Maths

At St Joseph’s we aim to create an environment in which we embed the attitude of excellence and enjoyment in mathematics.

We deepen children’s understanding of maths by utilising the CPA (Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract) approach and by fostering an attitude of fun and enjoyment in their learning in this subject. We challenge the children within their lessons so that they each achieve to their full potential, which will enable them to go out into the wider world and use the maths that they have learned about in real-life situations. We teach the children to explore, question and ultimately explain how maths processes work and how we can use what we learn in our everyday lives.

The maths curriculum in England has 3 aims:

  • Fluency
  • Problem solving
  • Reasoning

The intention is for children to be able to show mastery of the mathematical concepts that they are taught.

Here at St Joseph’s, we use the Maths. No Problem! (Singapore Maths) scheme of work. We follow this scheme as it allows our children to master the subject by starting with lots of practical explorations of maths concepts.

From here, we aim to visualise the concepts by drawing pictorial representations of the maths we are studying and by working on explaining our visualisations.

The final stage of this approach is to master the abstract methods and calculations, along with the children being able to not only explain their methods but also potentially teach their peers how they would solve a maths problem.

Our aim is to build an environment that promotes a passion for maths investigations, regardless of a child’s starting point.

As an example, every year we celebrate National Numeracy Day in May
Click here for pictures from events

Many of the skills the children learn in Maths, can be found in other areas of the curriculum. We often use our skills in our science curriculum – creating graphs and tables to show results, measuring a variety of objects to be used in experiments etc.

It can also be found throughout the geography curriculum, particularly position and direction used in map reading. There are also strong mathematical links to history (timelines and numerical origins) and PE.

Click here to see our Quality Mark award for Maths (awarded in 2021)

The mastery approach to maths aims at challenging all the pupils at their own level. This means that each child will have access to challenges after they have completed the work set by their teacher. These challenges aim to ensure that the children are fluent, can solve mathematical problems and explain their reasoning.

Reception and KS1 will be participating in an exciting National Programme created by the NCETM and Maths Hubs around the country, about ‘Mastering Number’. This includes being given new maths resources for the children to use as well as the staff being given training on teaching mastery in maths.

Every child has access to Times Tables Rock Stars and the maths programmes on Purple Mash – these resources are often used for homework and are lots of fun, as well as being educational!

There are 3 building blocks that all children should have acquired by Y4, that will enable them to tackle most, if not all, concepts in maths…

  • Number bonds to 10
  • Times tables
  • Equivalent fractions

If they cannot acquire these then they will struggle with the basic concepts. So, time is given to ensure these skills are embedded. Parents are involved in their child’s learning and we run workshops and curriculum evenings to model techniques and strategies to support their child’s learning.  We plan to further develop the use of our Google Classrooms to run tutorials for parents.  We firmly believe working together and developing confidence are the key ingredients to success.

Every child has the potential to be a good mathematician with nurture, and practical work and self-confidence.  Our children are mathematicians to be discovered.

Miss F Langford Jackson
Maths Lead