Mathematics

Mathematics at St Philip Howard:

Our intent for mathematics at St Philip Howard School is for children to achieve mastery and to develop a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts. Teachers will have high expectations of all children.

Children across the school will :-

Have fun exploring and investigating number in practical ways
Be positive about their mathematical skills
Have secure knowledge
Learn the importance of accuracy
Have opportunities to apply their skills across the curriculum and in their daily lives

As a result children will develop fluency, confidence and resilience in mathematics, they will have a “can do” attitude and lots of fun and positivity on their journey towards excellence.

How do we do this?

For a number of years we have been using HfL's Essential Maths planning. At the start of 2022-23 academic year we introduced Mastering Number (NCETM) in Reception to Year 2. (Due to Covid recovery our Year 3's have also used the programme in 2022/23.) Since Sept 2020 members of staff have been involved in the Teaching for Mastery work group and staff training across the school has been based on the NCETM materials. All staff are using NCETM planning supported by White Rose. NCETM planning is based on the Mastery approach where the steps are small, this works well with our current cohort. In 2023/24 we were part of the pilot programme of Mastering Number which was created to address multiplicative reasoning for Years 4 and 5.

What is teaching for mastery?

Mastering maths means pupils of all ages acquiring a deep, long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of the subject. The phrase ‘teaching for mastery’ describes the elements of classroom practice and school organisation that combine to give pupils the best chances of mastering maths. Achieving mastery means acquiring a solid enough understanding of the maths that’s been taught to enable pupils to move on to more advanced material.

Impact

The impact on our children is clear: progress, sustained learning and transferable skills. Our children understand the importance of Mathematics to access all areas of life and daily living, and build their skills to support their understanding of the world around them.

Assessment in Mathematics is on going. Teachers assess as they work through each topic and at the end, giving the children opportunities to apply their learning.

Curriculum Enhancements

Year 3 Maths Challenge Summer 2025

Our fabulous team of four children from Year 3 managed to get through to the Final of the the Year 3 Maths Challenge. There were around 100 teams involved and 30 teams went through to the final. The children worked well as a team and listened to each others ideas.

Year 3 Problem solving with Oakview School (May 2025)

The Year 3 children had the opportunity to work alongside their peers from Oakview School to collaborate, share ideas and solve mathematical problems.

Year 4 Maths Challenge ( May 2025) Update They made the final on 21st May. Well Done to the team.

Well done to the Year 4 children who took part in the maths challenge. They worked excellently as a team and did their very best to answer all the questions. They did find the estimation round quite tricky.

Year 6 children's collaborative maths lesson with Oakview School (March 2025)

10 children from our Year 6 classes went over to Oakview School to have a maths lesson together. Our children paired up with Year 6 children from Oakview and they enjoyed working collaboratively and problem solving together.

Year 5 Maths Challenge 2025

February 27th 2025

Our Year 5 Maths team worked excellently as a team, supporting and guiding one another as well as checking each others calculations.

Year 4 Maths Challenge

On 29th April 2024 the Year 4 children took on their challenge. They worked well as a team and rose to the challenge. We will find out later in May if we have made the final.

Year 5 Maths Challenge

On 7th February 2024 a group of Year 5's took part in the Year 5 Maths Challenge alongside lots of other Hertfordshire schools. They did extremely well and came second in their heat. They are through to the final round - well done!

We are very proud of our Year 5 pupils who did extremely well in the final. They worked well as a team and came in 10th place out of a total of 250 schools.

Pupil Voice - What does it mean to be a good mathematician today?

Maths Apps to support your child's Learning

The school has subscribed to Times Table Rockstars (Key Stage 2 ) and Numbots (Reception and Key Stage 1). The children all have a personal log-in.

The link for signing in can be found on the school website https://sphoward.greenhousecms.co.uk/Class-Pages/

We recommend using MyMaths, an app/website that we provide login details for.

On MyMaths you can access objective related to your child's learning at school. Some classes will have specific activities set, but you are also able to access other areas of learning that your child feels they need more practise on. Feel free to look at previous year groups if you need to go back a step.

We recommend 1Minute Maths by White Rose (phone app).

This focuses on fluency in addition, subtraction and subitising for Early Years and Key Stage 1 and multiplication and division for Key Stage 2.

We also recommend Sushi Monster by Scholastic (app)

Players solve a series of addition and multiplication maths problems. Again this is great to improve fluency.