits by a 1/ 2 digit number using a formal written method including long multiplication for 2 digit numbers. Divide numbers up to four- digits by a one-digit number using the formal written method of short division and interpret remainders appropriately according to context. Solve problems involving multiplication and division, including scaling by simple fractions and problems involving simple ratios Solve problems using multiplication and division using my knowledge of factors and multiples, squares and cubes

Expectation in multiplication and division Year 6 Multiply multi-digit numbers up to 4 digits by a two- digit whole number using the formal written method of long multiplication. Divide numbers up to 4 digits by a two-digit whole number using the formal written method of long division, and interpret remainders as whole number remainders, fractions, or by rounding, as appropriate for the context. Divide numbers up to 4 digits by a two-digit number using the formal written method of short division where appropriate, interpreting remainders according to the context Multiply one-digit numbers with up to 2 decimal places by whole numbers Use written division methods in cases where the answer has up to 2 decimal places

Maths Vocabulary Using the right words is very important! Here is an example: Know and use the words prime number, prime factors and composite(non-prime) numbers. A handout of key vocabulary is available.

Examples of test and assessment questions… Arithmetic test – feel free to have a go!

How You Can Help ‘Real-life’ maths – counting money, telling the time, weighing ingredients, capacity, measuring objects; Times tables (up to 12 x 12 by the end of Year 4) and associated division facts, e.g. 6 x 7 = 42, therefore 42 ÷ 7 = 6, etc.; Websites – please take a leaflet which has a few suggestions of websites your child could use to support their maths. Support your child with their homework and try not to pass on any ‘negativity’ about maths to your child.

Parent Maths Classes If you would like to help your child more at home but need some help with calculation methods used at St Mary’s, please add your name to the sign up sheet. Classes will take place on Thursday 4.30-5.30pm commencing in week 2 of Term 4 for a 4 week period. Please note that these are adult only classes and children cannot be accommodated during these sessions.

Thank you for coming and your continued support. ANY QUESTIONS?