Maths
At Meadow View, we are fully committed to delivering the National Curriculum.
Please click below for more information.
Mathematics is an interconnected subject that is essential to everyday life which is necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment. A high-quality mathematics education therefore provides a foundation for understanding the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.
At Meadow View JMI School we are committed to the delivery teaching of Maths to the highest standard. We aim to ensure our children become competent mathematicians. We believe that learning builds from a concrete understanding of concepts where children are manipulating objects. When children are able to see concepts this way, they then need to understand the same concepts represented pictorially. Children are then ready for abstract representation before being able to apply their knowledge to different situations.
We encourage our children at Meadow View to communicate their understanding of maths through verbal and written explanations to clarify their thoughts. We also believe that mental maths, number bonds, times tables facts and fluency of strategies is of great importance in order for children to become competent mathematicians.
The daily maths lesson is appropriate for almost all pupils and the teaching of mathematics at Meadow View is geared towards enabling each pupil to develop their learning without labelling them by ability. Work is appropriately differentiated to meet the needs of individual pupils including Special Educational Needs and higher attaining children. Resources are therefore differentiated, modified and used imaginatively to support or challenge learning, and Teaching Assistants play a valuable part in supporting the effective delivery of daily mathematics lessons for all pupils.
At Meadow View, we follow a mastery approach to the teaching of mathematics as Mastery is a journey and long-term goal, achieved through exploration, clarification, practice and application over time. At each stage of learning, pupils should be encouraged to demonstrate a deep, concrete understanding of the topic and be able to build on this over time. This is not about just being able to memorise key facts and procedures, as this tends to lead to superficial understanding that can easily be forgotten. Pupils should be able to select which mathematical approach is most effective in different scenarios.
A mathematical concept or skill has been mastered when a pupil can represent it in multiple ways, has the mathematical language to communicate related ideas, and can independently apply the concept to new problems in unfamiliar situations.
Objects, pictures, words, numbers and symbols are everywhere. The mastery approach incorporates all of these to help pupils explore and demonstrate mathematical ideas, enrich their learning experience and deepen understanding. Together, these elements help cement knowledge so pupils truly understand what they’ve learnt.
All pupils, when introduced to a key new concept, will have the opportunity to build competency in this topic by taking a fluency, reasoning and problem solving approach, which is underpinned by a concrete, pictorial and abstract approach. Objects and pictures are used to demonstrate and visualise abstract ideas, alongside numbers and symbols.