How we teach mathematics The mastery approach

The mastery approach The content underpinning the 2014 mathematics curriculum reflect those found in high performing education systems internationally, particularly Singapore, Japan, China and South Korea where on average, by the age of 15, students from these countries are up to 3 years ahead of those from England. The approach of teaching maths used in these countries is known as ‘mastery’. Mastering maths means acquiring a deep, long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of the subject. Achieving mastery in an area of maths is taken to mean acquiring a solid enough understanding of the maths that’s been taught to enable the child to move on to more advanced material. (NCETM 2017)

Principles and features of the mastery approach Expectation that all pupils are capable of achieving high standards in maths. Large majority of pupils progress through the curriculum content at the same pace. Teaching is underpinned by methodical curriculum design and supported by carefully crafted lessons and resources to foster conceptual and procedural knowledge. Practise and consolidation play a central role. Carefully designed variation builds fluency and understanding of mathematical concepts. Teachers use precise questioning to test conceptual and procedural knowledge. Teacher assess pupils regularly to identify those requiring additional support/intervention so that all pupils keep up. Pupils who are not sufficiently fluent should consolidate their understanding through additional practise before moving on. Pupils who grasp concepts quickly should be challenged through rich and sophisticated problems before any acceleration to new content. Key facts, such as multiplication tables and addition/subtraction facts within 10, are learnt to automaticity to avoid cognitive overload in the working memory.

What does this look like at Roundhay? 4 carefully crafted maths lessons each week focusing on intelligent practice and progression of a concept through: Procedural fluency Varied fluency Problem solving and reasoning Pre-teaching of a concept to identified children who may need additional support. Same day intervention for children who found the concept challenging in the lesson. Greater depth challenges for children who grasp the concept quickly. Some children may require more formal intervention in order to consolidate understanding of concepts from previous year groups.

What does this look like at Roundhay? 1 lesson each week focusing on problem solving and reasoning on previously taught content. 4 ‘masters of arithmetic’ lessons each week focusing on basic arithmetic skills to develop automaticity. Weekly ‘low stakes quizzes’ in arithmetic and problem solving for regular assessment and to force retention. Times table (basic arithmetic) mission Pre and post unit assessments Termly formal assessments

Intelligent practice Procedural fluency Varied fluency In order for the children to become ‘masters’, teachers use an ‘I do, you do’ approach to scaffold understanding. Children then practise the concept through procedural fluency activities followed by varied fluency activities. Procedural fluency Present questions in a specific order so that children make connections e.g.. 2 digit number + 10s 13 + 10 23 + 10 23 + 20 58 + 20 58 + 40 25 + 40 Varied fluency Present questions to children in all the possible ways that you can think of.

Concrete – pictorial – abstract exposing the structure of mathematics

The importance of vocabulary Mastery maths places a great emphasis on the use of accurate mathematical vocabulary and children answering questions in full sentences. A complete national curriculum mathematical glossary is available online and the key vocabulary for addition and subtraction each year group is on the school calculation policy.