Maths Links
Maths Vision statement
Our Intention
Staff of St Augustine’s Catholic School want all children to love Maths. Children should enjoy their Maths lessons, regardless of their perceptions of success in Maths. Maths is viewed as a creative subject through which children learn to solve problems, communicate their ideas and listen to the ideas of others. We want all our children to be experimental Mathematicians and view the subject as useful and explorative so that, as adults, they can have a wider range of experiences to draw on as future problem solvers. Their Maths experiences in school should lead to opportunities opening up for them in their chosen professions. We believe Maths is vital for children to succeed in life therefore all staff model excitement and positivity around the teaching and learning of Maths.
At St Augustine’s Catholic Primary School we are passionate about the developments all children make in mathematics. We aim for children to develop fluency by using a range of concrete, pictorial and abstract models. These will be revisited, at increased skill levels, as they progress through the key stages. Reasoning and problem solving will be taught and practised alongside fluency, in order for children to make immediate connections. When children make connections within a lesson they become increasingly more abstract in their thinking and can apply their understanding to new mathematical challenges. We see concrete, pictorial and abstract (CPA) as a cyclic process and not linear, which means children in all age groups will have access to these models as they require them.
Implementation
We are, as a MAT and an individual school, developing a mastery approach to the Maths curriculum to promote a greater understanding of mathematical knowledge and skills through the use of CPA and the cyclical nature of the 5 key areas of Mastery. We promote reasoning, fluency and problem solving through a variation of mathematical representations and a variety of problem solving examples. We aim to provide opportunities to use Maths in other areas of the curriculum to emphasise real life application and consolidate learning. Where necessary we provide scaffolds and will adapt teaching as necessary for their mastery learning. During the planning stages, we work to identify common misconceptions and plan to address these before they arise through, among other things, explicit teaching of vocabulary and provision of appropriate resources.
Impact
Our children will have a love of Maths.They will be effective communicators, efficient problem solvers and confident decision makers. They will be able to find efficient methods to solve problems and be confident and enthusiastic Mathematicians who are not afraid to take risks or learn from their mistakes. All our teachers assess impact daily through assessment for learning questions, working alongside children to determine their understanding and through daily revisiting of previous skills. All children at St Augustine’s Catholic School will embrace mistakes as a way of furthering their learning, and understand the importance of Maths in the wider world.