St Stephen’s CE Primary School
Curriculum
Maths Curriculum at St Stephens
Teachers are guided by the White Rose Maths Primary Scheme of Learning. The reasons for using this scheme and the White Rose resources are outlined below. We believe however, that the best teachers find nuggets from a wide range of sources. Therefore, we don’t rely entirely on one scheme or resource. For example, using video demonstrations, lessons, ideas and resources from the internet or other published sources that support children’s learning.
The St Stephen’s Calculation Policy is also a vital tool in teacher’s planning. It has been developed to ensure that children learn calculation concepts through the solid foundations of concrete and pictoral approaches, before abstract methods are introduced. A whole school approach ensures there is consistency in practice. See link below.
The St Stephen’s Calculations Policy
The White Rose Scheme of Learning
https://whiterosemaths.com/resources/schemes-of-learning/primary-sols/
Please see our sections for The White Rose Scheme by Year group
Why White Rose?
The reasons we chose the White Rose Maths Primary Scheme of Learning can be summarised by the following points:
- It provides a powerful CPA approach (concrete, pictoral, then abstract) including in its use of models and images, which helps secure pupils understanding of mathematics and to make connections between different representations.
- There is a great emphasis on mathematical language, questioning, explaining, reasoning and problem solving. This allows pupils to discuss the mathematics they are doing, support each other to take ideas further, and develop a broad and secure understanding.
- It provides a connected, progressive curriculum, aiding the development of carefully sequenced lessons, (See more below on progression within the scheme).
- It develops the skills of teachers, without interfering with professional judgement by being over prescriptive.
- The curriculum is designed to use skills that have already been learnt in different contexts (sometimes called ‘interleaving’) whenever possible. This helps pupils to remember and to make connections between different parts of the curriculum.
- It combines the best of both ‘mastery’ and ‘spiral’ approaches in the curriculum. It follows many of the mastery principles – spending longer on topics to help gain deeper understanding, making connections, keeping the class working together on the same topic and a fundamental belief that, through effort, all pupils are capable of understanding, doing and improving at mathematics. But also recognising that just spending a good chunk of time on a topic doesn’t mean that all pupils will ‘master’ it the first time they see it, and that they need to see it again and again in different contexts and in different years to help them truly develop their understanding on their journey to mastery, so we’ve built in the revisiting and reinforcing features of spiral curricula too.
- It is a curriculum that is ambitious and that works for all, with everybody studying the same topic and being provided with support and challenge as needed. Many of the teaching strategies we advocate for all pupils are particularly useful for pupils with SEND. See more on how the scheme supports those with SEND below