St John Fisher Catholic Primary School

Mathematics: Curriculum Statement

Intent:

At St. John Fisher Catholic Primary School, we aim for every child to be a Mathematician for life. We provide them with strong foundations for lifelong learning in Mathematics by teaching them the core skills that will help them to be secure in their understanding. We want children to be confident in approaching the next stage of their learning so that they can become mathematically literate adults who are able to think and solve problems.

We give pupils a breadth of experience, provoke curiosity, promote a feeling of awe and wonder for the subject and ensure that every pupil reaches their potential. We want to develop a positive attitude to mathematics and to develop children’s knowledge through enquiry, reasoning and problem solving. We encourage children to have a Growth mindset, to be articulate and to take risks by applying their knowledge and skills to solving problems in different contexts. We do this by teaching maths using a mastery approach. We have high expectations and believe that all children have the ability to succeed. Through our teaching we want our children to gain confidence in Mathematics and to be able to express their ideas, make links between topics and explain their strategies using mathematical language. Children will be encouraged to use a range of learning strategies: working collaboratively and independently.

The national curriculum for Mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils:

• Become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.
   
• Reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language.
   
• Can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.

Implementation:

Our lessons are built on the following principles of a mastery lesson:

- Coherence – breaking down mathematical concepts into small, well sequenced, manageable steps.
 

-Variation – procedural and conceptual
 

-Representation and structure – carefully choosing ways to reveal the structure of the mathematics, and representing it in a variety of ways.
 

-Mathematical thinking – chains of reasoning and use of precise mathematical vocabulary.
 

-Fluency – number and table facts and recognising the relationship between them.

At Saint John Fisher we underpin children’s learning with a clear progression in the development of skills and key instant recall facts as demonstrated in the maths Progression of Skills document.

Mathematics at St John Fisher: 

• Basic Maths skills are taught daily. Focussing on key mathematical skills including place value, the four operations and fractions.
• A range of reasoning resources are used to challenge all children and give them the opportunity to reason with their understanding.
• Maths meeting and immediate interventions are used to support children to ensure children are ready for their next Maths lesson.
• Children are taught through targeted differentiated small group and mixed ability whole class lessons.
• Lessons use a Concrete, Pictorial and Abstract approach to guide children through their understanding of mathematical processes. 
• Revise and Review consolidation lessons are used to revisit previous learning and ensure Maths skills are embedded.
• Home learning is set to develop and review children's learning. 
• Where possible, links are made with other subjects across the curriculum.

Impact:

A mathematical concept or skill has been mastered when:

- A child can show it in multiple ways, using the mathematical language to explain their ideas, and can independently apply the concept to new problems in unfamiliar situations.

- Children demonstrate quick recall of facts and procedures. This includes the recollection of the times tables.

 - The flexibility and fluidity to move between different contexts and representations of mathematics.

 - The ability to recognise relationships and make connections in mathematics.

 - Children show confidence in believing that they will achieve.

- Children show a high level of pride in the presentation and understanding of the work

As a result of our Maths teaching at St John Fisher you will see:

• Engaged children who are all challenged.
• Confident children who can all talk about Maths and their learning and the links between Mathematical topics.
• Lessons that use a variety of resources to support learning.
• Different representations of mathematical concepts.
• Learning that is tracked and monitored to ensure all children make good progress. 

The leader for Mathematics is Sarah Lankester.