What is Maths like at St Augustine’s?
At our school the children are provided with a rich and varied Maths curriculum. They are encouraged to use a wide range of equipment throughout their time here to support and consolidate their understanding of key mathematical concepts.
We support a Mastery approach that is intended to ensure key mathematical concepts are secure before moving on to new concepts. All children are challenged using a comprehensive problem solving and reasoning diet of maths. Reasoning is where children have to explain their understanding as to whether an answer is correct or not.
We use a wide range of resources, including White Rose, the government’s Maths initiative which has been devised by a range of maths experts. We also use other resources such as NRich and Oxford Owls to ensure the children are getting the best resources available and that the most and least able are both supported and challenged.
Children in Early Years and Class 2 have ‘Maths bears’. These bears play the role of posing questions to the children which the children have to answer. The children relish giving their answers to Milo and Mimi.
We also believe that the children’s Maths should be linked to the real world. The whole school takes part in a biennial Enterprise Week where each class is given a start up loan of £20 and is challenged to make it grow. This is an amazing week where maths skills come to the fore with measuring, calculating and working out prices. After the sale of goods, the children then have to pay back the loan, with interest, before enjoying their profits! There are even statistics to work out what the children choose to spend their profits on!
We also use our mathematical skills in other subjects. For example, we create timelines in History, collect data about weather in Geography and take measurements in Science.
In our ‘WOW’ weeks we also make use of our maths. When we arrived at school one Monday to find a giant’s footprint on the hall, the children were challenged with a number of mathematical tasks. They had to sort possible giant’s ears from measurement clues, calculate the size of the giant’s footprint and work out the capacity of different vessels to enable them to select which container was the best for the giant’s drink. It was great fun!
We hold ‘Maths games’ mornings and have an ‘Easter maths morning’ planned. These are opportunities for parents and grandparents to enjoy games and maths with their children. It is also an informal occasion to chat to teachers about maths and what they can do to support their child at home. Parents can also arrange to see the teacher at a different time if they need further support.
