A Mastery Approach to Maths

At West Park Primary School we are invested in providing first class maths education for each and every child. In order to achieve this we have adopted the Maths Mastery approach. Together with the support from the NCETM and SHaW maths, all staff have had extensive training and professional development over the past two years to enable them to develop their practice to support the Mastery approach. Two members of our teachers are Mastery specialist teachers and I, as subject lead, am currently working with ShaW Maths Hub to support other schools, as well as being trained as a PD lead by the NCETM. - A. Kabil

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We have high expectations for every child. Teaching for mastery in Maths is essentially the expectation that all pupils will gain a deep understanding of the maths they are learning. For understanding in maths to be secure, learning needs to be built on solid foundations.

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A mastery approach to the curriculum means pupils spend far longer on fewer key mathematical concepts whilst working at greater depth. Long term gaps in learning are prevented through speedy teacher intervention and those children who grasp the concepts more quickly are given opportunities to deepen their knowledge and improve their reasoning skills rather than accelerating on to new curriculum content.

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Problem solving is central and opportunities are given for pupils to calculate with confidence, ensuring an understanding of why it works so that pupils understand what they are doing rather than just learning to repeat routines without grasping what is happening.

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Please view the PowerPoint -Maths Mastery guide for parents- to get a deeper insight in to the Mastery approach at West Park.

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