Mathematics at St John's 

Our Intent for mathematics     Wonder 

It is our intent that, through our mathematics curriculum, pupils at St John’s CE Primary School become fluent in mathematics are able both to solve problems and to reason mathematically.

 Our mathematics curriculum at St John’s follows the demands of the 2014 National Curriculum. Pupils have the opportunity to engage with concepts in the abstract, in a real-life context and as legitimate problem-solving activities. To support this we use the 'White Rose Maths' scheme of learning as a basis for our maths planning and delivery.

White Rose follows the 

Concrete - Pictorial - Abstract 

approach to teaching maths.

• Concrete is the 'doing' stage using concrete objects to solve problems.
• Pictorial or 'seeing stage' uses representations of objects to solve problems. This helps children make the connection between the physical object and abstract levels of understanding, which is the stage they move onto next.
• Abstract is the stage brings in mathematical symbols, for example +, -, x, ÷ to indicate addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

The emphasis, initially, is on mental calculation skills, but progresses to the written strategies that children are expected to become fluent in. Our children, as they learn mathematics, acquire fluency in procedures and develop a conceptual understanding of the mathematics they use, selecting from this knowledge to solve increasingly complex problems.