Maths at St Vincent's

At St Vincent’s we aim to:

· break each area into small, manageable steps to help children to fully understand the concepts.

·  teach three main strands in each area; Fluency, Reasoning and Problem Solving to allow the children to:

·   be fluent in key concepts and deepen understanding of key concepts;

·   be able to reason ‘why?’ confidently using appropriate mathematical language;

·   develop resilience and a positive mind-set to seek solutions to problems.

·  Develop a love for mathematics to support the children to meet the demands of adult life, such as budgeting, managing timetables and understanding finances.

Teaching for Mastery : The 5 Big Ideas

Our approach for teaching for mastery is underpinned by the NCETM’s 5 Big Ideas.

Opportunities for Mathematical Thinking allow children to make chains of reasoning connected with the other areas of their mathematics.

A focus on Representation and Structure ensures concepts are explored using concrete, pictorial and abstract representations, the children actively look for patterns and generalise whilst problem solving.

Coherence is achieved through the planning of small, connected steps to link every question and lesson within a topic. 

Teachers use both procedural and conceptual Variation within their lessons and there remains an emphasis on Fluency with a focus on number and times table facts.

To support teachers, we use White Rose Maths. This is a scheme of work, written by Maths Mastery Trained Specialists and follows mastery approach - which is recommended by both the NCETM and DfE. This is supplemented by ‘Dive Deeper’ tasks to support and challenge children in reasoning and problem solving further.

The progression of this scheme is outlined by year group and topic (here) using the National Curriculum objectives. This progression allows for fewer topics to be covered in smaller steps and in more depth. This therefore develops a deeper and more sustained understanding of key mathematical concepts.

EYFS also follows the guidance from the White Rose Hub Reception SOL and support from the NCETM Numberblocks planning documents.