Maths

At Ladysmith Junior School, we endeavour to provide a maths education that not only provides numeracy skills but also the flexibility of thinking that will give individuals the skills to problem solve in everyday life. We want all of our students to leave school with functional maths skills and a positive attitude towards their learning. Maths is a wonderful subject that can be applied in all walks of life and it is our intent to make children aware of how maths can be enjoyed, not just as an academic subject, but also in the world around them.

We provide pupils with the fluency and confidence to carry out a range of mathematical problems and solve them by utilising reasoning skills in each and every lesson. The systematic and structured approach ensures children develop key visual pathways and learn important number relationships. This leads to a deep understanding of number and number relationships, and to fluency in addition and subtraction facts. We implement teaching for mastery, developing the breadth and depth of children’s mathematical knowledge in a wide range of areas of mathematics. Children are provided with a multifaceted approach to teaching as children learn to understand number in different ways. They are encouraged to choose methods that suit their way of seeing number so that they develop a solid understanding of the number system and how numbers relate to each other. Children are encouraged to develop tenacity by being provided with opportunities to keep trying to find alternative ways to solve a problem if their initial ideas are not successful. Throughout the key stage, they are shown that mistakes can provide valuable information about how to reach an end goal.

We believe that having a secure understanding of the fundamentals of mathematics and a positive association with this subject is an essential platform, for not only continued academic success, but also confidence in managing the use of maths in everyday life skills in the adult world. Children should transition to secondary school with confidence in their mathematical ability, an enthusiasm to develop their mathematical knowledge and an understanding of how maths is used in the world around them.