Maths

Here at Livingstone we recognise that being a confident mathematician is vital to childrens’ future as it equips children with an essential set of tools to succeed in the world. These include logical thinking, problem solving and the ability to think in abstract ways.

We believe children learn better through fun, exciting and challenging activities. We are committed to enabling all children to achieve mastery in the key concepts of mathematics appropriate for their age group. At the centre of this mastery approach to the teaching of maths is the belief that all pupils have the potential to succeed.

We use the National Curriculum as a basis for our Mathematics  and we aim to have reasoning and problem solving as a thread which runs through all of our maths teaching. Also, we aim to enhance children's mathematical understanding and experience further by tackling real-life problems as regularly as possible. Teaching maths through the use of resources and visual images is key to supporting the children's development as mathematicians. The children learn to have an understanding of mathematical principles on which they can build their future knowledge and develop a bank of strategies on which they can rely to solve problems. Learning opportunities throughout the school are planned to ensure that children form concepts, develop skills, learn facts and acquire strategies that enable them to become successful mathematicians. Children are encouraged to talk about their mathematics and compare their ideas and methods with others.

Children who grasp concepts rapidly are challenged through rich and sophisticated problems which deepen their thinking before they are introduced to new content. Children who need more support will spend longer using a range of concrete and visual materials to ensure their understanding is secure. Similarly, with calculation strategies, children are encouraged not to simply rote learn procedures but demonstrate their understanding of these procedures through the use of concrete materials and pictorial representations to ensure fluency and depth of understanding.

At Livingstone we are committed to the mastery approach. We do not follow a set scheme; we mainly follow White Rose maths but supplement this as needed with other resources to support or extend children's learning.  

Times Tables

An important element of the maths curriculum is the development of rapid recall of multiplication facts and the corresponding division facts for all pupils across KS1 and KS2. In order to help secure these facts the children use the resource Times Table Rock Stars. In both paper form and online, Times Table Rock Stars is a carefully sequenced programme of daily times tables practice. The children use this resource as a fun and engaging method of learning their times tables. From Year 1, each child receives a password and can use this at home and at school to learn the facts.

What can I do to help my child?

Children make progress best as mathematicians when they regularly repeat skills and practise them until they become embedded. This can be quite a long process, and so the use of the context of an exciting game or interesting activity can be highly motivating. In our experience, our children learn best when they are having fun and that's what games are for!

https://www.primarygames.com/math.php. You'll find lots of maths content here. All presented as engaging games and challenges.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/ Lots of fun games to play with children of all ages.

https://mathszone.co.uk/ Another collection of games and activities across the full range of our curriculum content. Mostly appropriate for our KS2 pupils.