Mercer's Wood Academy

They practise applying learnt skills in number, geometry, measure & statistics to real-life contexts. We follow cyclical plans, complemented by daily retention sessions, that build progressively on prior understanding and enable pupils to revisit & retain learning, supporting their long-term memory.

Maths at Mercer's Wood Academy is underpinned by mastery principles with small steps of learning taught through active participation. During lessons, children have access to a range of practical resources to aid the thinking process of key number skills and ideas are presented using many different representations.

Tasks are provided to develop children’s fluency within concepts before then requiring more thinking and reasoning. Children are actively encouraged to use mathematical vocabulary and explain the answer with reasoning. “ I know this because…”

Maths in Reception

In Reception, we lay the mathematical foundations needed for all children to succeed as they move into key stage 1 and beyond. We broadly follow the White Rose Maths schemes of learning which support young children’s development through play to achieve the Early Learning Goals.

By the end of Reception, to ensure children are ready to access the National Curriculum as they move into year 1, we lay a firm foundation of the Counting Principles:

The one-one principle. This involves children assigning one number name to each object that is being counted. Children need to ensure that they count each object only once ensuring they have counted every object.
The stable-order principle. Children understand when counting, the numbers have to be said in a certain order.
The cardinal principle. Children understand that the number name assigned to the final object in a group is the total number of objects in that group.
The abstraction principle. This involves children understanding that anything can be counted including things that cannot be touched including sounds and movements. E.g. Jumps.
The order-irrelevance principle. This involves children understanding that the order we count a group of objects is irrelevant. There will still be the same number.

Our children receive a broad mathematical diet which includes exploration of shape, space and measure. This incorporates exploring pattern, visualising and describing shapes and spatial relationships and describing and comparing different forms of measurement.

We use a wide range of practical resources to support the children’s understanding of these core mathematical skills. These alongside quality books, rich learning environments that match the children’s interests and promote application of newly required skills through carefully set up provision, give our children a quantity rich, practical, immersive early years experience allowing them to gain a deep understanding for early maths and a passion for exploration.