Teaching Maths for Mastery

Teaching Maths for Mastery
The whole class works through the programme of study at the same pace with ample time on each topic before moving on. Ideas are revisited at higher levels as the curriculum spirals through the years.

Differentiated Activities
Tasks and activities are designed to be easy for pupils to enter while still containing challenging components. For advanced learners, the textbooks also contain non-routine questions for pupils to develop their higher-order thinking skills. In addition, we use mastery and greater depth tasks in order to further challenge pupils. We label tasks as ‘mild’, ‘spicy’ and ‘hot’ (with Inferno as an extra challenge when required) and encourage children to choose their tasks to develop independence and challenge for all.

Problem Solving
Lessons and activities are designed to be taught using problem-solving approaches to encourage pupils’ higher-level thinking. The focus is on working with pupils’ core competencies, building on what they know to develop their relational understanding, based on Richard Skemp’s work.

Concrete Pictorial Abstract (CPA) Approach
Based on Jerome Bruner’s work, pupils learn new concepts initially using concrete examples, such as counters, then progress to drawing pictorial representations before finally using more abstract symbols, such as the equals sign.

Useful websites for developing maths mastery