At Ellington Primary School we follow the statutory guidance from the National Primary Curriculum for Mathematics.
Our maths provision aims to create a culture of high achievement in maths which leads to confident children who master the key concepts of fluency of calculation, logical reasoning and problem solving. We use the Big Maths Programme to support learning and track progress.
Why have we chosen to use Big Maths?
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Clear progression across year groups
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Objectives are matched to the National Curriculum
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Improve mental maths skills and wider maths skills across school
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Common vocabulary and methods are taught throughout school
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Insists on every child learning and making progress
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Clearly defined end points
A Guide For Parents And Carers
Big Maths - Expected Learning Journey England
Big Maths Curriculum Mapping
Big Maths End Point Booklet
What are Learn Its?
You may recognise terms like Number Facts or Number Bonds, in Big Maths they are called ‘Learn Its’. Learn Its are simple calculations that are vitally important for children to learn and be able to recall instantly, (with no thinking time). This name is simple because it perfectly describes what we want children to do, ‘Just learn it!’. There are 36 addition Learn Its (all the 1 digit add 1 digit facts from 2+2 through to 9+9) and 36 multiplication Learn Its (all of the 1 digit times 1 digit facts).
From Reception Autumn Term until the Summer Term of Year 4, children have a set of 'Learn Its' to learn and be able to recall instantly each term. You can see on the below documentation that these Learn Its steps are progressive and ensure that children can recall the necessary addition and multiplication facts they need to succeed in Maths. Because the children are encouraged to find 'Fact families' for these addition and multiplication calculations, they will also learn the corresponding subtraction and division number sentences. Children have a copy of all the Learn Its they have to learn in their academic year easily to hand in class and a copy of which these also sent home so they can practice them there. Copies of these for each year group can be found below and are called Learn It Challenges.
Progression Documents
Below you can find progression documents for each individual year group that will allow you to see the curriculum endpoints your child will be covering in each term.
Reception termly learning objectives
Year one termly learning objectives
Year two termly learning objectives
Year three termly learning objectives
Year four termly learning objectives
Year five termly learning objectives
Year six termly learning objectives
Maths in the Early Years
For the Early Years Foundation Stage Setting (Nursery and Reception) we have utilised Little Big Maths planning (2022) which was written to meet the Development Matters Framework which was published by the government in 2017 (Recently updated for 2023).
We have identified the areas of the framework that we feel will best support the children in EYFS. Little Big Maths uses progress drives in a similar way to Big Maths. These progress drives provide a spiral curriculum that builds on the children understanding each term.
From Reception, children also complete a daily CLIC session to help prepare them for the transition to Year 1. You can see the Little Big Maths progression drives and the CLIC targets in the documents below. These Targets have then been mapped onto the planning documents for the Early Years which can also been found below.
For more general reading, the booklet The Little Big Maths Approach can be read to provide some extra context to how we deliver Maths in the Early Years setting.
Policy
The school has a maths policy that sets out how Maths is taught and assessed throughout the school. The whole school also follows a calculation methods policy for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. This sets out the small steps used to teach each skill. These are available below.
If your child is in Year 4, please find below information for Parents to help prepare children for the Multiplication Tables Check that takes place in June.
Little Big Maths Planning Ellington Version.docx
1Ellington Nursery Long Term Overview 2023-2024.docx
Ellington Reception Long Term Overview 2023-2024.docx
Optional Homework
If you would like additional maths work for your child we have put all Big Maths Parent Packs below. Your child will have a sticker in their reading record showing the CLIC Parent Pack Level they are currently on and the corresponding questions we have identified as them having gaps in their learning.
All parent packs can be viewed as a PDF on a mobile or tablet. Children can complete questions in their homework books and all answers are available so you and your child can mark and assess the work together to identify any questions that were answered incorrectly.
Packs start from CLIC Level 5 which matches Year 1 Spring Term work.