As a school, we follow the Mastery Maths approach when teaching maths to all learners. A mastery approach to teaching and learning has been designed to support the aims and objectives of the National Curriculum. At DCS, we use White Rose Maths schemes of learning and their resources in order to provide a comprehensive and expertly designed journey though the world of Mathematics. White Rose is based on a small steps approach that keeps all learners together. By using the resources across the school, we can ensure consistency of the mathematical elements and comprehensive coverage of the curriculum.
A mastery approach has number at its heart. A large proportion of time is spent reinforcing number to build competency and ensures students have the opportunity to stay together as they work through the curriculum as a whole group. Mastery sets challenges to extend pupils, ensuring that a depth and breadth of each key concept is gained. It provide plenty of time to build reasoning and problem solving elements into the curriculum. Some Key features of this approach include a significant amount of time devoted to developing basic number concepts. This is to build up children’s fluency as number awareness will affect their success in other areas of mathematics. Children who are successful with number are much more confident mathematicians.
Our main goal is that everyone can succeed. As a school, we believe that all students can succeed in Mathematics. We do not believe that there are children who can do Maths and those that can’t. A positive mind set for mathematics and strong subject knowledge are key to children’s success in mathematics.
Mastery of Maths means a deep, long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of the subject of Maths. This way of learning is something that we want pupils to acquire, so a ‘mastery Maths curriculum’ aims to help pupils, over time, acquire mastery of the subject.
There a number of elements which will help children develop mastery of Maths;
• Fluency (rapid and accurate recall and application of facts and concepts)
• A growing confidence to reason mathematically
• The ability to apply Maths to solve problems and to test hypotheses.
Mastery of Maths, which will build gradually as a child goes through school, is a tool for life and immeasurably more valuable than the short-term ability to answer questions in tests or exams.
Our younger children in the EYFS enjoy a rich mathematical environment and have the opportunity to develop mathematical skills though play and formal maths carpet sessions, inside and outside the classroom. In Key stage 1 and 2 our children have a daily maths lesson. They are taught aspirational objectives, taken from the 2014 National Curriculum.
Our daily maths lessons provide the opportunity for children to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence when solving problems. There are regular opportunities for children to develop fluency in the four mathematical areas with teaching following our calculation policy. Varied times table activities ensure frequent practise of a fundamental element of maths. Children are also given homework weekly related to their times tables which develops fluency, reasoning and problem solving skills within the subject. They also have logins to online gaming programmes – Times Tables Rock Star – which allows the children to practice their times tables in a fun, safe environment.
We have an annual maths day when the children are given the opportunity, along with their parents, to explore and apply their mathematical skills in a different context. Children who are showing difficulties in a maths lesson will receive rapid intervention from their teacher or STA. These interventions are used to target key misconceptions and bridge the gaps in a child’s learning.
Calculation policy and progression of skills document
Our White Rose calculation policy is divided into four sections: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. At the start of each section, you will also find an overview of the progression of skills. The calculation policy follows the same concrete, pictorial, abstract approach as our main schemes of learning. Where appropriate, sentence stems and key questions are included alongside the key representations.
NSPCC Number Day