In St. Joseph’s we strive to ensure that Mathematics work is meaningful and purposeful as we wish pupils to feel confident and competent when using Mathematics as a tool to help make sense of the world and to help solve problems. The children are given opportunities to engage in practical work utilising relevant materials and equipment, this being considered essential as the basis for the acquisition of the key concepts in the subject. Once an understanding has been gained, we work towards ensuring the children have fluent recall of fundamental number facts and relationships that are the foundation of future work in Mathematics.  Much of the focus within classes is to enable children develop their mental maths capacity and skills.  This is also encouraged at home.  This is further enhanced through the development of Word Problems and Investigations.  Our staff have been accessing training in this area to ensure they are equipped with the most up to date strategies to help children learn in the classroom.

Numeracy is the development and application of mathematics across the curriculum and in real life situations. Skills in numeracy should help children to make informed and responsible choices and decisions throughout their lives. Throughout primary school, children engage in a wide range of purposeful activities which should involve them in different modes of mathematical learning, including playing, exploring and investigating, doing and observing, talking and listening, asking questions, reflecting, drafting, reading and recording.

Numeracy is the development and application of mathematics across the curriculum. It is a life skill used in making everyday decisions and in virtually every work context. We use skills in numeracy to plan our time, handle money, manage our own budgets, organise our homes and carry out DIY tasks. We are often confronted with data, frequently statistical, through television, radio and the press. Increasingly, adults are required to use numeracy skills in the workplace.

We in St. Joseph’s have partnered with post-primaries in West Belfast to ensure children are equipped with the best tuition and skills needed to progress in Mathematics.

Building on children’s earlier experiences

Children will have developed a range of mathematical skills and understanding at home, in the community and in the Foundation Stage. They will also have some understanding of mathematical concepts and be able to use some mathematical language to describe their work. Children should be allowed to continue to learn at their own individual pace and given time to develop and consolidate their understanding of mathematics. In the early years they will have developed and applied much of their mathematical skills during play. They should continue to be involved in play activities which allow them to develop and apply their mathematical understanding in practical contexts.

Mathematics across the curriculum

Language and Literacy - by reading and interpreting statistical data and by discussing mathematical ideas; planning work, explaining thinking, presenting outcomes and evaluating work;

The Arts - by seeing and hearing patterns and by observing and making shapes; by developing musical notation skills; through creating pictures and models;

The World Around Us - by interpreting statistical data and using it to solve problems using measurement, shape, space and estimation in the world around them;

Personal Development and Mutual Understanding - by using statistical data to inform personal and social decisions; by knowing what they can do in mathematics and persevere and work with confidence;

Physical Education - by using number, shape and space, measures and data to enhance the quality and variety of movements, to measure and record performance and to collect, analyse and interpret data, for example, pulse rates.