Maths Mastery at Minterne Junior School

‘Learning for a Lifetime’

 Intent

Why do we teach this? Why do we teach it in the way we do?

At Minterne Junior School we are passionate about providing our children with the opportunities and desire to develop into lifelong mathematicians.  Our maths curriculum equips our children with the essential skills to become confident mathematicians and to achieve their aspirations.  We believe success in maths for every child is possible, fostering positive can-do attitudes and promoting the fact that we can all do maths.  We have high expectations for all our children to both enjoy and be successful in maths, both at school and in the wider world.  Using the mathematics mastery approach, we believe children can become confident, enthusiastic and inquisitive learners.

We will deliver a curriculum that teaches secure and deep understanding of mathematical concepts through manageable steps. We will provide challenge through rich mastery and sophisticated problems. Children will spend time becoming true masters of content, applying and being creative with new knowledge in multiple ways.

We aim for all pupils to:

• become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics so that they develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.
• reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry and develop and present a justification, argument or proof using mathematical language.
• be able to solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.

Mathematics is an interconnected subject in which pupils need to be able to move fluently between representations of mathematical ideas. The programmes of study are, by necessity, organised into apparently distinct domains, but pupils should make rich connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence in solving increasingly sophisticated problems.  Central to our approach are the ‘5 Big Ideas’ which underpin mastery in mathematics (representation and structure, mathematical thinking, variation, fluency and coherence).

Implementation

What do we teach?  What does this look like?

At Minterne, children study mathematics daily following the White Rose Maths scheme of learning which is based on the National Curriculum.  This is a blocked scheme which is broken down into smaller achievable steps, allowing for depth and breadth of learning within each strand of mathematics.

Lessons may be personalised to address the individual needs and requirements for a class, but coverage is maintained. To further develop the children’s fluency, reasoning and problem-solving, we use deepening understanding which correlates to the White Rose lessons and further develops children’s understanding of a concept and the links between maths topics.

We implement our approach through high quality teaching delivering appropriately challenging work for all individuals. To support the children, we have a range of mathematical resources in classrooms including Numicon, Base10 and counters (concrete equipment).  When children have grasped a concept using concrete equipment, images and diagrams are used (pictorial) prior to moving to abstract questions. Abstract maths relies on the children understanding a concept thoroughly and being able to use their knowledge and understanding to answer and solve maths without equipment or images.

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Features of our Mastery Approach:

• Concrete, Pictorial and Abstract Learning: Children engage with a wide and varied range of concrete manipulatives, pictorial representations and abstract methodologies within each session. Cohesive use of CPA is a fundamental part of mastery in mathematics for all learners. Concrete and pictorial references scaffold and strengthen understanding and are widely used as a teaching and learning tool from Year 3 to Year 6.
• Fluency, Reasoning and Problem Solving: Every learning session includes the opportunity to develop fluency skills, construct chains of reasoning using relevant knowledge alongside relevant terminology and solve increasingly complex problems in a systematic and coherent way.
• Mathematical Vocabulary: Sessions include explicit reference to vital mathematical vocabulary and the use of stem sentences to support and encourage all children to communicate their ideas with mathematical precision and clarity. These sentence structures often express key conceptual ideas or generalities and provide a framework to embed conceptual knowledge and build understanding.
• Fluent Recall: We are committed to ensuring that pupils secure their knowledge of times tables and related divisional facts by the end of Year 4. Our pupils engage in regular low stakes testing through Times Tables Rock Stars to practice fluent recall.

Impact

What will this look like?  By the time children leave our school they will:

At Minterne, the expectation is that the majority of pupils will move through the programmes of study at broadly the same pace. We aim for each child to be confident in each yearly objective and develop their ability to use this knowledge to develop a greater depth understanding to solve varied fluency problems as well as problem solving and reasoning questions.

However, decisions about when to progress should always be based on the security of pupils’ understanding and their readiness to progress to the next stage. Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly are challenged through rich and sophisticated problems before any acceleration through new content. Those who are not sufficiently fluent with earlier material consolidate their understanding, including through additional practice, before moving on. Where necessary, earlier material should consolidate their understanding, including through additional practice, before moving on.

• Formative Assessment: Teachers carry out formative assessment during each session and feedback is given to children verbally, through self/peer assessment and through marking. Teachers then use this assessment to influence their planning. Children are rapidly identified as needing further challenge or additional support, and we ensure that this is provided in a timely manner.
• Timely Interventions: Teachers believe that all children can achieve in maths and focus on whole class teaching. Where prerequisites are not secure, timely interventions will be carried out.  Our interventions are mainly focused on pre-teaching and same day interventions. As a school, we invest in targeted interventions to secure and develop knowledge. Teachers and teaching assistants adapt their teaching for whole class and small group interventions to ensure that all children reach their full potential.
• Low Stakes Quizzing and Fluent Recall: We use a range of low stakes testing throughout the teaching cycle to assess attainment and progress. From Year 3 to Year 6, children complete regular tests in arithmetic and times tables.
• Summative Assessments: Children complete end of block assessments for block of learning.  Results are used to further inform planning and allow for tailored interventions groups to take place to ensure the objectives are secured. Our assessment calendar also includes 3 key dates for capturing progress and attainment against National Curriculum Objectives. Assessments are carried out in Autumn, Spring and Summer terms.
• Subject Monitoring: We regularly monitor the quality and impact of our mathematics curriculum through targeted learning walks, book scrutiny and pupil interviews. In addition to this, we survey our staff and pupils to identify their perception of mathematics and identify CPD needs.

A fundamental part of maths is recall of times tables.  At Minterne all pupils are able to access ttrockstars which is a fun, engaging way to practise times tables on a regular basis.  Pupils can compete against each other and even challenge teachers too!

All pupils have a username and password, this can also be downloaded to tablets and smart phones.  Pupils can be learning anywhere!

Click the following link to login:  https://play.ttrockstars.com/