Intent

Mathematics is a powerful, universal language that helps us to make sense of our world. Our intent is that pupils at Bilton CE Junior School experience the beauty of mathematics and develop a sense of curiosity for and enjoyment of the subject that stays with them throughout life.  Mathematics is used to explain, predict and represent events and tackle everyday problems. It is of central importance to our modern society, is an essential part of everyone’s daily life and critical to science, technology, finance and engineering. 

At Bilton CE Junior School, we follow a Teaching for Mastery approach to Mathematics. We spend more time on key topics, using a small steps approach to build upon prior knowledge and develop fluency, reasoning and problem solving. We believe that all children can be successful in Mathematics and we encourage pupils to develop resilience and perseverance. Our intent is to enable each child to believe in themselves as a mathematician.

We are confident that learning at a steadier and deeper pace benefits all children. Teaching for Mastery ensures no child is left behind as well as providing challenges to explore the content in more depth for children who grasp the content quickly.  We have high expectations for all children. Evidence shows that all children need to develop a deeper understanding of concepts to be able to make connections, apply their understanding to a range of situations and creatively solve problems.

Implementation

Our teaching for mastery approach is characterised by the following principles and features:

• We use Power Maths scheme of work to support our teaching.
• Whole class participation with pupils taught together.
• Pupils working in mixed ability groups.
• We are spending longer on one problem or concept.
• Pupils using carefully chosen representations and practical resources and talking to each other to secure their learning and try out ideas.
• Teachers targeting questions to individuals to deepen their knowledge.
• Children with additional needs are included in whole class lessons and teachers provide scaffolding and relevant support as necessary.
• For the few children who are working outside of their class curriculum, bespoke learning activities are provided to ensure their progress.
• Immediate verbal feedback during lessons and self-marking by pupils.
• Independent practise time where pupils apply their new knowledge in multiple ways through careful variation to build fluency and understanding.
• High expectations of pupil responses in full sentences with mathematical terminology and explanations.
• Regular reviews of learning

We use Mathletics as part of our mathematics program at school. Mathletics is a targeted, rewarding and captivating online learning resource, which is aligned to the curriculum taught. Children are set homework on Mathletics and simply sign in with their school username and password.