Teaching and learning » Mathematical development
“I love teaching Maths as I am excited by how quickly the children grasp new concepts”Kelly Elson, Head of Pre-Prep
Firstly it is taught in a very practical way by linking it to topic areas studied in the Foundation Phase. So for example if the topic being covered is “toys” and a toy shop is developed, maths will be taught through the discussion of money and sales and even profits made.
We also follow a programme called the “Abacus” maths scheme, which matches the Primary National Strategy. This scheme covers counting, partitioning, calculating, securing number facts, understanding shapes and processing, presenting and interpreting data and measures.
Children work through the maths programme with a series of work books which enable them to work at their own pace and for children who finish the course early they are moved on to more advanced work, which they would normally cover in Year 3 or Year 4.
We have great facilities to complement the teaching of maths including IT provision and interactive whiteboards in each classroom.
To keep the subject very dynamic in Pre-prep various maths based initiatives are held throughout the year. These include the visit of Mathemajicians and also a Maths Puzzle and Games day.
As well as linking mathematical development to topic areas, the Pre-Prep department also follows the Abacus maths scheme, which matches the Primary National Strategy. The scheme covers counting, partitioning, calculating, securing number facts, understanding shapes, and processing, presenting and interpreting data and measures. These areas are common across each year group and using and applying is embedded throughout all of them.