Our vision – Maths Mastery
At Luton Primary School, we passionately believe that every child can excel in maths and are devoted to ensuring our children leave primary school with a sound understanding of the fundamentals of mathematics. We aspire to help each child develop a love of maths and aim to create an environment that fosters an enjoyment and curiosity of the subject and helps them to become confident mathematicians.
We provide our children with deep and meaningful learning experiences that explore mathematical concepts deeply through the new approach to mathematics we have recently embarked on - Maths Mastery. Through this new approach, children in Luton will achieve a deeper understanding of maths, enabling to make connections between various mathematical concepts and solve problems both systematically and creativity. Teaching using the mastery approach has inclusivity at its’ core. In maths lesson at Luton, the whole class moves through topics and concepts at the same pace. We spend longer amounts of time on key mathematical topics and concepts to give all learners the opportunity to practice, explore the concept in depth and provide any interventions in a timely and effective manner. We believe and aspire to ensure that all leaners, with the right support and scaffolding, access and understand the full mathematics curriculum and are committed to ensuring that no child is left behind.
The core concepts teachers take into consideration when planning maths lessons are the ‘Big Five Ideas’ of Maths Mastery outlined by the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics:
- Fluency
- Representation and Structures
- Cohesion
- Variation
- Mathematical thinking
Power Maths
New to Luton Primary School this academic year, we have embraced a new and exciting maths programme called Power Maths to support our teaching from Reception to Year 6. This programme is unpinned by the core values of maths mastery, is fully aligned with the National Curriculum and is recommended by the Department of Education. Power Maths is a whole-class, mastery-based resource that, through a growth mind-set approach, empowers every child to succeed.
What does a lesson look like?
Throughout children’s mathematical learning journey in Luton, they are encouraged to solve problem each day using a concrete, pictorial, abstract approach which is fluid. Children are first introduced to an idea or skill through a variety of methods include acting it with real objects/equipment allowing children to see and understand maths in the real world. They then relate the ‘hands on’ representation to a picture of diagram of the problem with goal to enable children to represent problems using mathematical notations supported by a solid foundation and understanding.
Individual lessons are divided into 5 clear sections that encourage mathematical discovery and thinking, sharing and collaboration as well as intelligent practice and reflection. Informed by research in exploring the best practice in maths teaching, a lesson can be broken down into the following sections:
Discover – children embark on their learning for the lesson. They are encouraged to think mathematically to solve a problem, often a real-life situation, puzzle, or game. The discover section is an engaging and fun way for children to explore mathematics.
Share - the class share their ideas comparing and discussing different way to solve the problem. Teachers encourage children to explain their reasoning often drawing upon the concrete and pictorial approach. From here, children begin to develop their understanding of the concept with support from the teacher.
Think together – from here, children are aiming to reach Accelerated Progress or Destination Celebration with their learning by exploring the concept even further. Teachers can build on and develop secure foundations, identify any children who have hit a bumpy road and support them to get back on track. Teachers and teaching assistances are also able to solve misconceptions (ensuring no child is left behind) and challenged children to apply their understanding in different ways with increasing independence.
Practice – children are given the opportunity to practice individually, in small groups or with a teacher support their new learning. This allows children to develop their mathematical skills and build confidence.
Reflect – finally, children are allowed the time to reflect and record where they think they are on their learning journey and are given the chance to show how they have grasped the new learning explored in the lesson.
Growth Mindset
At the core of our vision to teach mathematics and enable all children to excel is the notion that all children can achieve and become successful through developing a growth mindset towards mathematics. Power maths promotes five child friendly characters (Ash, Flo, Dexter, Astrid, and Sparks) that grow with the children. Each of these characters models to the children their own positive skillset and to aim to inspire and motivate in every lesson.