Mathematics
At Grove Vale, we follow a Mastery approach which is personalised to the core values of our school. As per the NCETM, mastering maths means pupils acquiring a deep, long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of the subject. The phrase ‘teaching for mastery’ describes the elements of classroom practice and school organisation of the curriculum that combine to give all pupils the best chances of mastering maths. See the bottom of the page for more information on teaching for mastery.
Intent
At Grove Vale we aim to inspire all children to reach their full academic potential. In mathematics this means ensuring an ambitious curriculum that is fully inclusive for all children which:
- Ensures children at Grove Vale are emerged in a rich and high-quality math curriculum, enabling freedom to be creative.
- Gives children the chance to develop the power of resilience by believing in themselves when being faced with mathematical challenges.
- Encourages children have opportunities to be curious, making connections between mathematical processes and the world around them.
- Develops children as independent learners, having self-drive to be ambitious by being a part of progressing and challenging themselves and not being afraid to take risks.
- Makes sure fluency, problem solving and reasoning is developed sequentially to ensure children have a strong foundation to build upon and achieve mastery.
As a result of their learning in mathematics and problem solving across the curriculum all children will:
- Show quick recall of mathematical facts and procedures.
- Be engaged in a risk-free math learning environment.
- Confidently and flexibly use, embed and link mathematical skills and processes across a range of contexts and representations, including real life situations.
- See the curriculum drivers are strongly evident within the math provision.
- Take an ambitious responsibility of their own learning, with evidence of independent self-driven learning and challenge.
- Have access to high quality and rich provision enabling fluency, problem solving and reasoning
Impact
At Grove Vale, we know we are having an outstanding impact as children at our school:
- Enjoy learning maths! This is as a result of an inclusive and active approach.
- Acquire a deep, long term and conceptual understanding of mathematical concepts as a result of a coherent, well sequenced and strategically mapped curriculum from EYFS - Year 6.
- Perform above national standards at the end of each key stage so transition well and are well prepared for secondary school by the time the leave us.
- Show curiosity in maths by demonstrating a conceptual understanding through the use of concrete and pictorial representations.
- Show creativity in maths by exploring concepts in different ways.
- Show ambition in maths by applying fluency and mathematical thinking and intertwining it with problem solving and reasoning.
- Show resilience in maths challenging themselves with problems that develop deeper thinking.
Importance of Maths
"Mathematics is a creative and highly inter-connected discipline that has been developed over centuries, providing the solution to some of history’s most intriguing problems. It is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment. A high-quality mathematics education therefore provides a foundation for understanding the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject."
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.
Primary National Curriculum England 2014
Organisation of Maths at Grove Vale:
Maths Long Term Overview 2023-24
Maths Progression of Skills
Mastering Number Overviews (EYFS, Year 1 and Year 2)
Mastering Number Overviews (KS2) (Year 4 and 5)
Multiplication Tables Overview |
Multiplication Tables Guidance
Maths Vocabulary Guidance
Government Guidance
Click here to view guidance on Ofsted's most up to date Maths Research Report
Teaching for Mastery
“Every child can grasp mathematical ideas, not because they were born with a gift, but because their teacher is an expert at communicating these ideas.”
Mark McCourt, NCETM Director
Mastering maths means pupils of all ages acquiring a deep, long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of the subject. The phrase ‘teaching for mastery’ describes the elements of classroom practice and school organisation that combine to give pupils the best chances of mastering maths. Achieving mastery means acquiring a solid enough understanding of the maths that’s been taught to enable pupils to move on to more advanced material.
The Five Big Ideas underpin teaching for mastery in both primary and secondary schools.
- Children are taught together as a class, not split into prior attainment groups.
- A belief that ALL children are capable of succeeding at mathematics.
- A teaching pedagogy that leads to a deep understanding of mathematics.
- Based on research from Singapore and Shanghai
