A Mastery approach to Maths 

At St Edwards Catholic Primary School we have high expectations for every child. Teaching for mastery in Maths is essentially the expectation that all pupils will gain a deep understanding of the maths they are learning. For understanding in Maths to be secure, learning needs to be built on solid foundations.

A mastery approach to the curriculum means pupils spend far longer on fewer key mathematical concepts whilst working at greater depth. Long term gaps in learning are prevented through speedy teacher intervention and those children who grasp the concepts more quickly are given opportunities to deepen their knowledge and improve their reasoning skills rather than accelerating on to new curriculum content.

Problem solving is central and opportunities are given for pupils to calculate with confidence, ensuring an understanding of why it works so that pupils understand what they are doing rather than just learning to repeat routines without grasping what is happening.

We follow the White Rose Maths sequence of learning as a basis for the Maths that the children learn throughout school from Reception through to Year 6.  This provides a well sequenced and structured progression of mathematical skills which are directly linked to the EYFS and the National Curriculum.  By using this sequence, the children are exposed to regular fluency, reasoning and problem solving tasks and link these to previous learning.  At St Edward's Primary School, we follow a concrete-pictorial-abstract approach to teaching Maths which also follows the White Rose calculation methods.

The Structure of Lessons

In EYFS, Mathematics is taught as part of both teacher-led and continuous provision activities which are changed regularly based on the seven areas of learning on the EYFS curriculum. Children throughout Years 1-6 have a daily maths lesson.  Children in KS1 also benefit from a Mastering Number programme designed to build fluency.

Useful Website Links

• Practise your tables

• Learn Your Tables
  Hit the button

• LEARN YOUR NUMBER BONDS

• MORE NUMBER BOND GAMES

• Learn to tell the time

• NRICH
  challenge games

Maths Enrichment Opportunities