“The only way to learn mathematics is to do mathematics” - Paul R. Halmos
At Stannington First School, we recognise that Mathematics is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment.
It is our aim that maths will adopt the relevant Singapore and Shanghai mathematical principles and pedagogy, using a CPA (concrete- pictorial-abstract) approach to introduce concepts with the aim of pupils achieving mastery.
We aim to provide a high-quality mathematics education with a mastery approach so that all children:
- become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics
- reason mathematically
- can solve problems by applying their mathematics
(National Curriculum 2014)
We believe all children can achieve and develop a love for mathematics. We follow a mastery curriculum which is ambitious, accessible to all and maximises the development of every child’s ability. It is a curriculum that is coherently planned and sequenced through a series of small, sequential steps and it offers both breadth and depth to all learners. It is also a curriculum that delivers creative and engaging lessons underpinned by the essential elements of a mastery teaching and learning approach.
At Stannington First School, we follow a mastery approach to maths teaching and follow long and medium term plans written by the White Rose Maths hub. These plans support teachers in all aspects of their planning whilst delivering Maths Mastery methods effectively.
As part of this process, teachers:
- Plan their maths lessons with a CPA approach; concrete, pictorial, abstract
- Use precise questioning to test conceptual and procedural knowledge
- Incorporate manipulatives into each lesson to scaffold difficult tasks
- Use quizzes to support learner’s ability to block learning and increase space in their working memory
- Plan tasks and questions to challenge pupils to apply and deepen their learning and mathematical reasoning
- Use online resources such as Times Tables Rockstars
- Record thoughts and mathematical thinking using See-Saw, as part of ongoing teacher assessment
In the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), we relate the mathematical aspects of the children's work to the Development Matters statements and the Early Learning Goals (ELG), as set out in the EYFS profile document. Mathematics development involves providing children with opportunities to practise and improve their skills in counting numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems, and to describe shapes, spaces, and measures. The profile for Mathematics areas of learning are Number (ELG 11) and shape, space and measures (ELG 12). We continually observe and assess children against these areas using their age-related objectives, and plan the next steps in their mathematical development through a topic-based curriculum.
There are opportunities for children to encounter Maths throughout the EYFS (both inside and outside) – through both planned activities and the self-selection of easily accessible quality maths resources. Whenever possible, children’s interests are used to support delivering the mathematics curriculum.
Towards the end of Reception teachers aim to draw the elements of a daily mathematics lesson together so that by the time children move into Year 1 they are familiar with a structured lesson.
Through our mathematics curriculum, our pupils are able to make rich connections between mathematical ideas, developing fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence in solving problems. They also apply this mathematical knowledge and understanding to other subject areas.
Most importantly, our pupils have a sense of enjoyment and curiosity towards mathematics and have confidence in their ability.
To help us measure the impact of our maths curriculum we:
- reflect on standards achieved against the planned outcomes
- use our My Progress Goals documents to record this as part of our ongoing teacher assessment and record the impact of our maths curriculum
- listen to pupil discussions about their learning which includes discussion of their thoughts, ideas, processing and evaluations of work
- use Seesaw to capture learning