At Cupernham Junior School, the maths curriculum seeks to allow all children to explore, develop and embed skills in calculation, problem solving and reasoning. They will develop a passion and sense of curiosity for maths, as well as seeing the inter-connected nature of it within the wider world.

We strive to allow all children to understand clear connections across all aspects of maths, as well as allowing them to have an inquiring mind towards problem solving and reasoning. All children throughout their maths journey will develop their fluency in the methods of calculation, whilst learning clear strategies for problem solving and reasoning which will in turn allow children to deepen and master their understanding.

We believe if all children have the self-confidence and resilience to approach all aspects of maths, they will achieve the foundations required to see the vital role it plays in the wider world.

How is maths taught at Cupernham Junior School?

CPA approach (concrete, pictorial and abstract approach)

At Cupernham Junior School, the CPA approach allows all children to learn mathematical concepts in a variety of different ways. The CPA approach starts with using concrete resources e.g diennes, counters to introduce a new concept and underpins their understanding. Children then move to a pictorial representation of the concept (models and images).  The combination of these allow children to see patterns and make connections. Children then move to an abstract representation where they are able to problem solve, replacing models and images for numbers and symbols.  This allows greater links to be made, allowing children to master a concept.

Fluency

In order to support children’s ability to problem solve, children are taught fluency skills. This is taught through regular arithmetic questions to increase instant fluency of the four operations and instant recall of known facts. In addition, all children are taught place value weekly to both deepen their understanding of the number system but also develop their fluency. Finally, children further develop their fluency skills through a weekly flashback task, looking back at concepts taught that week, month, term and previous term. This emphasis on regular fluency and the instant recall of key facts not only allows children to make links across concepts and choose the most efficient methods when problem solving but also to deepen and develop their understanding.

Spiral curriculum

The teaching of a spiral curriculum at Cupernham Junior School allows children to re-visit concepts, focusing on the smaller steps and ultimately mastering the concept. It allows for a deeper understanding through children being able to make connections and links across concepts. This is enabled through the varied task design within our lessons and regular opportunity for all children to reason and problem solve.