Maths curriculum overview

Our curriculum aims to offer ‘Excellence for all, through Jesus’ love'.

With Jesus at the heart, we intend to provide:

1. Excellence for all children.
2. Excellence for all staff.
3. Excellent spaces and opportunities to learn.

A high-quality mathematics education 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.

National Curriculum: Maths

Our Maths curriculum at St Modwen’s is built upon a mastery approach to teaching.  Maths is a hierarchical subject which relies on learning knowledge and mastering skills in a specific order.  Our curriculum is designed to ensure pupils master key skills and concepts fully before advancing to new topics in a way that makes the learning engaging and meaningful.  Our teaching approach follows the concrete, pictorial, abstract model which helps pupils to develop a strong understanding of number.  Staff use physical manipulatives and pictorial models to reveal mathematical concepts.  Lessons are designed to ensure that pupils are given the opportunity to investigate and discuss new learning before being guided through the method by the teacher.  Pupils explore mathematical concepts in depth and apply their knowledge through fluency, reasoning and problem-solving in all lessons.

As children move through our maths curriculum, they will develop a deep understanding of place value and the four main operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division).  Pupils will spend time mastering core skills including number bonds and times tables and parents are regularly informed of the year group expectations for recall facts and how their child is progressing.

Pupils are taught to identify patterns and links between topics and develop the confidence and skills to apply their knowledge in a range of different contexts.  The curriculum design helps pupils learn and retain important mathematical vocabulary and all lessons involve mathematical discussions that help embed vocabulary.  Our pupils will recognise the importance of maths in everyday life and teachers give relevance and purpose to the skills taught. They will partake in a wide range of activities which help make maths enjoyable for all.  Lessons are effectively paced and teachers use physical resources, diagrams, modelling, discussions, together with guided and independent practise to ensure pupils achieve mastery of a given topic.  Teachers use regular assessments (formative and summative) to ensure all pupils are progressing and gap analysis and high-quality, timely interventions are used to ensure pupils progress.  End of unit assessments are completed 2 weeks after units are completed and form part of our low stakes quizzing which helps inform future planning.

Staff have high expectations of all pupils and believe mathematics success is for all.  They use a wide range of formative assessment strategies to ensure pupils are adequately supported through the use of scaffolding at different points in the lesson.  Scaffolds are designed to be a temporary help and pupils are encouraged to build up independence as quickly as possible.