Maths Intent
Mathematics is important in everyday life and, with this is mind; the purpose of Mathematics at St. Gregory’s is to develop an ability to solve problems, to reason, to think logically and to work systematically and accurately.
Our aim is to provide a curriculum that allows our children to:
- Become confident and enthusiastic mathematicians.
- Develop their fluency, reasoning and problem solving skills.
- Understand and use mathematical vocabulary in a variety of scenarios.
- Apply mathematical thinking in a range of situations, realising how this will help them in their everyday life.
Implementation
At St. Gregory’s, lessons are designed using a mastery approach. To learn mathematics effectively, some things have to be learned before others, e.g. place value needs to be understood before working with addition and subtraction, addition needs to be learnt before looking at multiplication (as a model of repeated addition). For some other topics, the order isn’t as crucial, e.g. Shapes and Statistics need to come after number but these don’t depend on each other.
Power Maths, supported by The White Rose Maths Scheme, is used as a basis for our teaching. New mathematical concepts are introduced using a ‘Concrete, Pictorial and Abstract’ approach; enabling all children to experience hands-on learning when discovering new mathematical ideas, which allows them to have clear models and images to aid their understanding.
Children are exposed to a combination of fluency, reasoning and problem solving. This provides challenge for all children, allowing them to develop a secure and deeper understanding of mathematical concepts. Arithmetic and mental maths skills are practised daily to ensure competency and confidence in order to apply these in a variety of mathematical contexts.
Post teaching is used daily to ensure all children are prepared and equipped for the following maths lessons. This helps to ensure children are secure in their learning before they move on.