Maths at Tunstall CofE Primary is practical, playful and purposeful. From EYFS to Year 2 children learn through hands-on experiences using manipulatives — ten frames, counters, number lines and fingers — which help them build secure number sense.
Pupils are encouraged to find their own ways of recording ideas, from drawings and dot patterns to formal number sentences. Most lessons follow the White Rose scheme and, from Year 1, children take part in a daily “Fluent in Five” session to build rapid recall and confidence. Our early-phase focus is on three core strands: Number, Operations (adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing) and Geometry & Spatial Reasoning.
In Key Stage 2 we deepen those foundations so children become fluent, resilient mathematicians ready for secondary school. Lessons combine fluency, reasoning and problem-solving: pupils practise mental and written methods regularly, explain and justify their thinking using precise mathematical vocabulary and tackle problems in real-life and cross-curricular contexts. Classrooms from Years 3–6 promote active participation with concrete resources, visual representations and collaborative tasks; teachers use spaced practice and retrieval to secure long-term learning. We expect fluent recall of multiplication and related division facts by the end of Year 4, supported through low-stakes quizzes and Times Tables Rock Stars. By the end of Year 6 pupils are confident, independent problem-solvers who can apply efficient strategies and reason mathematically across a wide range of contexts.