St Peter's Church Of England (VC) Primary School and Pre-school

Maths at St Peter's

At St Peter’s we follow a Teaching for Mastery approach. We want children to build a deep understanding of mathematical concepts, which will allow pupils across the school to gain a long-term, secure understanding of the subject which they can apply in different situations.

We have high expectations of every child and a firm belief that having a positive maths mindset will help children achieve in the subject and reach mastery. We have a culture where mistakes are a positive part of maths and they help our brains grow. The children are regularly asked to share their best mistake of the day.

The school uses the White Rose Hub Maths Scheme of Work. This scheme has been designed to support a mastery approach to teaching and learning and has been designed to support the aims and objectives of the national curriculum. It is highly regarded by our local maths hub and network. It provides each year group with a set of resources including examples of fluency, reasoning and problem solving. The scheme focuses on securing number sense and place value first, before applying this to other concepts. It has a strong emphasis on problem solving and the use of ‘bar modelling’ to help children visualise problems.

At time the children are grouped according to their year group for Maths lessons. Each year group use and adapt the scheme to suit their children’s needs, they will also use other resources to support their teaching. There is strong emphasis on children moving along the journey together, with varied discussion using a range of mathematical vocabulary and the expectation of clear verbal reasoning. Mastery opportunities are available to extend learning and ‘Dive Deeper’ into the learning objective. We still maintain a strong emphasis on using practical apparatus to support the children’s learning of maths to suit their level of attainment.

Children are taught and tested on their knowledge of the times tables; these facts underpin much of their mathematical learning at primary school. Children have access to ‘Times Table Rockstars’ where they can practise their tables and increase their fluency by challenging other children both in school and around the world.

For homework, the children have their own personal log-in to MyMaths. This is an online homework tool, where they will find lessons, homework activities and games, which match and consolidate the key concepts learnt at school.

How to support your child at home

Talk to your child about their learning and what they learnt in Maths lessons each day. Ask them to teach you what they have learnt.

Play Maths games – bingo, problem solving board games, puzzles etc.

Look for Maths opportunities in real life situations – cooking, shopping, telling the time etc.

Regular practise of key facts including times tables and number bonds.