Mathematics

Intent

At St Simon’s our intent for mathematics is to teach a rich Mastery based curriculum that responds to the needs of pupils. Our aim is to develop competent yet curious mathematicians through providing opportunities to reason, problem solve and be fluent in each area of the subject and to apply skills and knowledge creatively in the wider curriculum.

Implementation

Good practice is shared through a collegiate coaching environment in the school. CPD is planned in line with the School Improvement Plan underpinned by sound pedagogical approaches and research in mathematics education, to best equip staff with the subject knowledge and expertise to deliver a Mastery style curriculum. We work closely with the Kent and Medway Maths Hub to help us facilitate this.

The whole class is taught together building on previous knowledge of what they already know using the White Rose Curriculum for Mastery which allows planning for small steps. Time is invested in teaching the key mathematical topics, providing time to go deeper and embed learning. The ideas of Mastery are implemented through high-quality teaching to deliver engaging mathematical experiences using manipulatives, representations and stem sentences to develop deep understanding of concepts. Assessment plays a key part of our Teaching and Learning process. We conduct regular formative assessments to monitor pupil progress. This feedback is used to inform teaching, allowing us to be reactive to the needs of learners and to offer support for a particular concept. Our summative assessment is used to benchmark and track progress termly, ensuring that we meet the needs of our particular cohorts.

Calculation Policy

Our calculations policies were originally designed in 2014 in response to the introduction of the "New Curriculum". They were developed so that parents could use the policies as a guide to the methods that we use for calculation with the children so that they can help support their children at home.

Since the calculation policy documents have been designed our methods of assessment for children have now changed and we no longer use Levels so this information is no longer of any use to parents.

The methods of calculation however still remain the same so we have published the policy documents on this page so that parents can refer to them should they need to.

Impact

The impact of our mathematics curriculum is that pupils can understand the relevance of what they are learning in relation to the real world and apply. Through our school-wide commitment to metacognition we hope to foster an environment where learning is fun and all efforts are valued and relevant as part of a learning journey.

Useful Maths learning links