Mathematics Curriculum

At St Mary’s, our aim is that every child is mathematically competent and has a love and appreciation for maths by the time they leave us.

Mathematics across the school develops the children’s basic skills enabling them to work with greater fluency and accuracy as they progress. The curriculum gives the children a range of strategies and opportunities to use these skills in different problem solving situations.  This grounding enables and equips the children to approach maths and mathematical situations with confidence and competence as they move through key stages 3, 4 and beyond.

We want our children to have the opportunity to ask questions and be inquisitive. We also aim to equip our children with the understanding of mathematical concepts and the fluency they need to use them in a range of situations, both within the classroom environment and also in everyday life. Mathematics across the school encourages children to become resilient and reflective learners – skills which are essential as the children continue their journey through education and onwards in later life.

What we do:

At St Mary’s, mathematics is taught daily in a progressive and systematic way, beginning in Reception, all the way through to Year 6. The school uses White Rose Maths as a basis for this planning and sequencing of progression.

Our mathematics strategy is based on developing a love for maths through using games and active learning to learn, practice and revise knowledge and skills in order to commit them to long term memory.

The structure of mathematics in Reception is different to the rest of the school but from Year 1 upwards the following sequence is used throughout a lesson / sequence of learning:

• Retrieval Activity (Five a day – questions taken from previous learning)
• Key Number Facts Learning (Times tables, number bonds etc linked to ARE)
• Aims and Success Criteria Shared
• Independence Strategies taught
• Independent, Paired and Group Work
• Self / Peer Review and Assessment

Our mathematics curriculum focuses on developing fluency in skills before transferring these skills to Reasoning and Problem Solving.  We provide all pupils with the opportunity to experience reasoning and problem solving – although a focus on fluency is prioritised for those finding maths difficult or falling behind age related expectations.

Mathematics planning is devised through professional discussion with teachers, the maths leader and the Senior Leadership Team (SLT); it meets the requirements of the National Curriculum, which is organised in the White Rose Progression Documents.   Leaders and teachers have developed supplementary Medium Term plans which map out the curriculum in more detail and enable us to share Pedagogical Content Knowledge with one another to ensure that there is consistency in calculation strategies and success criteria.