As a school, we have focused on teaching children concepts with physical objects, pictorial representations and lastly as a calculation. The ideology behind this is to give the Maths a purpose and also to provide children with concrete learning opportunities before introducing an abstract concept. To see this teaching sequence in action, please look at our Calculation Policy, which we have adapted from the White Rose Maths Hub.
We are also using the White Rose Plans to structure our teaching and are trialling their assessments. These materials are very challenging and focus on developing the children’s reasoning skills. In addition, we use the NCETM website which also has links to NRich activities.
After direct teaching, all pupils have the opportunity to undertake a task of varying challenge, from red (easiest), yellow, green and blue being the most difficult. As we have mixed age classes, the red task will be aimed at just below the expectation for the lowest year group within a class. Yellow task at expectation for the lower year group, green is at expectations for the higher year group and blue is above the higher year group. Of course, they maybe exceptions to this according to the lesson.
Try some of these websites: