St. Urban's Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy

Our Vision for Maths

Our mathematical vision is to deepen the children’s mathematical understanding through a mastery approach. We believe that every child can achieve excellence in mathematics.

Aims:

We aim that all pupils:

Become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, so that they develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.
Can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of problems with increasing sophistication, including in unfamiliar contexts and real-life scenarios.
Can reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry and develop and present a justification, argument or proof using mathematical language.

We endeavour to not only develop the mathematics skills and understanding required for later life, but also to foster an enthusiasm and fascination about maths itself. We aim to increase pupil confidence in maths so they are able to express themselves and their ideas using the language of maths with assurance. We want the children to see mathematics as being relevant to their world and applicable to everyday life as well as being something that they will need as they move on through their school life and ultimately to the world of employment.

Pupil Voice. November 2021.

We value the opinions of our children and hold informal discussions with them to hear their opinions on Maths. Three children from each class brought examples of work that they were proud of and were excited to talk about Maths in St Urban's.

The overwhelming opinion was that Maths is a well loved subject at St Urban's! All of the children asked said that they loved Maths, with many saying that Maths is their favourite subject! The things that the children most enjoyed included learning how to do calculations, group thinking and discussion time and working independently to solve problems. Our children are also resilient and are not afraid to persevere when things get a little difficult. When asked what they do when they get stuck, they responded that they, "Never give up!" The children also commented that they like to use equipment when they are stuck and like the teacher to give them hints. One thing they didn't want to happen was for the teacher just to tell them the answer - they were very keen to solve the problem by themselves.

Please click on the images below to see some of the work our children are most proud of!

Reasons for being proud of the work include:

" I worked really hard, even though I found it a bit tricky" - child in Y2.

"I got it all right without using my fingers." - child in Y2.

"I found it difficult, but I tried." - child in Y4.

"At first, I really didn't want to do the work because it was complicated but then when started to do it, I kept getting it right!" - child in Y4.

" I'm proud of my Reading and Interpreting tables work because I found when I got stuck, I just kept on trying. Then, when something didn't feel right, I just made sure I read the question again." - child in Y5.

"I'm proud of my Fluency Friday work because, even though I found it hard, I kept trying and got my best score!" - child in Y6.

"I'm proud of all of my work because I always try my best to get to the challenge sheet." - child in Y6.