The language of mathematics is international. The basic skills of mathematics are vital for the life opportunities of our children; we want all children to learn to think mathematically, enabling them to reason and problem-solve problems in a range of contexts.
At St Gregory's, we use a variety of resources and methods to teach Maths, because we don't all learn in the same way. Teachers carefully plan which methods, resources and apparatus are best-suited to teach, model or reinforce the mathematical learning in every lesson. We use pictures, images and concrete resources to reinforce children's mathematical understanding, right through school.
Our Mathematics Mastery curriculum has been developed to ensure every child can achieve excellence in mathematics. Children can experience a sense of awe and wonder as they solve a problem for the first time, discover different solutions and make links between different areas of mathematics. It provides pupils with a deep understanding of the subject through a concrete, pictorial and abstract approach. This ensures pupils fully understand what they are learning.
At St Gregory's, Maths Mastery places emphasis on the cumulative mastery of essential knowledge and skills in mathematics.
It embeds a deeper understanding of Maths by utilising a concrete, pictorial, abstract approach so that pupils understand what they are doing rather than just learning to repeat routines without grasping what is happening.
At St Gregory's, we use the White Rose Maths resources to support us in our planning:
Effective understanding and recall of times tables is the foundation of most of the mathematics children will do at primary school and the mathematics curriculum involves children being fluent in number skills.
Our times tables scheme includes inverse operations, a range of representations and problem solving, which are all vital skills in mathematics. The children are tested weekly and we set challenges on TT Rockstars 'Battle of the Bands', to further engage and enthuse the children.
In Year 4, children take the statutory ‘Multiplication Tables Check’ (MTC), to assess their knowledge and recall of times tables facts. Please click the link below to find out more.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/multiplication-tables-check
In Mathematics Mastery assessment is continuous. From the beginning of every lesson, teachers and teaching assistants will be assessing what their pupils are, or are not understanding and use this to scaffold each segment of the lesson. Interventions will be both planned for and ‘live’, meaning that misconceptions are dealt with immediately and high attaining pupils are challenged appropriately.
Pre- and post- teaching ensures that all children can achieve and are prepared for the following lesson.
Foundation Stage
Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2
In the daily mathematics lesson, formative assessments are made on a day-today basis. Practitioners observe, question and evaluate lesson outcomes to further determine progress made and the next steps in learning.
The Head teacher and Maths subject leader play a central role in the monitoring and evaluation of the quality of teaching and learning of mathematics in the school.
The monitoring strategy:
1. Children’s work and medium term planning are looked at regularly.
2. Pupil progress meetings are held termly.
3. Lesson ‘drop ins’ and observations take place in all classes throughout the year. 4. Pupil conferencing takes place termly.
The subject leader is responsible for monitoring attainment and progress, the outcomes of which are collated in the subject leadership folder and fed back to staff at an appropriate time. Teaching and learning is monitored at a time indicated in the School Improvement Plan: Monitoring and Evaluation timetable.
If you require any further information regarding the teaching of Maths at St Gregory's, please speak to your child's class teacher or to the Maths subject leader - Miss Osborn.