What is 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. (NC 2014)

What does it look like at SJS?

At SJS we aim to ensure that all our 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.

Why is Maths good at SJS.

We work closely with the local authority to ensure our we provide a rich and rewarding experience for our pupils in Maths. We follow planning suggested by Hampshire, tailoring it to the needs of our pupils. We incorporate the CPA approach within our lessons.

Students use concrete objects to model problems. Unlike traditional maths teaching methods where teachers demonstrate how to solve a problem, the CPA approach brings concepts to life by allowing children to experience and handle physical (concrete) objects. This objects include place value counters, diennes, number lines, hundreds squares and many more. 

Pictorial means “seeing” the problem. Here, visual representations of concrete objects are used to model problems. This encourages children to make a mental connection between the physical object they just handled and the abstract pictures, diagrams or models that represent the objects from the problem. We will encourage our children to draw the problem they are solving and often use the bar model to aid help to understanding what operation need to complete the problem.

The abstract stage involves the teacher introducing abstract concepts (for example, mathematical symbols). Children are introduced to the concept at a symbolic level, using only numbers, notation, and mathematical symbols (for example, +, –, x, /) to indicate addition, multiplication or division. We are following guidance provided by Hampshire, to sequence the order our pupils are introduced to different written methods. Please see the pdf below.