Mathematics at St Thomas More Catholic Primary School

At St Thomas More we believe Mathematics is a creative and highly inter-connected discipline that is essential to everyday life. Mathematics teaches children how to make sense of the world around them. Through developing their ability to calculate, reason, question and solve problems, mathematics enables children to understand relationships and patterns that are universal. At St Thomas More Catholic Primary School be believe that a high-quality mathematics education is essential to all our learners and provides them with the foundations for understanding the world. The ability to reason, solve problems and apply mathematics fluently are the corner stones to these successful mathematical foundations. An appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject will flourish from learning mathematics at St Thomas More. All adults are positive role models for the teaching and learning of mathematics.

Mathematical Reasoning

We aim for our learners to develop an increasingly sophisticated capacity for logical thought and actions, such as analysing, proving, evaluating, explaining, inferring, justifying and generalising. Learners are reasoning mathematically when they explain their thinking, when they deduce and justify strategies used and conclusions reached, when they adapt the known to the unknown, when they transfer learning from one context to another, when they prove that something is true or false and when they compare and contrast related ideas and explain their choices.

Mathematical Problem Solving

We aim for our learners to develop the ability to make choices, interpret, formulate, model and investigate problem situations, and communicate solutions effectively. Learners formulate and solve problems when they use mathematics to represent unfamiliar or meaningful situations, when they design investigations and plan their approaches, when they apply their existing strategies to seek solutions, and when they verify that their answers are reasonable.

Mathematical Fluency

We aim for our learners to develop skills in choosing appropriate procedures, carrying out procedures flexibly, accurately, efficiently and appropriately, and recalling factual knowledge and concepts readily. Learners are fluent when they calculate answers efficiently, when they recognise robust ways of answering questions, when they choose appropriate methods and approximations, when they recall definitions and regularly use facts, when the use appropriate mathematical language and when they can manipulate expressions and equations to find solutions.

In parallel to these corner stones of fluency, problems solving and reasoning skills, it is our intension that through the teaching and learning of mathematics we:

• Promote the enjoyment of learning through practical activity, exploration and discussion
• Encourage children to ask questions about the mathematical world around them
• Promote confidence and competence with numbers and the number system
• Develop the ability to solve problems through decision-making and reasoning in a range of contexts
• Develop a practical understanding of the ways in which information is gathered and presented
• Explore features of shape and space, and develop measuring skills in a range of contexts
• Help children understand the importance of mathematics or the ‘Big Picture’ of mathematics in everyday life
• Develop the use of mathematics in other subjects

The teaching and learning of Mathematics at St Thomas More follows a mastery approach, which centres on all learners acquiring and developing a deep and secure understanding of mathematical concepts and ideas. 

All classes have two sessions of maths a day. The session that occurs in the morning, is the lesson for the day. The lesson will focus on a key learning point from the age related expectation of that year group. Then in the afternoon, a Maths MOT (Maths on Track) meeting is held. The MOT will focus on a variety of areas depending on the needs of the class and in some cases individual children. Items that may be covered in the MOTs include: pre-teaching of objectives, spending more time on learning objectives already taught, a focus of practising skills such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division as well as times table and division fact recalling and a focus on our instant recall facts.

We encourage a growth mind-set throughout our school, and as such believe that all are able to succeed and be confident mathematicians.