Mathematics is a creative and highly inter-connected discipline that has been developed over centuries, providing the solution to some of history’s most intriguing problems. It is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment. A high-quality mathematics education therefore provides a foundation for understanding the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.
(National Curriculum 2014)
The purpose of mathematics at Gilbrook is to develop:-
- positive attitudes towards the subject and awareness of the relevance of mathematics in the real world,
- competence and confidence in using and applying mathematical knowledge, concepts and skills,
- an ability to solve problems, to reason, to think logically and to work systematically and accurately,
- initiative and motivation to work both independently and in co-operation with others,
- confident communication of maths where pupils ask and answer questions, openly share work and learn from mistakes,
- an ability to use and apply mathematics across the curriculum and in real life,
- an understanding of mathematics through a process of enquiry and investigation.
At Gilbrook we aim to provide a stimulating and exciting learning environment that takes account of different learning styles and individual additional needs and uses appropriate resources to maximise teaching & learning. We use the White Rose Maths Hub schemes of learning to plan our lessons. These schemes provide teachers with exemplification for maths objectives which are broken down into fluency, reasoning and problem solving (key aims of the National Curriculum). They support a mastery approach to teaching and learning and have number at their heart. White Rose supports the ideal of depth of knowledge before breadth. It supports pupils working both individually and as a group and provides plenty of time to build reasoning and problem solving elements into the curriculum.