At our school, we believe that mathematics is a vital, creative and interconnected discipline that helps children understand and make sense of the world. Our curriculum is built upon the National Curriculum, which we use as a minimum entitlement for all pupils. We aim for every child to develop a deep, secure understanding of mathematical concepts so they can progress confidently through each stage of their learning.

We follow a teaching for mastery approach in which all pupils move through content in carefully planned, coherent steps. Learning is designed to secure firm foundations and deep knowledge, rather than superficial coverage. Concepts are broken down into small, connected steps, and pupils have frequent opportunities to make links and build on prior learning.

Platform

Our curriculum follows a mixed-age class structure, mapped using the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) progression and sequencing materials. This ensures that all pupils experience a coherent learning journey with concepts introduced, revisited and built upon in a systematic way. Teachers also make use of high-quality, expert resources from Oak Academy to support planning, modelling and assessment.

Our curriculum is underpinned by principles from cognitive science. Each lesson begins with planned retrieval practice to strengthen memory and support long-term retention. Learning is spaced and revisited over time so that knowledge becomes secure and flexible.

Fluency focus

We ensure pupils receive regular, focused practice to build fluency:

• Daily number facts teaching takes place across the school.

• Children in EYFS to Year 2 take part in daily Mastering Number sessions to develop firm number sense.

• Children in Years 3 and 4 have daily times tables sessions to secure rapid recall and number fluency.

• Children in Years 5 and 6 engage with daily fluency questions, supporting confidence, accuracy and efficiency in calculation.

Within every lesson, pupils develop their fluency, reasoning and problem-solving skills equally. Tasks are designed to offer varied practice, enabling children to recognise patterns, make generalisations and apply their understanding with confidence. Teachers introduce mathematical vocabulary explicitly and at carefully chosen points to support clear mathematical communication.

Assessment

Teachers regularly make use of assessment throughout learning to address misconceptions promptly and identify gaps that need further attention. They assess pupils against the Ready to Progress criteria to determine who may need additional support and to ensure teaching is precisely focused on securing key building blocks. Our curriculum has high expectations for all pupils; we aim to keep the whole class learning together with access to the same rich curriculum. For those requiring extra help, same-day intervention is provided wherever possible to prevent gaps from widening and to ensure pupils can continue to progress alongside their peers.

Through this approach, we aim to foster mathematically confident, curious and resilient learners who see the value of mathematics in everyday life and are well prepared for the next stage of their education.

Our 'Mastery' approach is built upon the foundational beliefs that we are being mathematical and not just doing maths..

• A pupil does not have a fixed ability.
• All pupils can learn all of the content if their learning is coherently sequenced and given the right amount of time – learning at pace.
• Assessment plays an important role in ensuring that all children are exposed to the right level of mathematics, with opportunities to go ‘deeper’ into a concept for those who have grasped the initial structure of a concept.
• There is no limit to the depth of reasoning one can have around a concept so understanding can be seen as infinite (quite often in mathematics, great new insight comes from attention to an area of mathematics that one is already fluent in).
• The belief that one’s own efforts matter is imperative for all pupils to learn mathematics.