We are a Maths Hub School
We are really proud to be linked with the NW1 Maths Hub to improve the enjoyment, outcomes and participation in mathematics education at St Anthony’s.
EYFS Mastering Number
In Reception, we use the Mastering Number programme from the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) as our daily maths lesson. We endeavor to secure firm foundations in the development of good number sense for all children in Reception through Mastering Number as part of their daily carpet sessions daily, that feed in to the wider provision. Year 1 and Year 2 have a daily ‘Fluency and Skills’ sessions using Mastering Number in addition to their daily Maths lesson. Over the year, the children will experience using a range of resources and representations, including a small abacus-like piece of equipment called a rekenrek.. The aim over time is that children will leave KS1 with fluency in calculation and a confidence and flexibility with number. Attention has been given to key knowledge and understanding needed in Reception classes, and progression through KS1 to support success in the future.
Key Stage 1 & 2 – Power Maths
At St. Anthony’s Catholic Primary School, we use Power Maths as a basis of our maths lessons. At the heart of Power Maths is the belief that all children can achieve. It rejects the idea that people simply ‘can’t do’ maths. It is built around hard work, practice and a willingness to see mistakes as learning opportunities.
The Power Maths teaching model:
- The curriculum is broken down into core concepts, taught in units e.g. addition and subtraction, multiplication and division, shape, statistics etc.
- Each unit is then divided into small learning steps – lessons
- Each lesson is sequenced in the same format:
- Power Up – Discover – Journaling – Guided Practice – Independent Practice – Reflect
POWER UP!
- We begin each maths lesson with a ‘Power Up’ activity designed to support fluency in all key number facts (this is sometimes substituted with a Tough Ten activity)
- Power Ups reinforce the two key things that are essential for success: times tables and number bonds
Discover
- The ‘Discover’ part of the lesson kicks off the core concept being taught in the lesson.
- It is a practical real-life problem that the children work in pairs to try to solve.It is encouraged that children use concrete objects during this part of the lesson and gives them time to play, explore and discuss possible strategies
Journaling
- The ‘Journaling’ section allows the children to share and celebrate their solutions and strategies that they used to solve the problem from the ‘Discover’ section.
- The online toolkit shows how the concrete apparatus that the children used to explore the math concept, can then be explored using pictures.
- ‘Journaling’ is the “seeing” stage. It encourages the children to make a mental connection between the physical object they just handled and the abstract pictures, diagrams or models that represent the objects from the problem.
Guided Practice
- This section of the lesson allows children to explore new problems using the mathematical strategies they have learnt from the ‘Journaling’ section.
- The questions promote child independence and an ‘I can’ attitude by following an ‘I do, We do, You do approach’
Independent Practice
- The children have their own practice book and they work independently, following the same learning that has been explored through the ‘Discover’, ‘Share’, ‘Think Together’ sections.
- The questions in the practice book follow small steps of progression in order to deepen their learning.
Reflect
- This section allows the teacher the opportunity to check children’s understanding and how deeply the children have understood the maths concept being taught and offer the opportunity to extend learning through a challenge.
TT Rockstars
To support our children to learn and become confident with their times tables, KS2 use a website called ‘Times Tables Rockstars’ (TT Rockstars). The website contains lots of games with a rock star theme which support the children to recall times tables facts and increase their speed when answering these questions.
The children all have their own avatar and earn coins for correct answers so that they can buy their avatar new things. We use TT Rockstars in lessons during the week and also advise children to practise as part of homework (Battle of the Bands).
When they first login, your child will choose their own rock star name and design their own avatar before starting to practise. There are two single player modes to play:
- Garage – this is the main mode the children should play. The questions wil only come from the times tables that the teacher has set. As pupils start to answer questions, TT Rock Stars works out which facts they take longer on and will give them more of these questions to answer.
- Studio – these questions can be anything from 2 x 2 to 12 x 12. TT Rock Stars calculates the mean speed from their last 10 games in the Studio and translates this into a Rock Status.
There are also multi-player modes:
- Rock Arena – this allows players to compete against all other members of their Band or Class (their band mates would need to join the same game in order to complete together).
- Rock Festival – this is open to players from all around the world. The questions are selected at random from 2 x 2 to 12 x 12.
If you would like any more information about how to help your child with their times tables, then please speak to their class teacher.