Maths at Our Lady's
Maths Lessons at Our Lady's
At Our Lady’s we have a Mastery approach to teaching Maths. When taught to master Maths, children develop their mathematical fluency without resorting to rote learning and are able to solve non-routine maths problems without having to memorise procedures.
- Whole class moves through topics at broadly the same pace. Topics are studied in depth to provide the greatest chance for all learners to secure their learning of the concept taught.
- Children are given time to think deeply about the maths and understand it at a relational level.
- Children work in mixed ability groups where possible so no child is limited by their access to the curriculum. Learning is inclusive and children are grouped to encourage all children to believe they ‘can do’ maths.
- Children have plenty of talk time to reason, this is a key part of the children working together to solve problems, using concrete and pictorial means, before moving onto abstract concepts.
- Differentiation does not mean accelerating children through new content where they have grasped a concept quickly. Instead, they are challenged with rich and sophisticated problems within the topic. Children who are not fluent are provided additional support to consolidate learning.
- We build in time to allow for ‘sweep-up’ (intervention) where children who are not fluent by the end of the lesson spend additional time receiving quality first teaching. This increases the likelihood of children consolidating their knowledge, and filling gaps in their understanding.
Parent videos
Brilliant videos that briefly explain the fundamental idea behind the Maths No Problem! scheme, plus details of how to calculate for some of the basic number operations. A must-watch!! Click on this link:
A typical lesson
We use the Maths No Problem! Scheme for children in Years 1-6.
At the start of a typical lesson, children’s curiosity is ignited with an interesting problem, set in a real life context that children can relate to. This problem is then explored and referred back to throughout the lesson.
One of the key principles of the Singaporean style is the concrete-pictorial-abstract approach. This means that you will always see children working with practical apparatus, whatever their ability. More able children may move more quickly onto pictorial (seeing/visualising/drawing) and abstract (symbolic) representations but reinforcement and deep conceptual understanding is achieved by going back and forth between the concrete, pictorial and abstract. Through this approach, and with careful questioning, children will notice patterns, make connections and begin to generalise.
Following the exploration of a problem, children will record their thinking in their journal. The purpose of the journal is to help children to embed what they have been doing and further refine their ideas. It is also used as a tool to help children improve their ability to communicate their thinking mathematically.
Throughout a lesson, you will hear the teacher and teaching assistants asking lots of questions. This promotes thinking, and children have opportunities to discuss their ideas with talk partners as well as with the whole class. This enables them to refine their thinking and progress.
Children have the opportunity to work independently in their maths books towards the end of the lesson, and may move on to further rich problems to solve. Any children who are not fluent by the end of the lesson have time in the schedule, with the teacher, to address misconceptions straight away.
For more information visit mathsnoproblem.co.uk
Please see below an overview of how Basic Maths Skills are mapped across the school, from Reception (F2) up to Year 6.