Overview of How Maths is Taught
At Charlestown, we believe that children should be confident and articulate mathematicians who enjoy the wide variety of challenges a maths lesson can present. We want our pupils to be able to approach mathematically challenging activities using efficient mental and written methods.
When the new National Curriculum was introduced in 2014, there became a strong emphasis on the teaching and learning of fluency, reasoning and problem solving. Since then we have sought to embed this into our practice across the school and aspire to have all our children reach a mastery understanding of mathematics. Since 2021 we have begun working on creating ‘The Charlestown Maths Lesson.’ This will in time create uniformity in teaching and learning style and ensure there is more consistent progress between year groups and key stages.
At Charlestown, we believe that deepening children’s mathematical knowledge will not only secure the children’s understanding of maths concepts but also close the gap between those at the top and lower attaining children. All pupils need access to these concepts and ideas in every mathematics lesson and to the rich connections between them.
With this in mind, teachers are asked to ‘teach to top’. This means concentrating on year group objectives and allowing children to master these objectives over the course of a well-planned ‘journey,’ rather than teach ahead and into the next year group.
When possible, children that are not at age related expectations will receive pre-teaching to prepare them for the following lesson; giving them a confidence boost and a head start. Therapy sessions will also be used to reinforce recently taught lessons and plug any gaps. We believe that this gives the children more confidence within whole class time and accelerates their learning.
For further information on How Maths is Taught, please see the maths policy.