Mastery Maths- A Parent’s Guide
After looking at the responses to our parent questionnaire, we wanted to ensure that parents have a clear view on how we teach maths in school, particularly the term ‘Mastery.’
Mastery is the belief that each objective of the year group curriculum should not just be taught, but children should gain a deep understanding. This means that they can generalise that skill across different contexts. A maths example would be being able to use addition across real life contexts such as measures.
This approach is at the heart of the maths curriculum at St. Georges and we give each topic ample time to explore, question, explain and look at variations in questions and use different contexts.
The National Curriculum 2014 aims to ensure that all pupils:
· become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including 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.
To ensure we have the best beginning possible to plan creative lessons, we use a scheme of work called ‘Maths No Problem’ from Y1 onwards. In Early Years we also use the mastery approach, utilising materials from White Rose Maths.
If you would like to find out more about the Maths No Problem scheme, and what it looks like in practise, follow the link below https://mathsnoproblem.com/en/resources/maths-mastery-guide/
We aspire for all children in St George’s to be confident, determined learners and have seen first-hand the benefits of the mastery approach. If you have any questions, please have a look at the maths page on the school website or email our Maths Subject Lead e.smith@st-georges.lancs.sch.uk.
