At St Mary’s, we aim to develop pupils' mathematical skills by encouraging them to become self-motivated, confident and capable in order to solve problems that will become an integral part of their future. The National Curriculum for mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils:

• become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils have conceptual understanding and are able to recall and apply their knowledge rapidly and accurately to problems
• can reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language
• can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.

At St Mary’s, we use the White Rose Maths Small Steps Maths across school to inform our learning challenges and ensure that there is appropriate breadth and depth in our Mathematics curriculum. We follow the CPA approach to ensure children are exposed to and have the opportunity to explore a range of mathematical concepts. Pupils review knowledge of previous learning daily and are given opportunities to practise and develop greater fluency and rapid recall of key mathematical facts e.g. times tables, number bonds etc. There are also many opportunities for children to develop their mathematical reasoning and problem solving with these skills embedded and delivered in their lessons.

At St Mary’s, we carry out long-term, medium-term and short-term planning for Mathematics. Our curriculum is delivered using the Early Years Learning goals and the Mathematics Programmes of Study as a tool to ensure appropriate pace, progression and coverage of the subject. This coverage is reviewed continually by class teachers and planning is adjusted accordingly to ensure appropriate coverage of all mathematical strands. Once children understand a mathematical concept, they are then given opportunities to solve problems and carry out investigations to deepen their conceptual understanding. At the end of each unit of work, we use the White Rose Maths end of block assessments to check children’s progress and address any gaps in knowledge.

Prior Knowledge

Through our teaching, we continuously monitor pupils’ progress against expected attainment for their age, assessing where appropriate and using this to inform teaching. End of unit/block assessments are carried out and gaps in knowledge are addressed through daily retrieval practice activities. Assessments are completed each term with their results forming discussions in termly Pupil Progress Meetings. Where necessary, children are invited to daily pre-teach sessions for Maths before school.

Teachers are expected to adhere to the schools marking policy when marking books and presentation policy when guiding children as to how to present their work.

All classes have access to a range of mathematical, age appropriate resources. Resources are stored centrally in Key Stage areas and accessed by teachers when required. Online resources, including the use of WRM N-rich, TTRS and Numbots are used to enhance the teaching of Maths in school. 

Each classroom has a Maths display relating to current work. The maths display should be presented as a ‘working wall’ to ensure that they are useful, purposeful and effective in promoting children’s independence and progress in the subject. Displays should include key vocabulary, current learning objectives, examples of methods and calculations needed/used, challenges and examples of the children’s work and interactive opportunities.

The Curriculum leaders, alongside SLT, are responsible for monitoring and evaluating curriculum progress. This is done through book scrutiny, planning scrutiny, lesson observations, pupil voice interviews, staff discussions and resource audits.

Through pupil voice discussion and feedback, children are able to talk enthusiastically about their maths lessons. They can articulate the context in which maths is being taught and relate this to real life purposes. Children show confidence in maths and they can apply the knowledge and skills they already have in different contexts.

Mathematical concepts or skills are mastered when a child can show it in multiple ways, using mathematical language to explain their ideas, and can independently apply the concept to new problems in different contexts or unfamiliar situations. Pupils are able to demonstrate fluency with quick recall of facts and procedures. This includes the recollection of the times tables.

Pupils are able to use acquired vocabulary in maths lessons. They have the skills to use methods independently and show resilience when tackling problems.

At the end of each year we expect the children to have achieved Age Related Expectations (ARE) for their year group. Some children will have progressed further and achieved greater depth (GD). Children who have gaps in their knowledge receive appropriate support and intervention (including pre-teach sessions). Pupil secure long-term, deep and adaptable understanding of maths which they can apply in different contexts.