Maths at Sparhawk
At Sparhawk Infant and Nursery School we strive for excellence in everything we do. We seek for our children to be independent curious mathematical learners who can articulate, reflect and reason. We adopt a positive mindset and a can-do attitude which celebrates achievement and understands the immense opportunity mistakes can bring. We believe that with every mistake comes a chance to learn, reflect and grow.
We aim to immerse our children in a rich and progressive skills-based curriculum. We are currently embarking on our journey with NCETM (National Centre for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics). This looks at the Mastery approach which has been widely
adopted throughout the country and indeed worldwide. Maths mastery is a concept in which children will take small steps within their learning to acquire a deep long term secure and adaptable understanding of the subject. Achieving mastery means having solid understanding to progress confidently onto more advanced material.
We believe that Mathematics is a vital part of our children’s education and therefore place a huge importance on giving each child a strong number sense in the early years. This is achieved through a balance of free flow, child centred, play based learning and some discrete teaching of important problem solving skills. Thus giving each child the opportunity to explore maths in a real life, concrete, purposeful and fun way, both indoors and outdoors.
Throughout all of our Maths teaching we ensure children enjoy the challenge maths presents. We want children to become confident mathematicians, understanding the importance of the skills and subject they are learning and how this relates to their life outside of school. We achieve this using a range of methods, including the latest research, songs, rhymes and resources. We aspire for our children to become fluent in their approach to maths, the ability to make connections in their learning and be able to reason their thinking and to be confident, adaptable flexible problem solvers.
