Trotts Hill Primary School and Nursery
The 2014 National Curriculum for Maths aims to ensure that all children:
At Trotts Hill, these skills are embedded within Maths lessons and developed consistently over time until they are mastered. We are committed to ensuring that children are able to recognise the importance of Maths in the wider world and that they are also able to use their mathematical skills and knowledge confidently in their lives in a range of different contexts. We want all children to enjoy Mathematics and to experience success in the subject, with the ability to reason mathematically. We are committed to developing children’s curiosity about the subject, as well as an appreciation of the power of Mathematics. We hope to promote the view that every child can be successful in Maths; enthusiasm and attitude towards Maths can positively impact on achievement and attainment.
Pupil voice Spring 2025
'Maths is the best subject and everyone is good at it!' Teddy T, Year 4.
'I always use maths in real life!' Darcie, Year 5
'I always participate in lessons. It doesn't matter if I get the answer wrong. We can talk with a partner to learn.' Annie, Year 6.
'I always try in maths. I write all the possible answers to help me think.' Noah, Year 3
A child in Year 4 captured the 'I can and I will' attitude we promote in maths and at Trotts Hill, in a poem, which she read aloud in a whole school assembly to inspire her peers.
LI: To estimate numbers on a number line.
Year 4 used dice to roll 4-digit number which they then added, using the formal method of addition.
For inspirational maths, the class enjoyed using the manipulatives to make up numbers in different representations. The children had to persevere and be resilient in order to succeed. Some children made mistakes, but that's okay as it makes you a better learner.
Year 3 took part in two inspirational maths lessons: Game of Totals and Tower of three. They watched two inspirational videos which explored important messages for maths learning.
"Being fast is not important in maths." Salaar
"When you learn maths there is a path growing in your brain." Bella
"I learnt that no one is born with a maths brain." Munesu
Year 4 talked about the fact that speed is not important in maths. It is more important to think deeply and understand what you are doing. We completed an activity using dice called keep, flip, turn, where we used combinations of three dice rolls, kept one, flipped one and turned one to make a total of 10.
Olivia - By persevering, we got the hang of it.
Brody - I like that it was confusing - it was more challenging.
Oliver - I liked the fact that we weren't under pressure to complete tasks in a set time.
Freddie - I like that it was team-work.
Year 4 - Slow and steady wins the race!
Year 5 used knowledge of number bonds to beat their partner in a game of strategy. At first, many children used luck but gradually started to count ahead to outwit their partner.
Harry - "I liked it because it made you think."
Jase - "Counters helped with accuracy."
Isabella - "I liked the game. It got you thinking and it was fun."
Year 6 engaged in two inspirational maths lessons. This lesson involved investigating patterns. All children were engaged with and enthused by the task. Some using manipulatives to help them envisage the pattern, whilst others recording it pictorially. It is wonderful to see the class identifying different ways of seeing things.
Georgia: I believe I'm good at maths. We all learn at different speeds. I have a growth mindset.
Ruby: If I believe then I can achieve!
Kunashe: Everyone can do maths. No one is born with or without a maths brain.
LI: To explore how different combinations of coins can make the same total.
LI: To describe movement and turns. |
Reception have been exploring subtraction. The children picked a number, counted out that many objects, then their partner closed their eyes while a partner removed some.
The children used coins and notes to identify and then compare different amounts.
The children drew triangles on polygons and used this information to calculate the sum of the interior angles in polygons. They looked for a pattern and worked out a way of finding out the sum for any polygon - even one with one hundred sides.
Year 1 had a fantastic workshop with their parents. The children and adults focused on place value, addition and using number lines.
Year 3 were exploring unit fractions and created a unit fraction using a strip of paper and then compared their unit fraction with another group. The children learnt: the higher the denominator the smaller the fraction.
Year 2 were able to make equal groups and demonstrate repeated addition.
To help with learning about rounding to the nearest 10, 100 and 1000, year 4 took part in an active maths lesson. They had to complete a scavenger hunt to find answers to lots of different rounding questions.
To conclude our outdoor, adventurous activities PE unit, we completed an active maths orienteering activity. Year 6 found 15 different locations and completed a maths question at each one, revising content covered so far and using a map to identify the locations.
'I learn more in active lessons,' Lacey, Year 6
In the summer term of 2024, each class planted three seed potatoes after observing and drawing. They tended to them, earthing up the soil as the stems grew taller. On their return after the summer break, they predicted how big they thought the harvest would be. Each class embarked on an investigation linked with maths.
After making sensible predictions and then digging the potatoes up, Year 2 made a human bar chart to represent our findings.
Year 3 predicted how many cubes each potato would weigh and then used balance scales to see if they were correct.
Year 4 used balance scales to estimate and weigh their potatoes. They also compared their results to Year 5's data.
'Our potato weighs the same as five pairs of scissors' - Charlotte
'We grew more potatoes but year 5's potatoes were bigger' - Lamis
'Year 5's smallest potato was 10g whereas ours was 6g' - H
Year 5 used balancing scales and tape measures to generate data for our enquiry question.
Fawaz: On average, apart from a few exceptions, we discovered that the bigger the mass, the larger the circumference.
Jerome: We learnt how to measure the circumference of the potatoes.
Michael: We learnt about how to measure mass.
Fawaz: We learnt how to use a balancing scale.
Karolina: We were able to grow 19 potatoes in compost!
Year One have been investigating the number of legs different creatures have. We used the animals and dinosaurs to find different ways to make 10 legs.
Year 2 were inspired today in maths to make numbers between 0-20 in lots of different representations. Some chose to use bead strings, others base 10 and some children noticed that three hands make 15.
"You can split numbers up in different ways."
"I can line up the ones with the ten and just take one away."
Year 3 took part in two Inspirational maths lessons: Game of Totals and Three Block Towers. They started each lesson watching an Inspirational Maths video which explored how making mistakes is good for our brains and believing in yourself helps you to grow. The children applied these ideas when they were completing the activities.
Year 4 were inspired by how many different ways you can achieve something in maths. They were given the task to make numbers 1-20 using four 4's and any operation. They worked hard in groups to find as many ways to find each number as possible.
"I found lots of ways to make the number 8 using four fours!"
Year 5 enjoyed Game of Totals. They shared their ideas about a strategies needed to win and set their own total targets to test whether the same strategy would work again. They also tried with counters, moving them with designated fingers, following a suggestion by scientists that finger perception triggers the same part of the brain that students use to do arithmetic.
Year 6 were inspired by the video 'Brains Grow and Change' and applied the idea that we can all do maths to our lesson. Teams of 3 worked together to create 2D and 3D shapes using a loop of string. It was great to hear mindsets shift from 'That's impossible' to 'I've got an idea we can try!'
Year 2 rehearsed the language of position whilst learning actively.
Year 1 have been investigating finding half and a quarter. They used different items to half and then quarter.
LI: To show that 2/4 is equivalent to 1/2.
The children used cuisinaire rods to show the equivalence.
Year 3 have started to explore money in maths. Today they focused on pence. They identified the coins, calculated and compared different amounts. They also discussed which was the most efficient way to add up a handful of coins.
The children used counters to aid the understanding of the reasoning behind the process of short division.
After a warm up race to match fractions with their decimal equivalent, the children added decimals, competing with their partner to get to three wholes.
Year 6 are applying their learning to a real life project, involving planning a holiday. Year 6 have been investigating temperatures through interpreting graphs, and distances, through conversion.
The whole school undertook an investigation into floating. The maths skill used varied across the year groups from counting to constructing graphs.
L.I To add using mental methods
The children had to run to collect a sum. While one child in the team worked it out using mental methods, the other members star jumped, jogged, skipped etc. Once calculated, the sum was checked by all team members. This was repeated for around 15 minutes. Back in the classroom, pupils ordered the calculations from smallest sum to largest.
LI: To identify numbers on an empty number line.
We got out the rulers and sticky notes for an Active Maths lesson looking at number lines.
Year 2 represented numbers to 20 using lots of different equipment. They also challenged themselves to make the same number in different ways.
In maths, Year 3 are exploring place value. They created 2-digit numbers and represented these using different equipment.
For the last three years, all classes have begun their Maths learning with Inspirational Maths, inspired by You Cubed. The aim of the lessons is for all children to believe they can achieve in Mathematics. Some of the videos shared with the children with important messages can be seen below:
For the last three years, Trotts Hill have partnered with NCETM to embed the mastery approach. The picture below summarises the key features of mastery. There are photographs from each year group demonstrating what this looks like in action.
