KIRFs (Key Instant Recall Facts) are designed to support the development of the mental skills that underpin much of the maths work in schools. They are particularly useful when calculating, be it adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing.

An important part of maths development has always been rote learning of certain maths facts. For many years, this has included practising timetables and additional facts, such as number bonds and doubles. Each half-term child will be assessed on Key Instant Recall Facts (KIRFs) that will be taught in school but also need to be practised at home as well.

It is important that children know these facts thoroughly and can recall them instantly. Whilst children have a wide range of abilities in mathematics, the KIRFs are designed to be a set of facts that need to be learnt thoroughly as they build on each other year-on-year.

We strongly encourage you to engage with your children in the learning of their KIRFs and find fun and practical ways to do this. There are many online tools that you can use, such as Times Table Rockstars for Years 2-6, Numbots for Reception, Years 1 and 2, Doodle Maths, White Rose Maths 1 minute app,  Daily ten and Hit the button, which can both be found through these web links.

Topmarks maths

More maths games

Children should undertake these regularly as part of their weekly home learning. You might find that your child may need to work on some of the KIRFs from the previous year as they may not be secure in those yet.

We know that, by internalising these key facts which have been carefully structured to build upon each other term by term, year by year, children will leave Instow with a much stronger foundation of mathematical understanding to build upon.

We hope that you enjoy working alongside your children on this mathematics work. 

Intent

At Instow Community Primary and Pre-school, our aim is to give all pupils access to equitable classrooms, where all children participate and are encouraged to develop a deep and sustained understanding of the maths being explored. We want children to understand the value of maths across the curriculum and in daily life. We value children’s explanations as these help them to become more efficient in their work. They help children to see concepts differently and help them to be confident in sharing their ideas. We encourage children to represent their understanding in a variety of ways in order to deepen their understanding. We believe that children should be taught, and encouraged, to make rich connections between mathematical ideas to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence in solving problems. We aim to develop children that are confident, numerate learners who can apply and use their skills in everyday life.

Implementation

How do we plan for and teach Maths? We aim to instil a positive mind-set towards the subject, a culture of collaboration and learning from mistakes and misconceptions and opportunities to develop resilience in the face of a challenge. We encourage children to make connections and build on their prior learning in coherent steps. In keeping with the principles of mastery and the National Curriculum, our intention is for the majority of pupils to move through the programmes of study at broadly the same pace. With a focus on quality-whole-class-teaching first, which breaks learning points down into planned small steps and exposes pupils to a variety of representations and contexts, we aim to develop confidence and fluency in key mathematical concepts, structures and strategies. Pupils who grasp concepts quickly are provided with questions to think more deeply about the specific learning point being taught. Those who are not yet secure in a concept should consolidate their understanding through additional support and practice where appropriate. At Instow, our daily Maths lessons follow the maths mastery approach. Maths is taught through a daily lesson of about an hour. There is an emphasis on mental arithmetic and fluency with numbers and giving opportunities for pupils to use and apply maths in real life contexts. Lessons include a “flashback” to prior learning to help children retrieve and remember more in maths. Numbers and calculations make up much of the focus of learning in maths, but in addition to this, children work on geometry, measures and statistics. All the children from year one upward take part in a daily activity to help them with their number fluency. In year one, the focus of this is on number bonds. From year two they all have access to the Times Tables Rockstar materials both in class and at home. These aim to build and secure fluency in their multiplication and related division facts up to X12. We also use the educational apps Numbots and Doodle. Doodle Maths tailors a personalised work programme for each child’s strengths and weaknesses. Class teachers plan for opportunities to develop and apply key mathematical skills to other subjects throughout the year through the connected curriculum. In addition to this, we aim to make Maths exciting and creative not just in lessons but also with events such as World Maths Day, Money week, enterprise opportunities, the Primary Maths challenge and outdoor learning.

The Maths curriculum is planned from the White Rose Maths small steps as a starting point. White Rose Maths’ concrete, pictorial and abstract scheme supports our mastery approach. Teachers may also choose to use other quality resources such as NCETM and the non-statutory curriculum guidance materials in their planning. The units across the school are grouped into place value and numbers, Geometry, Statistics and Measures. Progression The White Rose Maths curriculum is a cumulative curriculum, so that once a topic is covered it is met many times again in other contexts and built on, year-on-year. For example, place value is always covered in Autumn 1 but revisited for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. By using the NC non-statutory guidance alongside White Rose, we can ensure that there is continuity and consistency for pupils as they progress from one year to the next. There is more information in our progression document.

Impact

Assessment: The purpose of assessment in maths is to monitor the learner’s understanding of the mathematical language, concepts and skills and to see how they apply them in their learning. Teachers need accurate information about what the children know so that they can support them in their progression. Assessment is based upon a wide range of evidence which includes formative assessment in the class where children receive verbal feedback on how to progress. Targeted assessment questions may be used within a unit to inform planning and the White Rose assessments check for progress at the end of a unit. In addition, we have termly assessment points in school where key stage 2 use the NTS papers to formally assess the children. Gaps analysis of these tests help to inform future planning and interventions. Our Year 4 children also access the national multiplication check in the summer term. We use the “Counting to Calculate” and “Numberstacks” interventions across the school.

Outcomes: Children will view maths positively and their journey through our maths curriculum will see them progress into confident mathematicians. They will see how maths links to the wider world and be able to talk about their maths learning. Children will be able to record their maths thinking and solutions in a variety of ways and be able to use their prior knowledge to support their ongoing learning. They will be fluent in deriving number facts and times tables facts and will be able to use this skill to support deeper problem solving.