Mathematics at Kentisbeare
Maths intent statement
At Kentisbeare C of E Primary, we have adopted a mastery approach in order to deliver the three aims of the National Curriculum, fluency, reasoning and problem solving. Underpinning this pedagogy is a belief that all children can achieve in maths. We believe in promoting sustained and deepening understanding by employing a variety of mastery strategies, with teaching for conceptual understanding at the heart of everything we do. Our approach aims to provide all children with full access to the curriculum, enabling them to develop independence, confidence and competence – ‘mastery’ in mathematics in order to be independent mathematicians who are well equipped to apply their learning to the wider world.
Aims
The national curriculum for mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils:
- become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.
- reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language
- can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and nonroutine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.
Teaching for Mastery aims to provide all children with full access to the curriculum, enabling them to achieve confidence and competence – ‘mastery’ – in mathematics, rather than many failing to develop the maths skills they need for the future.
Key features of our Maths Mastery curriculum:
- High expectations for every child
- Fewer topics, greater depth
- Number sense and place value come first
- Research -based curriculum
- Objects and pictures always before numbers and letters
- Problem solving is central
- Calculate with confidence– understand why it works
Mathematics 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.
Mathematics is an interconnected subject in which pupils need to be able to move fluently between representations of mathematical ideas. The programmes of study are, by necessity, organised into apparently distinct domains, but pupils should make rich connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence in solving increasingly sophisticated problems. They should also apply their mathematical knowledge to science and other subjects. The expectation is that the majority of pupils will move through the programmes of study at broadly the same pace. However, decisions about when to progress should always be based on the security of pupils’ understanding and their readiness to progress to the next stage. Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly should be challenged through being offered rich and sophisticated problems before any acceleration through new content.
Implementation: What you can expect to see in maths lessons:
- Basic Maths skills are taught daily. Focussing on key mathematical skills including place value, the four operations and fractions.
- A range of reasoning resources are used to challenge all children and give them the opportunity to reason with their understanding.
- Regular assessment and immediate interventions to support children in keeping up and catching up where possible.
- Children are taught through mixed ability whole class lessons with challenging problem solving and reasoning opportunities for high attainers.
- Lessons use a Concrete, Pictorial and Abstract approach to guide children through their understanding of mathematical processes.
- Revise and Review consolidation lessons are used to revisit previous learning and ensure Maths skills are embedded.
- Where possible, links are made with other subjects across the curriculum.
Impact: What do we achieve through our approach?
- As a result of our maths teaching you will see:
- Engaged children who are all challenged.
- Confident children who can all talk about maths and their learning and the links between mathematical topics.
- Lessons that use a variety of resources to support learning.
- Different representations of mathematical concepts.
- Learning that is tracked and monitored to ensure all children make good progress.