Maths

At Thornbury Primary School, we prioritise the development of our students' fluency in maths through various targeted strategies. Our Beat Your Score initiative, detailed on the school website, encourages students to continuously improve their arithmetic skills. We implement a times table check in Years 2, 3, and 4 to ensure foundational numeracy skills are solid. Every daily maths lesson includes opportunities for students to answer fluency questions, reinforcing their skills through consistent practice. Additionally, our NCETM Mastering Number programme in Foundation, Year 1, and Year 2 focuses on building strong number sense from an early age. To address individual learning needs, we also provide pre and post teaching sessions, ensuring that all students can achieve fluency in maths.

At Thornbury Primary School, we enhance our students 'reasoning and problem-solving abilities through a structured approach that incorporates the White Rose scheme. Our marking policy includes asking reasoning, improving, describing, and evaluating questions, prompting students to think deeply and critically. We consistently encourage our students to explain why and how they arrived at their answers and to explore different methods for solving problems. Partner talk is heavily emphasised, providing opportunities for students to articulate their thoughts and learn collaboratively from their peers. Through these strategies, we aim to build strong reasoning skills and foster a confident problem-solving mindset in our students. We are also an NRICH problem-solving school.

At Thornbury Primary School, we focus on developing our students' maths vocabulary through a structured and interactive approach. Each unit begins with a front cover that lists the key vocabulary, ensuring students are familiar with the terms they will encounter. We maintain a vocabulary progression document for each year group, outlining the specific terms to be mastered at each stage. The vocabulary for the current unit is displayed on our working walls, making it easily accessible during lessons. To reinforce understanding, we use the "I say, you say" method and encourage students to show different ways to practise and demonstrate the definitions of new vocabulary. Additionally, we provide opportunities for partner talk, allowing students to discuss and use the vocabulary in context, enhancing their comprehension and retention.

At Thornbury Primary School, we employ a multifaceted approach to assess and record maths proficiency. Each child has their own maths book, where they document their work and progress. During lessons, mini whiteboards and a range of maths manipulatives are used to check understanding and facilitate interactive learning. Our Beat Your Score scheme motivates students to continuously improve by regularly challenging their personal bests. We assess children through fluency, reasoning, and problem-solving questions to provide a comprehensive evaluation. Feedback from peers and teachers helps to create a supportive and constructive learning environment. Additionally, we use White Rose End of Unit and End of Term assessments to monitor and record long-term progress. Please see our calculation policy to see how the use of manipulatives progresses across the school. At the start of every lesson, we begin with a 'Flash Back 4'. These are 4 questions linked to the children's prior knowledge and help support their mathematical retention.