Basic Skills Approach 22-23

Throckley Primary School Our approach to teaching basic skills in mathematics At Throckley Primary School, we are committed to providing a purposeful and empowering curriculum that fully prepares learners for the next steps in their school career and opens the doors to the wider world. Core literacy and numeracy skills are at the heart of all we do and our ambitious curriculum provokes curiosity and excitement.

Basic skills are fundamental to children and their ability to access the mathematics National Curriculum. At Throckley, our mathematics basic skills approach is diligently sequenced to ensure that factual fluency gained is cumulative; our consistent, coherent approach to basic skills in mathematics has clear progression from EYFS to Year 6. The Factual fluency progression table below summarises the order in which pupils will learn these additive (with corresponding subtraction calculations) and multiplicative number facts, and solve with automaticity. Basic skills sessions take place daily and promote automatic recall. Basic skills will look different to what is being taught in class because children already need to have been taught the number facts before they are being tested for automaticity.

Progression from EYFS – Year 6

Recall the 2, 5 and 10 multiplication tables, and corresponding division facts.

EYFS: Basic Skills teaching in EYFS builds on the new Number Early Learning Goal. Through regular teaching and low-stakes verbal quizzing, children will have a deep understanding of numbers to 10 and be able to subitise (recognise numbers without counting) up to 5. They will be able to verbally count beyond 20, recognising the pattern of the outing system. In Reception, children will also be able to automatically recall number bonds up to 5 and some number bonds to 10, including double facts.

Year 1: Basic Skills in Year 1 has a strong focus on addition and subtraction within 10 which they will already have been taught in EYFS. Year 2: With progression from Year 1, Year 2 focuses on addition and subtraction bridging 10 which they will have been taught in line with the National Curriculum in Year 1. Notably, addition and subtraction bridging 10 is consolidated and revisited in Year 3.

In Year 2, the Basic Skills approach then moves to multiplicative fluency focusing on multiplication and division facts for the 2s, 5s and 10s which will have been explicitly taught in lessons first so will be a focus for basic skills sessions in summer term.

By the end of Key Stage 1, pupils must be fluent in the below addition calculations (with corresponding subtraction facts) and should continue with regular practice through Year 3 to secure and maintain fluency. It is essential that pupils have automatic recall of these facts before they learn the formal written methods of columnar addition and subtraction.

Year 1 and 2 class teachers group and focus their daily basic skills sessions and weekly low-stakes quizzing using the colour-coded version of the addition calculations within 20. The inner ‘stair case’ facts, are focussed on in Year 2 with the frequent revisiting of the outer facts. The outer facts are to be recalled and consolidated within Year 1. Parents and carers of our school are involved with their child’s learning and attainment in basic skills through weekly homework and test scores given in reading records.

Year 3: Our approach in Year 3 allows teachers to revisit, secure and maintain fluency in addition and subtraction within and across 10 with continued practice and low-stakes quizzing.

The Basic Skills approach then moves to multiplicative fluency focusing on multiplication and division facts for the 5s and 10s (which they will have been previously taught in Year 2). The 2, 4 and 8 times tables and division facts will have been taught later in the year as per Year 3 ready-to-progress criteria and the National Curriculum and will thereby be a focus for basic skills sessions in summer term.

Year 4: The approach focuses on multiplicative fluency for the remaining facts (3, 6, 9, 7, 11 and 12). Pupils must be fluent in these facts by the end of year 4, and this is assessed in the multiplication tables check. Pupils should continue with regular practice through year 5 to secure and maintain fluency.

UKS2 (Year 5 and 6): The approach focuses on consolidating and revisiting multiplicative fluency for all facts. The full set of multiplication calculations, that pupils need to be able to solve by automatic recall, are shown in the table below. Pupils must also have automatic recall of the corresponding division facts. Interventions would be in place for those children who are not yet confident with all times table multiplication and division facts.

The 36 most important facts are highlighted in the table. For KS2, fluency in these facts should be prioritised because, when coupled with an understanding of commutativity and fluency in the formal written method for multiplication, they enable pupils to multiply any pair of numbers.