Here at the Edron Academy we have recently made a decision to switch to a new teaching and learning scheme in our Maths curriculum. You may wonder why. Why change what isn’t broken? What was wrong with the way I learnt it? Can’t some things just stay the same? And most importantly; How will I support my child at home now?
When I learnt maths, I learnt it for rote memorisation. Sure, I knew the answers, but did I actually understand what was happening with the numbers or why I got to the answer I did? No way. I just knew that 4×5 was 20 or that when I was going to add together 2 4-digit numbers I should use the column method.
When I was studying to be a teacher, I had to re-learn how to learn (and teach maths) and it was challenging, but now I understand why 4×5 is 20. I understand the numbers and what they do, I understand the groupings, I can tell you at least 3 ways to solve the problem and I can make up my own word problems for maths, in essence, I now have mastery.
The introduction of Maths No Problem in the Junior school came about after discussions with teachers and analysis of our progress within year levels. It was visible that students understood basic concepts but when asked to apply their understanding to new tasks or problems they were unable to. Maths for Mastery allows students to apply their knowledge and understanding to multiple scenarios. From research that has been conducted (Mastery Explained, n.d.) Maths Mastery programmes are having a significant, positive impact at a number of levels. Teachers are becoming more knowledgeable about, and skilled at, their craft; classroom practice is changing in ways designed to help pupils develop deeper understanding; and there is evidence that students are understanding content more deeply.
Although Maths No Problem has only begun its initial roll out phase all staff know that this is a whole school approach, working together to improve our own knowledge as well as the students. In the classroom it has been seen that children communicate a high level of positivity, engagement, enjoyment and enthusiasm for mathematics. Some Key Stage 1 students like ‘feeling their brain work’. This then encourages students’ participation, class discussions and subsequently vocabulary development. A win-win.
Schools who use an impactful Mastery approach have been found by Ofsted (Mastery Explained, n.d.) to have teachers who possess excellent knowledge about their subject areas and work very professionally to support colleagues in developing their own knowledge, skills and understanding. This level of support is particularly strong in mathematics, where ways of working are embedded well in every classroom. Staff continuously reflect upon, and improve, their own practice. As a result, pupils are making very strong progress in mathematics and have very positive attitudes to learning.
Now to the most important topic that has kept you reading for so long; how to support your child at home with their Maths?
The most important thing is to keep it fun and engaging- students who are younger than 7 shouldn’t be spending more than 15 minutes doing extra maths work. Practise with fun things around the home- how many groups of cutlery will we need to set the table? How many pieces will there be altogether? Wow, we just completed a multiplication! Can they help with shopping in the market? Adding together prices, weighing different fruits and vegetables, finding the most expensive packets of biscuits!
For older children it may be a little more focused, can students explain to you what they learnt each day? What does it look like when written into an equation? Is there more than one way to solve this problem? For example, a student has been given a 5-digit addition to solve, there are many ways to do this! Column addition (the one we all know), partitioning, using an inverse operation, using a number line. Can they do all of these? Can they tell you which method they like best and why? Can they create their own questions for you to answer- they can even teach you how to do it.
As long as it’s fun and engaging with lots of opportunities to talk about why and how the numbers are changing.
To summarise, using a Maths for Mastery approach will create engaged learners, have a long-term positive impact on how our students think about maths, allow our students to feel more successful and overall raise our progress. Who can argue with that?
References
(n.d.). Maths – No Problem! Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://mathsnoproblem.com/
Mastery Explained. (n.d.). NCETM. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://www.ncetm.org.uk/teaching-for-mastery/mastery-explained/
Polak, D. (2020, January 31). A Teacher’s Guide to Using the Mastery Approach. True Education Partnerships. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://www.trueeducationpartnerships.com/schools/a-teachers-guide-to-using-the-mastery-approach-in-the-classroom/
Karissa Karen Pimm
Primary Teacher
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.