Intent

The intent of our mathematics curriculum is to provide children with a foundation for understanding number, reasoning, thinking logically and problem solving with resilience so that they are fully prepared for the future. Our vision is for children to leave our school as confident mathematicians, able to apply their learning to everyday life – this follows our whole school vision for being thriving and aspirational.

We ensure that we deliver a high quality maths curriculum that is both challenging and enjoyable.

- We want children to make connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence in solving increasingly complex problems.

- We intend for our pupils to be able to apply their mathematical knowledge across the curriculum.

- We want them to know that maths is essential to everyday life and that our children are confident mathematicians who are not afraid to take risks

Implementation

Children are introduced to a wide variety of basic mathematical concepts and opportunities to develop mathematical language through reasoning. All work is scaffolded to suit the needs of all our children: adult support, concrete and pictorial resources. Children are also encouraged to choose their level of challenge to make them more autonomous pupils who understand who they are as learners.

Our work includes the development of number work and place value, including practical metric measures and decimal notation. Estimation and approximation skills in mental number work, measurement, spatial work, data handling and computer skills form an important aspect of the mathematics scheme. In Year 3 and 4, time tables are taught as specific lessons, with a look ahead to the Multiplication Tables Check in Year 4.

Teaching and Learning, Content and Sequence

For maths, our long term planning follows the National Curriculum 2014. Weekly and daily lessons follow the Kent Agreed Syllabus planning support framework, supplemented by other resources such as Target Maths. We also ensure our Maths planning follows the progression steps for the KS2 Maths curriculum. By using a variety of planning resources, we believe that we provide a bespoke teaching and learning experience; this bespoke curriculum follows the model of a spiral curriculum where children revisit previous learning regularly.

Our mathematics pedagogical approaches are consistently applied throughout the school:

• Questioning – focused and open-ended
• Discussion
• Use of vocabulary
• Scaffolding
• Use of Working Walls

The curriculum time for mathematics is non-negotiable and is followed by all staff in school. Maths lessons are 1 hour long. In each year group, additional interventions support those children in securing their understanding and retaining mathematical knowledge.

Leadership, Assessment and Feedback

The Maths leader conducts regular lesson visits and book scrutinies to ensure:

• Consistency of coverage across each year group
• Misconceptions are being addressed regularly
• The sequence of learning is appropriate and follows the spiral curriculum
• Children can know and remember what they have learned

The vast majority of children progress through the curriculum content at the same pace. Regular and ongoing formative assessment informs teaching, as well as intervention, to support and enable the success of each child. Summative assessments take place 3 times per year.

Children’s attainment and progress is discussed by teachers and senior leaders and, if required, support is immediate and steps provided. This attainment and progress is also discussed with parents/carers during parents evenings. 

Impact

• Children enjoy their Maths lessons and talk enthusiastically about their learning
• Children’s fluency in number is evident in our proven track record of high success in arithmetic
• Consistent teaching practices that are well-known to be effective for pupil progress long term, evident across school
• Teachers assess and analyse accurately to ensure the right children get the right support
• Our SATs results are consistently significantly above national average
• The Multiplication Tables Check in Year 4 is high.