At Sir John Heron we aim to achieve that every child is a confident and capable mathematician. We apply the principles of maths mastery to ensure children build a deep conceptual understanding of mathematics, which supports the children to find links in their learning so they can apply their knowledge and understanding in different situations. We foster a positive learning environment in which children are willing to take risks in their mathematics learning and develop their self efficacy to build their resilience, persevere and thrive on challenges. 

Early Years

Early Years is the first opportunity for us here at Sir John Heron to develop our children’s curiosity around mathematics. We provide the children with hands-on experiences relating to their interests to guide the children to make sense of number and numerical patterns as outlined in the Early Years Statutory Framework.  The teachers deliver a short, daily mathematics lesson and a weekly focused activity. Using the Development Matters Statements and the Early Learning Goals, we continually observe and assess children using age related objectives. This enables us to plan the next steps and create carefully planned activities for the children both inside and outside our provision. 

Key Stage One and Two 

Throughout Key Stage One and Two we follow the five big ideas in teaching for mastery: Coherence, Representation and structure, Mathematical thinking, Fluency and Variation. This ensures that our pupils are acquiring a deep, long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of the subject. Through a concrete, pictorial and abstract approach to teach concepts we ensure the children are provided with opportunities to apply skills in greater depth and in different scenarios through problem solving and reasoning. 

After each unit of mathematics is taught following the overview, the teacher assesses the children’s understanding using a post assessment. In addition to this, an assessment is carried out after every term to identify next steps. Throughout each lesson, the teachers uses careful planned questioning to assess the children’s understanding and to address any misconceptions.

We aim for our children to become confident mathematicians who have acquired the knowledge, skills and vocabulary necessary to progress to the next stage of their learning. To master a mathematical concept our children would be able to present it in different ways, explain their ideas using mathematical language and apply the concept in a different scenario. Ultimately, we aim for all children to enjoy mathematics and develop a positive attitude and resilience in their learning in which they’re not afraid to take risks and challenge themselves.