At St. Peter’s our philosophy for maths is to encourage each child to develop an understanding and appreciation of:
• The formal rules and abstract concepts of Mathematics in an age appropriate manner.
• The use of Mathematics in terms of talking about and recording their ideas.
• The scientific nature of Mathematics in terms of making and testing hypotheses.
• The vocational nature of Mathematics in terms of preparing them for work.
• The ways in which Mathematics can be applied across the Curriculum.
• The enjoyment of Mathematics.
We use a variety of teaching and learning styles in mathematics. Our principle aim is to develop children’s knowledge, skills and understanding.
All children are encouraged to be active participants during whole class teaching. They are presented with a wide range of models and images to aid their understanding, such as number lines, bead strings, number squares, digit cards and small apparatus. Alongside concrete and pictorial representations, we teach mental strategies and formal written methods progressively throughout the school, in line with our school calculation procedure. The children learn in a fun and practical way which ensures they have a concrete understanding of concepts before moving on.
As well as secure arithmetic skills, the new curriculum requires children to demonstrate mathematical fluency through problem solving and reasoning. At St Peters, we provide children with opportunities to apply their knowledge to solve problems and deepen their understanding of concepts by encouraging mathematical talk to explain ‘why’.
Information on how we teach Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division can be found in the links below to our Progression in Calculation Policy.
- Progress in Calculation Policy – Intro
- Progress in Calculation Policy – Addition
- Progress in Calculation Policy – Subtraction
- Progress in Calculation Policy – Multiplication
- Progress in Calculation Policy – Division
Times Tables Expectations:
A list of the sequence in which we teach times tables at St Peters C of E Primary School is as follows:
| Year 1 & Year 2 | 2, 5, 10 |
| Year 3 | 2, 3, 5, 10 |
| Year 4 | 2, 5, 10, 4, 8, 3, 6, 11, 12, 7 |
| Year 5 & Year 6 | All of the above with revision / embedding and inverse operations (division) as well as square numbers |
How you can help your child at home: