Maths at Wellgate
Maths Philosophy
At Wellgate, we believe that mathematics introduces children to concepts, skills and thinking strategies that are essential in everyday life and support their learning across the curriculum. We aim to provide our children with a mastery curriculum which enables them to make sense of numbers, patterns and shapes they see in the wider world by providing pupils with a deeper understanding of the subject through utilising a concrete, pictorial and abstract approach. Our curriculum is designed to incorporate small, progressively sequenced steps, promote the use of high-quality manipulatives at all stages and encourage the development of deep structural knowledge and the ability to make connections between concepts. We believe that making connections in mathematics deepens pupil’s knowledge of concepts and procedures, ensuring what is learnt is sustained over time and committed to their long-term memory; enabling concepts to be transferred and applied in different contexts. Our approach ensures that all children are supported at every stage of their learning meaning that no pupils are ‘left behind’ as the focus is on ‘keeping up over catching up’. Our pupils are given time to fully understand, explore and apply ideas, rather than accelerate through new topics. This enables them to truly grasp a concept, and the challenge comes from investigating it in new, alternative and more complex ways. It is our belief that natural talent is just a starting point and does not determine who has more or less potential to achieve. Every child can achieve excellence in mathematics and we aim to provide opportunities for all children to experience success and a sense of awe and wonder on a daily basis. At Wellgate, it is our intention to support our pupils as they become confident problem solvers, discover different solutions, make fundamental links between different areas of mathematics and ultimately become skilled mathematicians.
At Wellgate, we believe that mathematics introduces children to concepts, skills and thinking strategies that are essential in everyday life and support their learning across the curriculum. We aim to provide our children with a mastery curriculum which enables them to make sense of numbers, patterns and shapes they see in the wider world by providing pupils with a deeper understanding of the subject through utilising a concrete, pictorial and abstract approach. Our curriculum is designed to incorporate small, progressively sequenced steps, promote the use of high-quality manipulatives at all stages and encourage the development of deep structural knowledge and the ability to make connections between concepts. We believe that making connections in mathematics deepens pupil’s knowledge of concepts and procedures, ensuring what is learnt is sustained over time and committed to their long-term memory; enabling concepts to be transferred and applied in different contexts. Our approach ensures that all children are supported at every stage of their learning meaning that no pupils are ‘left behind’ as the focus is on ‘keeping up over catching up’. Our pupils are given time to fully understand, explore and apply ideas, rather than accelerate through new topics. This enables them to truly grasp a concept, and the challenge comes from investigating it in new, alternative and more complex ways. It is our belief that natural talent is just a starting point and does not determine who has more or less potential to achieve. Every child can achieve excellence in mathematics and we aim to provide opportunities for all children to experience success and a sense of awe and wonder on a daily basis. At Wellgate, it is our intention to support our pupils as they become confident problem solvers, discover different solutions, make fundamental links between different areas of mathematics and ultimately become skilled mathematicians.
Teaching and Learning
At Wellgate Primary School, we follow a Teaching for Mastery (TfM) approach in Maths. There is information about the 5 Big Ideas below but if you would like to know more about what TfM means, please look at the NCETM ‘Mastery Explained’ website: Mastery Explained | NCETM
At Wellgate Primary School, we follow a Teaching for Mastery (TfM) approach in Maths. There is information about the 5 Big Ideas below but if you would like to know more about what TfM means, please look at the NCETM ‘Mastery Explained’ website: Mastery Explained | NCETM
Maths learning at Wellgate follows the 5 Big Ideas:
- Coherence – this ensures that all pupils are provided with the small steps to learning so that they can develop a deep understanding of curriculum and make links in their learning.
- Representation and Structure – this is about showing the children the maths that they are learning so that can deepen their understanding. At Wellgate, we use concrete and virtual manipulatives to support children with this. We use a range of images and structures to help children see the maths, make their own links and create their own representations.
- Mathematical Thinking – pupils are immersed in mathematical vocabulary and provided with stem sentences to help them shape their thinking. Pupils are encouraged to make connections, look for patterns and relationships, reason, explain, generalise and conjecture.
- Fluency – it is really important that pupils have quick recall of number facts and procedures, so that they can apply these to a range of different areas and use these to make connections and recognise relationships. If pupils have strong fluency, it reduces the cognitive load and enables them to concentrate on the particular area of maths they are working on.
- Variation – both conceptual variation and procedural variation are incredibly important in the teaching and learning journey. Conceptual Variation looks at focusing the children’s attention on the main features through looking at what it is and what it isn’t. Procedural Variation looks at how pupils move through the learning sequence – purposeful changes are made to highlight what the children need to look at.
If you would like further information about Maths at Wellgate, please look at the related policies which are under the ‘Statutory Information’ section of the website.
