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Last week I took the opportunity to share some detailed information about our approach to teaching reading. This week, I would like to shine a spotlight on 💡 Maths. For some, the prospect of helping your child with Maths can be daunting. Why has Maths changed so much since I was at school? Why do we teach Maths in a certain way? What is Place Value and why is it so important? Is learning all the times tables really that important? Throughout Primary we have a Mastery approach to Maths, but what does this mean?
As a school we are very conscious of the fact that a strong home-school partnership has a significant positive impact on outcomes. Therefore, this week I would like to try to answer some of the questions you may have about Maths. I would like to share information in order to further strengthen this collaborate approach.
Beginning in Early Years, teaching involves more than helping children to rote count and learn the numerals. It involves helping them to understand the meaning of each number and the different ways they can be represented.
Mathematical fluency is impossible without number sense.
Mrs Davidson and the Reception team held a parent workshop this week providing detailed answers to the key questions around Maths. Thank you to those parents who attended and we know from the feedback that you found the session to be informative.
Parents can access the full presentation using the link below, with more details about the following elements:
➡️ Noticing
➡️ Sorting & Classifying
➡️ Subitising
➡️ Perceptual & Conceptual Subitising
➡️ Five & Ten Frames
So has Maths changed?
We understand that many parents feel like Maths has changed and that it’s sometimes difficult to keep up to date with modern teaching methods. We have teamed up with White Rose Maths to create a mini series to help parents with the methods we use in school when teaching Maths concepts. We hope that these will be helpful, alongside printable resources to accompany each video.
Maths: A Deeper Dive...
We know students really enjoy their Maths learning at ISB. We also know that parents value the experience of visiting our classrooms virtually through Seesaw. We have written a lot about the way we teach Maths in Primary, and I would like to take a bit of a deeper dive into some of the more complex theory behind what we do.
In the article above we aim to answer the following key questions:
➡️ Motivation and Achievement: which comes first?
➡️ Why so prescriptive with your Maths teaching?
➡️ Why don't you simply teach problem solving skills?
➡️ Is it better to struggle or be shown the answer?
These are complex questions and come with complex answers. My hope is that sharing these detailed explanations with parents means there is a greater understanding and increase in confidence when it comes to what we do and why.
It's been a busy week... 🤩
This week Pre Kindy have been doing laundry and having picnics with friends, Kindy have been having lots of fun in the rain and writing notes, Reception have been creating self-portraits and getting very messy, Year 1 have been learning all about their sense of sight in Science, Year 2 have been working with number lines, Year 3 have been writing detailed instructions, Year 4 have been categorising using their scientific knowledge, Year 5 have been investigating gravity and Year 6 have asked: is yeast a living microorganism? 🧫
We are delighted with the continued progress students of all ages are making in every aspect of the curriculum. If you would like more detailed information relating to anything referenced in this message, please do not hesitate to message in Seesaw.
Mr Michael Everett | Head of Primary