Vision

At St. John’s, we recognise mathematics as a tool for children where they learn skills that will stay with them forever. The skill of counting, noticing patterns, problem-solving, measurement and so many more can be applied to their everyday life and is an integral part of St. John’s curriculum. In becoming independent, inquisitive, confident and successful learners, children will learn through investigations, problem-solving and questioning to make Mathematics come to life!

How we teach Maths at St. John’s

At St. John’s we provide children a multitude of opportunities to explore their mathematics abilities and encourage them to become resilient in their learning by setting challenges that inspire their curiosity and creative thinking. In Early Years Foundation Stage, children gain a deep understanding of numbers to 10 and develop a strong grounding of number using lots of different manipulatives. Children develop their spatial reasoning skills in areas of mathematics including shape, space and measures through teacher-led opportunities and within their continuous provision, which encourages all children to have a go. From Year 1, children gain further understanding of number and place value, the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division), geometry, fractions and measurement. In Key Stage 1, the maths curriculum is delivered through a CPA Approach (Concrete, Pictorial and Abstract). Their learning journey starts with concrete practice, using a range of different manipulatives, as we understand children enjoy learning through experience. Then pictorially, which allows children to draw counters, tens and ones, and more to help them gain a deeper understanding of their learning, before moving onto the abstract, which is the written representation of maths. We build on children’s prior knowledge using the clear learning sequences provided by the Essential Herts for Learning Scheme.