Maths Curriculum Leader's Page
Maths
At The Beacon we use three programs to support the teaching of maths in the school. These are Maths No Problem, Fluent in 5 and No Nonsense Number Facts. These programs provide a balance of reasoning and fluency which enable children to gain the core skills in maths and to embed and go deeper in their understanding.
Books
We have a Maths No Problem Workbook and a journal.
Workbooks
These are used in the Maths No Problem lesson and at least one lesson will be completed each day. Teacher’s use their teacher judgement based on their children’s understanding as to whether two or more lessons can be taught and completed in one day.
Journals
These are used to capture additional learning alongside the Maths No Problem workbooks. From the back of the books there will be the Fluent in 5 daily entries. The amount of entries will be less in KS1 than KS2 as children in KS1 will complete whiteboard and discussion based challenges initially.
From the front of the journals, children will capture their learning in the following ways.
- No Nonsense Number Fact entries (many sessions are practical and therefore do not require a journal entry)
- Posters and explanations based on the current learning or strand of maths in class.
For example, the key facts needed when children are learning to convert units of measure (mm to cm, cm to m, m to km). Children are then taught to independently refer to these as they work through the learning unit in class.
- In Focus and Guided Practise tasks and initial investigations.
- Reasoning and additional challenge opportunities. These are based upon the following headings:
Descriptive - Descriptive questions ask children to describe the methods they have used or explain a concept
Evaluative - Evaluative tasks ask children why they chose a method and how helpful it was to solve the problem.
Creative - Creative journaling lets children develop models and stories to show their understanding.
Investigative - Children can explore a problem and record their findings.
Formative - Children show you what they have learned and understood in formative journal entries.
Further information on these can be found in the following link:
5 different journal types in maths mastery | MNP Blog : Maths — No Problem! (mathsnoproblem.com)
Presentation
Maths No Problem Workbooks
- High expectations should be maintained over the presentation of their book.
- Each entry will have the short date
- Children self and peer mark in purple pen and also use purple pen to make corrections
Journals
- Rulers are used when drawing or underlining
- Pencil is used for journaling unless editing and marking
- Each entry will have the Date and Learning Question or acronym
These are set up with the date then children count 5 squares and write the LQ or acronym on the same line. This is then underlined with pencil.
- Individual numbers and operations have their own square
- 2-digit numbers can share a square
- Children will rule off and continue on the same page if there is more than half a page when they start the new session
Acronyms
The following acronyms are used in the journals to indicate the maths activity:
F5 = Fluent in 5
NFS = No Nonsense Number Facts
IF = In Focus
GP = Guided Practise
© = conferenced (an adult has followed up with the child)
Teacher or adult’s initials = work has been seen by an adult
VF = Verbal feedback
SS = Some support