Maths
Teaching and Learning
At St John's we deliver a high quality Mastery Curriculum in Mathematics which, in turn, 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. Since the introduction of the Mastery approach in 2019, we have adapted our teaching and learning to follow the new developments and our policies coincide with this. At St John's we follow the White Rose Scheme.
Mastering Maths means acquiring a deep, long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of the subject. At any one point in a pupil’s journey through school, achieving mastery is taken to mean acquiring a solid enough understanding of the maths that’s been taught to enable him/her move on to more advanced material.
Some people confuse mastery with Greater Depth. This is not the case, they are two very different things. All children in our school have access to a Mastery curriculum which is based on the idea of ensuring all children have 'mastered' their Mathematics and secured a deepened understanding (as mentioned above). Greater Depth refers to pupils who show a higher level of understanding for an area or aspect of learning and are able to challenge themselves further with new concepts and ideas.
Leadership of Maths
Our Maths lead receives training and support via Boolean Maths Hub. Part of her role involves supporting teachers with training and development to ensure they have the right knowledge and skills to deliver high quality maths lessons. This ensures that our children's maths lessons have a high impact on outcomes.
The Maths Hubs Programme brings together mathematics education professionals in a collaborative national network of 40 hubs, each locally led by a school or college, to develop and spread excellent practice, for the benefit of all pupils and students.
The Lead School for the hub is Bristol Metropolitan Academy (coordinated by the CLF Institute).
The Hub provides determined support for all schools/colleges to improve:
- the teaching of mathematics
- the leadership of mathematics
- the school’s mathematics curriculum
Maths at Home
We encourage children in Key Stage 1 to practice maths at home using Numbots. Numbots educational games are a great way for children to practise maths skills while playing fun, maths-related games against classmates.
The children have an individual username and password.
Please see the information below.
If your child has misplaced their login details, please email the school office at office@stjohnsglastonbury.school
In addition to this, we also send home Key Instant Recall Facts (KIRFs). Each half term, children are given KIRFs to practise and learn at home as well as the work in school. These sheets include practical ideas for parents and carers to assist children in grasping the key facts. It is important that children know these thoroughly and can recall specific facts instantly.
KIRFs (Key Instant Recall Facts) have been designed to support the development of the mental skills that underpin much of the maths work in school. They are particularly useful when calculating, be it adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing. An important part of maths development has always been rote learning of certain numeracy facts.