Maths
Over the last few years, we have been working to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics. We work closely with the Maths Hub and, through participation in the NCETM Maths Hub programme for Mastery Specialist Teachers as we are continually developing our practice in teaching for mastery.
“Mastering maths means pupils acquiring a deep, long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of the subject.”
“The phrase ‘teaching for mastery’ describes the elements of classroom practice and school organisation that combine to give pupils the best chances of mastering Maths.”
(National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics, NCETM)
Teaching for Mastery is about continual improvement and the expectation that all children are capable of achieving high standards in their maths learning. There are certain principles and key features which characterise this approach:
Teaching and Learning
We plan in line with the National Curriculum for Mathematics and the latest DfE guidance using materials from the White Rose Maths and NCETM to support us. Teachers work together across classes and key stages to ensure continuity, consistency and progression. We hold regular training session for both teachers and teaching assistants to help all staff to develop their practice, and we enable staff to visit each other’s classrooms as we learn together.
- Teachers build upon prior learning in carefully planned lessons which guide children through new learning, ‘step by step’ in a coherent journey. Children move on to a new concept only when they are secure in the concept currently being taught. Sometimes, it might appear that learning is slow, but in giving children the opportunity to explore concepts in a variety of ways and with regular practice and retrieval of knowledge, they achieve deep, meaningful understanding which they remember and can apply to new contexts.
- Children work through the curriculum together as a class. They are guided through the learning in a series of small steps with appropriate scaffolds and challenges to support differing needs. Some children might need additional support and we use strategies such as pre-teaching and interventions to help all children to be successful. There are also opportunities for our young mathematicians to take part in school events, such as Enterprise Day.
- A great emphasis is placed on the importance of representation and structure. We use concrete resources in every classroom to develop key concepts.
- All pupils, regardless of their age, have access to a range of representations and we use the CPA approach:
- concrete – use of real objects and manipulatives
- pictorial – use of pictures and symbolic representations
- abstract – use of numerals and equations
- Children go back and forth between each of the CPA stages as new learning is introduced. This ensures concepts are reinforced and understood. The aim is that they will eventually rely less on the concrete resources and pictorial stages as mathematical concepts become firmly embedded.
- We value the importance of teaching children the correct mathematical vocabulary from the earliest age and do not shy away from using what, to us, might seem like difficult language. The vocabulary empowers children to be able to talk about their maths and explain their thinking.
- Stem sentences are a key part of our maths lessons. These help the children to learn new concepts and give them a scaffold on which to verbalise their learning.
- Fluency – the ability to quickly and efficiently recall facts and procedures and the flexibility to move between different contexts and representations in mathematics – is very important and comes from deep knowledge and frequent practice.
- Variation is twofold – conceptual and procedural.
- Conceptual variation is about how the teacher represents the concept being taught, often in more than one way, to draw attention to critical aspects, and to develop a deep understanding.
- Procedural variation is about the sequencing of the steps – the activities and exercises used within a lesson and follow up practice, paying attention to what is kept the same and what changes, to connect the mathematics and draw attention to mathematical relationships and structure.
Mastering Number
In addition to the daily maths session, we dedicate an extra 10-15 minutes a day to maths. We to we take part in the National for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) project Mastering Number at Key Stage 1; a project at aims to secure firm foundations in the development of good number sense for all children from Reception through to Year 1 and Year 2. The aim over time is that children will leave KS1 and begin KS2 with fluency in calculation and a confidence and flexibility with number. In Years 3, 4 and Year 5 we also deliver Mastering Number at Key Stage 2 which is a project that enables pupils to develop fluency in multiplication and division facts, and a confidence and flexibility with number that exemplifies good number sense. Knowledge of multiplication and division and its applications forms the single most important aspect of the KS2 curriculum, and is the gateway to success at secondary school.
Some children can feel afraid of maths and can become demotivated from quite a young age. However, here at Cathedral, we strive to put the magic into learning so that pupils develop mathematical fluency, reasoning and a love of number!
Mrs Beckett - Joint Head of Maths
Mrs Babington - Joint Head of Maths
View our Addition and Subtraction Calculation Policy here
View our Multiplication and Division Calculation Policy here
View our Year 1 Maths Curriculum here
View our Year 2 Maths Curriculum here
View our Year 3 Maths Curriculum here
View our Year 4 Maths Curriculum here