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St Mary's Catholic Primary School

Maths

Numeracy is the development and application of mathematics across the curriculum and in real-life situations. Skills in numeracy help children to make informed and responsible choices and decisions throughout their lives. We place strong emphasis on developing these essential skills.

 

Throughout primary school, our pupils engage in a wide range of purposeful activities which involve them in different modes of mathematical learning, including playing, exploring and investigating, doing and observing, talking and listening, asking questions, reflecting, drafting, reading and recording.

 

Our school uses a maths mastery approach to the teaching of mathematics.  We use a fantastic Maths resource - ‘Power Maths’, which has enhanced the teaching and learning of Numeracy across the school, benefitting all pupils.  ‘Power Maths’ breaks learning into manageable steps for children and promotes an active and practical approach to the teaching of mathematics.  

 

At the heart of ‘Power Maths’ is the idea that with hard work and determination, everyone can succeed at Maths

Why Power Maths?

  • An exciting growth mindset and problem-solving approach helps spark a curiosity and excitement for maths and equips children with deeper understanding
  • Developed alongside teachers to ensure it meets the specific needs of children in the UK
  • Power Maths progress tests – written by primary assessment experts
  • Aligned to the White Rose Maths progressions and recommended by the DfE

Power Maths (White Rose Edition), is one of only two DfE approved mastery schemes. We believe that all children should be successful at, and feel positive about maths. 

 

                                           

We aim to teach using an interactive, whole-class model that encourages thinking, precise mathematical language and allows children to deepen their understanding. We do this by teaching mastery of concepts one step at a time, in lessons that embrace a Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract (C-P-A) approach, building on prior learning and helping children to see patterns and connections.​

 

Lessons typically begin with a “discover” that involves a real-life scenario and inspires children to discuss a key concept through a picture story. We use the recommended “I do, We do, You do” model to build children’s understanding of how to tackle similar scenarios with increasing confidence, before moving towards opportunities for independent practice. This will also include more formal calculation methods.

 

“Deepen” and “Strengthen” activities both extend and support differently attaining children, including those with SEND,  enabling the whole class to stay together in their learning. Children are assessed formatively throughout the lesson, and summatively at the end of each unit, enabling the teacher to see which children have mastered the key concepts and where any misconceptions are.

 

In addition, children have daily ‘fluency’ sessions that aim to build fast recall of key arithmetic skills, such as number bonds and times tables.

Ultimately, at St Mary's,  we want our children to be successful at maths, not just through rote-learning but through problem solving, thinking and discussing. We believe this approach will enable our children to develop both fluent recall and a confident conceptual understanding of the mathematical world around them

The Mastery Approach to Mathematics.
Primary schools across England have begun to adopt a new way of teaching maths. This approach involves teaching for mastery, and is inspired by teaching practices in South Asia (high performing jurisdictions like Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai repeatedly perform well in international mathematics tests). The Government has high aspirations for primary school children in England, so they are investing in this new approach in mathematics.
How does Mastery benefit our children?
Teaching for mastery in maths rejects the idea that a large proportion of people ‘just can’t do maths’. It looks to build confidence and to show children that with hard work they can succeed.
 
This new approach aims to raise standards – meaning that more children should achieve the expected standard in mathematics. You should notice a difference – not only in your child’s achievement, but also in their attitude towards mathematics. 
What is the Mastery Approach?
Teaching for mastery is based on a belief that all children can achieve in maths. In practice, this means children are no longer taught different concepts based on whether they are seen to be ‘less able’ or ‘more able’. Instead, the whole class is taught together but extra support is given to children who find the topic difficult, and challenging questions are given to children who are flying.
 
Concepts are built in small, logical steps and are explored through clear mathematical models and images. The focus is on depth – not acceleration – so that all children have a chance to embed learning.
 
Teaching is supported by high-quality resources which present the flow of lessons coherently and provide opportunities for plenty of practice.
 
Children use objects and pictures to physically represent mathematical concepts alongside numbers and symbols – this helps them to visualise ideas.
Will children who find maths difficult be left behind?
This method of teaching aims to ensure all children have a secure and deep understanding of maths, by building up maths concepts in small and logical steps. This makes maths accessible to the majority of children.
 
Teachers will use a range of teaching techniques to make sure children do not fall behind. You may hear teachers talking about same day intervention. This involves intervening quickly to tackle any key misconceptions so that children keep up and don’t have to catch-up!
How will children who are already doing well in maths be challenged?
The national curriculum in England places emphasis on depth and breadth, not speed and acceleration. It’s really important that learning is not superficial. For example, a child may understand how to use a particular method, but to demonstrate they have a deep understanding they need to explain why it works and why it’s efficient.
 
Teachers will challenge children who grasp concepts quickly by providing sophisticated problems, rather than by accelerating them through new content from other year groups. Additionally, children will become coaches for moments each lesson, so that they are then explaining their own thinking to others - a really important step in embedding and consolidating their learning. 
 
‘Challenge’ can come in many forms and it’s important not to confuse ‘challenging’ maths, with maths from a higher year group.
How can I help at home?

Maths Flex

Maths Flex is our next-generation intelligent maths practice service for KS2 that uses instant adaptive learning through powerful software for same-day intervention, combined with mastery approaches and whole-class teaching to support time saving and effective pupil progress. 

 

Our Key Stage Two children will use Maths Flex in school, to support their in class learning.

 

Additionally, your child's class teacher will set Maths Flex Home-Learning Challenges. The more your child accesses this resource and practices, the more progress they will make with their maths learning and understanding.

 

A little practice each day is far better than a longer chunk once a week.

 

Your child's class teacher will monitor how much time your child is spending accessing their maths home-learning. A recommended time would be 15 minutes each day for Year 3 and 4, rising to 20 minutes each day for Year 5 and 6.

You can continue to help your child by talking about maths positively at home. Children are influenced by those around them - if they hear people say they can’t do maths, or they hate maths, they may develop a more negative attitude towards the subject. This can negatively affect their performance in the subject and their development of important life skills.
 
 
It’s important to help your child develop a growth mindset in mathematics too. For more information on how to do this, take a look at our supporting fact sheet, Everything you need to know about growth mindset in maths.
 
 
Support children with any activities they bring home. Maths Flex is set as our Key Stage Two home-learning. Your child has their own login. More information about this programme is below.
 
 
 
Take care to look at the methods and models being used at school. It’s important to try not to confuse children by talking about the methods and approaches you learned yourself, or by encouraging them to use ‘shortcuts’ that might stop them from achieving a deeper understanding of the maths.
 
 
If you are unsure about any concepts, or you want to learn more about the methods, models and images used to teach maths, ask a teacher to explain how you can help at home or speak to Miss Rebecca Blackhall- our Maths Lead. She will be delighted to share her understanding with you!