At The Cathedral School of St Peter and St John RC Primary, the Catholic faith underpins every aspect of the curriculum and is at the centre of our learning. Children are actively encouraged to ‘Be the best that they can be.’
Mathematics is a creative and highly inter-connected discipline which provides answers to many of the world’s greatest problems. It is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment. Through a high-quality Mathematics curriculum, accessible to all, we will provide children with the life skills they need ensuring they develop their mathematical potential:
The whole class works through the programme of study at the same pace with ample time on each topic before moving on. Ideas are revisited at higher levels as the curriculum spirals through the years.
Tasks and activities are designed to be easy for pupils to enter while still containing challenging components. For advanced learners, the textbooks also contain non-routine questions for pupils to develop their higher-order thinking skills. Children who need consolidation of learning are given the support needed through targeted additional interventions.
Lessons and activities are designed to be taught using problem-solving approaches to encourage pupils’ higher-level thinking. The focus is on working with pupils’ core competencies, building on what they know to develop their relational understanding.
Pupils learn new concepts initially using concrete examples, such as counters, then progress to drawing pictorial representations before finally using more abstract symbols, such as the equals sign. Concrete materials and manipulatives are used in all year groups from Nursery through to Year 6, especially when embedding new concepts.
The questions and examples are carefully varied to encourage pupils to think about the maths. Rather than provide mechanical repetition, the examples are designed to deepen pupils’ understanding and reveal misconceptions.
All children from Year 1-6 have access to TimesTable RockStars.
This is a carefully sequenced programme of daily times tables practice.
Each week concentrates on a different times table, with a recommended consolidation week for rehearsing the tables that have recently been practised.
Smash Maths is a unique weekly practise for all children in Year 1-6.
8 questions each week where children cover all aspects of the maths curriculum every week, not just the topic they are currently focusing on in class. This spiral gives the opportunity to revisit and apply previous learning helping to embed learning retention.
Some of the language that the children may use at home when talking about their mathematical learning will include basic terms such as addition or subtraction, but they may also use terms that you are unsure of. Here is a helpful maths glossary for parents which is packed full of the everyday phrases and terms that your children will encounter at school.