Mathematics

Mathematics 

At St Joseph’s, we help our children grow as mathematicians through the use of White Rose Maths, which offers a framework to teach the Mathematics Programme of Study as laid out by the National Curriculum and the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, alongside other high-quality resources, including National Centre of Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM). White Rose has been influenced, inspired and informed by the work of leading maths researchers and practitioners across the world and is based on the latest pedagogical research.  

At St Joseph’s we strive to have children develop confidence, resilience and excellent reasoning skills in mathematics. From the earliest years, we use open-ended questioning to have children notice numbers, patterns, shapes, and connections and to be able to reason with others confidently using sentence stems.  It is important to instil a love of learning from an early age and to teach children that we learn from making mistakes. 

Intent

At St Joseph’s, we believe that every child should be given the chance to reach their full potential. Maths is a journey and long-term goal, achieved through exploration, clarification, practice and application over time. At each stage of learning, children should be able to demonstrate a deep, conceptual understanding of the topic and be able to build on this over time. 

The deep and deepest levels are what we are aiming for by teaching maths using the Mastery approach. 

We intend to do this by: 

• Ensuring our children have access to a high-quality maths curriculum that is both challenging and enjoyable, and builds upon previous learning. 
• Providing our children with a variety of mathematical opportunities, which will enable them use their reasoning skills. 
• Using collaborative learning techniques to ensure the children are active in their learning and are using their peers to help them grow.  
• Ensuring children are confident mathematicians who are not afraid to take risks, make mistakes and are resilient. 
• Fully develop independent learners with inquisitive minds who have secure mathematical foundations and an interest in self-improvement 
• Providing children with the opportunity to apply their mathematical knowledge across other curriculum areas. 

Implementation 

Our implementation is developed through secure understanding of the curriculum and subject area. The White Rose scheme comes with videos, which offer continuous CPD to teaching staff. Maths is a core subject in the National Curriculum. St. Joseph’s follows the White Rose Hub maths plans as the basis for implementing the statutory requirements of the programme of study for mathematics. 

Concrete, pictorial, abstract 

Objects, pictures, words, numbers and symbols are everywhere. The mastery approach incorporates all of these to help children explore and demonstrate mathematical ideas, enrich their learning experience and deepen understanding. Together, these elements help cement knowledge so pupils truly understand what they’ve learnt. 

When introduced to a key new concept, all pupils should have the opportunity to build competency in this topic by taking this approach. Pupils are encouraged to physically represent mathematical concepts. Objects and pictures are used to demonstrate and visualise abstract ideas, alongside numbers and symbols. 

Concrete – children have the opportunity to use concrete objects and manipulatives to help them understand and explain what they are doing. 

Pictorial – children then build on this concrete approach by using pictorial representations, which can then be used to reason and solve problems. 

Abstract – With the foundations firmly laid, children can move to an abstract approach using numbers and key concepts with confidence. 

The Mastery Approach to the Teaching of Maths 

The Mastery of Maths means to acquire a deep, long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of the subject. 

At St Joseph’s, we have been working towards a mastery curriculum in  Maths curriculum since 2015. Our journey began with us being members of a small working group led by a specialist Maths teacher from the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Maths and a local Maths Hub, in order to develop our knowledge and skills in mastery teaching. Regional Maths Hubs have developed since which bring together mathematics education professionals in a collaborative national network of hubs, each locally led, to develop and spread excellent practice, for the benefit of all pupils. 

We  observed lessons led by teachers from China in local schools; we invested in new resources and exemplification materials to support learning; we engaged with Mastery Specialist Programmes and we invested in approved maths resources.   

Since then, we have continued to build our expertise in this way of teaching.   

We use the phrase ‘teaching for mastery’ to describe the range of elements of classroom practice and school organisation that combine to give pupils the best chances of mastering mathematics. The rationales which underpin this approach are: 

• The belief that all pupils can achieve
• Keeping the class working together so that all can access and master mathematics
• Development of deep mathematical understanding
• Development of both factual/procedural and conceptual fluency
• Longer time on key topics, providing time to go deeper and embed learning

Any parents who have queries about Maths in school, please get in touch via the school office.  

Teaching 

At St Joseph’s, we use ‘quality first teaching’ which includes early and timely intervention during a lesson for those who may need additional support or challenge. We use the ‘I do, we do, you do’ approach as a structure to lessons. Furthermore, we use collaborative learning strategies to encourage ‘peer coaching’ where pupils teach and support each other, and we encourage lots of mathematical discussion using open-ended questioning and the modelling and use of sentence stems.  

Fluency 

At St Joseph’s, the children have four lots of 15-minute fluency lessons per week. This is to ensure children have a short session for practice with number facts and number operations, so that these are continually being rehearsed leading to better recall and efficiency. In KS1, 'Mastering Number' is used for fluency sessions, and in KS2, the four rules of number including times tables are practised using ‘Fluent in 5’ and ‘Tough Ten’ from Vocabulary Ninjas. Homework, including online platforms such as Times Tables Rock Stars and Numbots are used to reinforce the learning of number facts, including times tables.  

Assessment 

1. Summative/reported - SATs (Year 2&6) NFER tests at the end of each term (Years 1-6).
2. Summative/ diagnostic (where necessary) – White Rose unit assessments
3. Formative / ongoing – *See Marking, Assessment & Feedback policy 

 All the above are monitored and discussed during pupil progress meetings.  

Impact

Pupils will leave us prepared for the next stage in their lives with: 

• Confidence, resilience and the belief that they can achieve.
• Quick recall of facts and procedures.
• The flexibility and fluidity to move between different contexts and representations of mathematics.
• The ability to recognise relationships and make connections in mathematics.
• Adept reasoning skills.
• Skills and concepts that have been mastered. 

A mathematical concept or skill has been mastered when a child can show it in multiple ways, using the mathematical language to explain their ideas, and can independently apply the concept to new problems in unfamiliar situations and this is the goal for our children. 

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