Intent
Our maths curriculum aims to equip all children with a strong mathematical knowledge, a confidence in using skills and a creative attitude towards problem solving.
Our mastery approach is based on the belief that all children can achieve in maths and no child is left behind.
Through a carefully structured and planned curriculum, all our children will develop skills in fluency, reasoning and problem solving. These are taught throughout all their mathematical learning and interwoven and applied within other areas of the curriculum eg science and computing.
Our school works alongside the schools in our cluster group to embed and implement the ‘5 big ideas’ of mastery teaching within our own settings.
Our cluster share knowledge, training and good practise. We have taken part in lesson observations and visits to each other’s settings.
Implementation
We follow White Rose Maths as our main framework for teaching a mastery curriculum; this is occasionally supplemented with other resources from NCETM, Power Maths and other commercially produced resources.
White Rose Maths is a comprehensive and progressive scheme of work which lays the foundations for mathematical learning in EYFS, it uses the small step approach to ensure clear progression and build skills across all areas of maths up to Y6 including :
Number
Measures
Geometry
Statistics
Ratio and Proportion (Y6)
Algebra (Y6)
Objectives for each unit are broken down into a series of carefully planned small steps. They are taught in a sequence that gradually builds understanding. New learning is introduced this way whilst some learning will build on previous knowledge from other years. Each unit makes links to previous units where relevant.
In September 2018 the mastery approach began being introduced in most classes with Y3, 4, 5 using the 6 part lesson model.
From September 2019 the 6 part lesson model (adapted from Mathematics Mastery) was the vehicle used to correctly deliver mastery teaching for all year groups with a CPA progression used throughout each lesson. As resources have been developed for EYFS these have been introduced into reception, so as when these children enter KS1 they are already familiar with some aspects of the mastery curriculum and its vocabulary eg part-whole models.
Each lesson begins with a task (Do it Now) to encourage curiosity within the new learning. Children are encouraged to answer and record independently in journals using creative methods, manipulatives or pictorial representations, this is not marked but used as the transition into the new learning where ideas are shared and mistakes are not feared but rather used as a challenge to solve.
During the second phase (new learning section) of the lesson, ideas are shared and modelling takes place based on the solving of the initial problem .A challenge is provided which uses and investigates the new skills. We believe concrete manipulatives are key to cementing understanding and providing the ability for every child to learn, therefore the challenge incorporates a problem to solve or prove using manipulatives eg cubes, base 10, bead strings. Whilst some children will move on from needing these resources they will always be made available and never removed.
Mathematical talk is a key feature of the mastery approach, questions are used to deepen children’s understanding. When children talk about maths concepts they are developing key mathematical vocabulary that helps them to explain ideas. Working with maths partners is therefore an important part of the mastery approach to teaching maths in our school This is evident in the talk task section of the lesson where the children will work through a problem together often now using pictorial representations.
The National Curriculum states that all children must be able to access fluency, reasoning and problem-solving and these interrelated strands run throughout our lessons. Varied fluency in maths enables children to develop their skills through seeing different representations of mathematical concepts; using concrete, pictorial and then abstract methods enables teachers to model and demonstrate key concepts in a way that all children can access. Reasoning and problem-solving questions are incorporated into each small step during the lesson. It is expected that during the independent task, children will be able to solve the problems using either concrete , pictorial or for most, abstract approaches.
Same-day interventions where possible ensure that children are able to ‘keep up’ with the maths learning for their year group. This may take the form of pre-teaching before a lesson (usually in a small group), or a post teaching session, either as a group or individually to address misconceptions.
The use of low threshold high ceiling questions enables everyone to access the same mathematical ideas but provides the opportunity for challenge and extension for those pupils targeted at Greater Depth in maths. Pupils are involved in marking their own work wherever possible so that misconceptions can be addressed instantly before moving on to the next step in learning.
The use of teacher made interactive whiteboard lessons with strong visuals ensure that children are exposed to a variety of mathematical representations throughout their maths journey at Park House Primary School, starting in Early Years and continuing through to Key Stage 2. Teachers, TAs and pupils can model their thinking and calculation strategies clearly for the rest of the class.
Each class has a maths working wall which links to the current block of learning and includes key vocabulary and representations.
CPD at school has involved staff auditing their own understanding of mastery maths and attending staff meetings and INSET training led by the maths coordinator to develop their understanding and teaching skills. Teachers have observed mastery lessons and book scrutinies have taken place to monitor the coverage and progression from EYFS to Y6. Learning walks have been carried out to monitor how the mastery approach is being implemented in the daily maths lesson.
Impact
Children understand the relevance of what they are learning in relation to real-life contexts. A strong growth mind-set ethos helps children to enjoy maths, take risks and accept that making mistakes is part of the learning journey.
Children are encouraged to assess their own progress and take an active role in peer and self-assessment with clear WALTs and success criteria linking to each objective.
Maths books and folders consist of a range of activities and tasks showing evidence of varied fluency and reasoning and problem solving, with differentiation if appropriate. Children will access the same learning objectives but tasks and questions will allow those ready for challenge to explore their learning in more depth.
Children are able to independently select the resources and strategies they need to support their calculations in maths. They can articulate their ideas and reasoning clearly, verbally, pictorially and in written form.
As a school we have high expectations and standards of all our children; classrooms, working walls, books and folders are monitored regularly and children are achieving well.