St Sebastian’s Shared Vision Statement For Mathematics
In St Sebastian’s, all pupils regardless of their background, ability or language acquisition will gain a lifelong love, knowledge and understanding of Mathematics. We want to see our pupils levels of progress and achievement develop alongside their love, enjoyment and enthusiasm of the subject as they journey through school and prepare them for the opportunities and experiences they will encounter in adult life.
At St Sebastian’s we recognise and embrace our role in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children in our care.
The pupils will be taught a range of mental and written strategies to develop their understanding and use of the four rules of number (+,-, × and ÷). They will be educated through the use of concrete (hands on equipment), pictorial (use of images) and abstract (formal written methods) strategies.
Through a daily mental starter (Rapid Recall Facts), the pupils will be exposed to and encouraged to use a range of age appropriate mathematical vocabulary, number, shape, space and measure facts. This will enable them to make links between the different areas of Mathematics.
During the main part of each Mathematics lesson, the pupils will be able to develop their use of mental ad written strategies for the four rules of number, as they work on different mathematical topics and concepts. Pupils will be encouraged to enhance their deeper learning/understanding of a range of objectives, through being challenged by a variety of reasoning/problem solving tasks.
There will be opportunities for children to use ‘maths talk’ as they explain and model strategies they have used to the rest of the class. We will encourage the children to speak in clear, concise, grammatically correct sentences. Teachers will mark work with children during lessons, so that misconceptions can be immediately addressed and acted upon.
Lessons will often be concluded with a maths challenge or number game in order to further develop the pupil’s mathematical understanding of different concepts in a fun and engaging way.
Homework will be used to further consolidate their knowledge and understanding of concepts/strategies that have been taught that week.
Mathematics, we provide opportunities for pupils to make links between the skills taught and how it can be applied to everyday life. It is also important that the pupils experience Mathematics in different contexts beyond the classroom. At St Sebastian’s, we provide opportunities for children to do this by linking with other primary schools (inter school competitions) which gives the pupils the opportunity to meet and form relationships with children from other backgrounds.
Extra-curricular Mathematics clubs are frequently provided for our pupils before and after school. These sessions give the children a forum to question and explore misconceptions and areas of difficulty in a safe and positive environment. As well the pupils having this opportunity we also offer this to our parents too.
As a school, we are committed to moving Mathematics forward through our involvement with other agencies. This academic year we will have the opportunity to work with The North West Maths Hub to develop and become more proficient in the teaching of mastery this will be reflected throughout the school. Working with The North West Maths Hub has helped us develop a challenging but exciting action plan to move Mathematics forward within our school.
What is Rapid Recall?
Rapid Recall is a fun, engaging way for children to learn and demonstrate knowledge and understanding in all areas of Mathematics. Children enjoy the pace and challenge of these sessions and thrive on their immediate successes that they achieve. Below are examples of the types of questions that can be included in a Rapid Recall session;
How many sides does a decagon have?
Tell me three facts about a regular pentagon.
The three angles of a triangle always add up to…?
How many months are in 3½ years?
How many minutes are in 4¼ hours?
How many grams are in 3kg?
How many grams are in 4.5kg?
How many 20p’s in £2.80?
How many 50p’s are in £11.50?
9² + 4² =??
70 x 40 =?
6,400 ÷ 80 =?
Two factors of 20 that add up to 9?
368 + 99=?
478 – 99=?
These quick fire session should last no longer than 15 minutes with opportunity for discussion and demonstrations.
Below are examples of children modelling explanations to rapid recall questions.
Inter School Maths Competition
In order to inspire pupils throughout our school, an inter school maths completion was arranged against St Anne’s R.C. Primary School from Oldham. Year 5 pupils took part in a range of mathematical challenges including, timestables, rapid recall facts, arithmetic and reasoning skills. All children from Year1 to 6 attended the competition to support and be inspired by the enjoyment of maths on show. We would like to thank St Anne’s for attending today and we look forward to another mathematical competition in the future.