Moss Bury Primary School

Our Mathematics Curriculum

Our intent

Why do we teach maths the way we do?

Maths “is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment. A high-quality mathematics education, therefore, provides a foundation for understanding the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.” (DfE, 2021)

At Moss Bury, our aim is to develop a life-long love of the subject and prepare all pupils to be ready for KS3, enjoy maths and be able to apply their knowledge and skills. We believe that the most effective mathematicians are those with high levels of self-esteem. We engender this in our children by teaching three different key disciplines that form the bedrock of our mathematics curriculum:

deeply embedded knowledge of the fundamental number facts
working knowledge of the arithmetical processes
the ability to use reasoning to solve more complex mathematical problems.

Our implementation

What do we teach? What does this look like?

At Moss Bury, we use a teaching for mastery approach and our maths curriculum is designed to support progression over time. Every lesson starts with prior learning, and the new content is delivered in small steps. Representations and examples are carefully selected to expose the structure of mathematical concepts and emphasise connections. Guided and individual practice are combined to reinforce procedural fluency and develop conceptual understanding. Pupils are taught through whole-class teaching, and in a typical lesson, teachers use questioning, explanations and discussions to enable pupils to think, reason and apply their knowledge to solve problems. The use of manipulatives enables concept building and leads to fluency. Key number facts are learnt to automaticity and practised regularly, to avoid cognitive overload and enable pupils to focus on new learning. Teachers encourage pupils to use precise mathematical language to communicate their reasoning and thinking. If a pupil needs help to grasp a concept or procedure, this is identified quickly, and gaps are addressed to help them catch up.

As a school, we use the White Rose Education maths scheme to support a mastery approach to teaching and learning and meet the objectives of the National Curriculum. At the heart of our mathematics curriculum is our Learning Commitments approach. All children at Moss Bury are taught a specific, age-appropriate learning commitment, which supports the development of their mental fluency and is aligned with the Factual Fluency Progression document (Mathematics guidance: key stages 1 and 2, June 2020). For more information about our system of Learning Commitments, please click HERE.

In addition to this, our teachers in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 deliver the Mastering Number Programme at Reception and KS1 in their fluency sessions, aimed at developing number sense and fluency in calculation. For more information, please click HERE. Similarly, our teachers in Year 4 and Year 5 deliver the Mastering Number at KS2 in their fluency sessions, aimed at developing “fluency in multiplication and division facts, and a confidence and flexibility with number that exemplifies good number sense.” (NCETM). For more information, please click HERE.

We have close links with the Matrix Maths Hub, coordinated by NCETM. The Hub is part of a programme funded by the Department for Education to ensure excellent teaching in Mathematics. Our teachers and teaching assistants have been provided with excellent opportunities through the Matrix Maths Hub, which included professional development courses, working with a mastery specialist, collaborating with other schools, and sharing good practices with teachers. The impact of the NCETM’s maths hubs was recognised in Ofsted’s maths report (July 2023). “Networks of support, such as the Maths Hubs, provide regular and highly useful training. This helps teachers to adopt new and improved ways of explaining and modelling concepts.”

Our impact

What will this look like?

Our pupils understand the relevance of what they are learning and how maths concepts link to real life. They know that we rely on maths in many areas of our daily life. Carefully planned sequences of learning support the development of maths knowledge and skills. During their time at Moss Bury, most of our pupils become increasingly fluent in the number facts and procedures and can apply their knowledge to a range of reasoning problems. They are willing to ‘have a go’ and know which strategies to choose when calculating and solving problems. They are aware of their strengths and understand what they need to do to improve. At the end of KS2, they are able to achieve high standards, which are in line with the national average.