Maths

Rob Soffe grew up and was educated in New Zealand.  After completing a degree in education he taught Year 7 in a state school for two years before venturing to the UK.  After 6 months of visiting various schools throughout the capital he settled into a job teaching mathematics with Mr Snell at King’s College Junior School, Wimbledon.  After three years in Wimbledon he has now found a new home at Wetherby School.

Each year group in the school has a Maths lesson every day. The emphasis is on the four operations and the number bonds, as well as mental calculations and problem solving. We spend a great deal of time teaching each concept in a practical manner before transferring it into a more formal structure. We endeavour to make Maths fun and very enjoyable for everyone.

We also teach Reasoning from Year One and the pupils are taught lateral thinking skills, which are applicable to many areas of the curriculum. We encourage the use of many different strategies to solve the problems posed in these lessons.

The Reception classes cover such concepts as counting and recognising numbers up to 20, correct formation of numbers, bigger than and smaller than, number patterns, addition and subtraction of vertical and horizontal sums, numbers before and after and they solve simple number problems. The boys also sing number songs, learn to recognise shapes and begin to understand time, money and measurement.

The Year One classes cover such concepts as place value, number bonds, sequencing, missing number patterns, formal addition and subtraction, times tables and word problems. The boys also study odd and even numbers, fractions, 2D and 3D shapes, money, time, symmetry, measuring, pictograms and bar charts.

The Year Two classes build on what has been taught in Year One and study multiplication, division and word problems involving all four operations, money and time. The boys also learn doubling, halving, rounding, length, mass and capacity, position, movement and direction and they do mathematical investigations.

The Year Three classes revise and extend all concepts covered in Year Two as well as the covering decimals, area, angles, Venn diagrams, sets, circles and co-ordinates.