In response to the new curriculum and developing a mastery approach to Mathematics we are using the ‘Maths No Problem!’ textbooks in Year 1, starting from September 2016. This will be rolled out to future year groups in subsequent years. Staff across the school have been developing a mastery approach to teaching Mathematics, whereby every child is given the time to fully master each concept, before moving on, ensuring success for all learners. Children spend most lessons solving problems and working with concrete apparatus to fully understand abstract mathematical concepts. They work in workbooks and use journaling to document their thinking and reasoning: a key feature of every lesson. The textbooks are based on a highly successful model used in Singapore and have been specially written for the UK curriculum.

Why Singapore Maths?

The Singapore curriculum for Mathematics has consistently produced excellent results. Singapore is at the top of the charts in international comparisons of educational systems such as TIMSS and PIRLS. The textbooks and workbooks are used successfully in over 30 countries around the world.

Students can underperform in Mathematics because they find it boring or they can’t remember the rules. The Singapore method of teaching Mathematics develops pupils’ mathematical ability and confidence without have ing to resort to memorising procedures to pass tests – making Mathematics more engaging and interesting.

Key features of this approach to teaching:

• Emphasis on problem solving and comprehension: children relate what they learn and connect knowledge
• Careful scaffolding of core competencies:
  • visualisation, as a platform for comprehension
  • mental strategies, to develop decision-making abilities
  • pattern recognition, to support the ability to make connections and generalise
• Emphasis on the foundations for learning and not on the content itself so children learn to think mathematically as opposed to merely reciting formulas or procedures