Our inspiring and aspirational Mathematics curriculum (based on the National Curriculum) is meticulously planned to enable learners to master key foundational knowledge and learn from consistent patterns in maths. We have carefully identified the knowledge and skills that our mathematicians will acquire. Each small step in our mathematicians journey has been carefully planned to ensure a challenging and progressive curriculum to meet the needs of all learners.

Mathematicians will regularly revisit key concepts (over learning) and engage in regular retrieval practice which builds upon prior knowledge and enables them to make connections to deepen their understanding of new learning, committing this to long term memory.

Efficient, accurate recall of key number facts and procedures is essential for fluency, freeing pupils’ minds to think deeply about concepts and problems, but fluency demands more than this. It requires pupils to have the flexibility to move between different contexts and representations of mathematics, to recognise relationships and make connections, and to choose appropriate methods and strategies to solve problems. Mathematicians develop efficient, accurate and clear methods for the four operations, enabling them to present written methods neatly and logically to reduce the risks of accidental errors. A progressive calculation policy ensures consistency along our mathematicians learning journey, reducing misconconceptions.

Explicit teaching draws close attention to a key feature of a mathematical concept or structure through varying some elements while keeping others constant. Our progressive curriculum ensures that mathematicians are exposed to conceptual variation which involves varying how a concept is represented to draw attention to critical features. Learners often experience more than one representation to examine a concept from different perspectives and deepen and secure mathematical knowledge.

The small step, progressive curriculum identifies how mathematicians will ‘proceed’ through a learning sequence. Questions are carefully selected and structured to develop procedural variation. Purposeful changes are made in order that pupils’ attention is drawn to key features of the mathematics, scaffolding students’ thinking to enable them to reason logically and make connections. Variation leads to intelligent practice as learners active hard thinking and make connections which deepen learning.

Mathematical thinking is central to how pupils learn mathematics which includes looking for patterns and relationships, making connections, reasoning, and generalising. Pupils should actively engage in mathematical thinking in all lessons, communicating their ideas using precise mathematical language. Learners reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry and making connections which will enable them to justify and use the ‘prove it’ strategy to articulate their mathematical thinking.

Mathematicians will solve problems by applying their knowledge to a variety of increasingly complex and sophisticated real life problems. Explicit teaching enables mathematicians to break down problems into a series of smaller steps and persevere in seeking solutions. Problems solving is taught alongside currriculum content to enable mathematicians to develop their conceptual understanding.

Teachers carefully select representations of mathematics to expose mathematical structure. The intention is to support pupils in ‘seeing’ the mathematics, rather than using the representation as a tool to ‘do’ the mathematics. Mathematicans must hold maths in their hands before they can hold it in their heads. Maths toolkits and a range of manipulatives support learners and enable them to move from concrete, pictoral and abstract representations. These representations become mental images that students can use to think about mathematics, supporting them to achieve a deep understanding of mathematical structures and connections. Our mathematicians use a variety of representations to demonstrate understanding and articulate “how” they have calculated rich and sophisticated problems.

Scaffolding, through the innovative use of technology and explicit teaching, exposes mathematicians to efficient and effective models to support their understanding. Mathematicians are able to hear the teachers thinking and can access these scaffolds independently to retrieve and rehearse. Use of expert mathematicians support learners in developing a deep and secure understanding of core knowledge and facts. Regular practise and retrieval enables coherent learning progression through the curriculum, providing access for all pupils to develop a deep and connected understanding of mathematics that they can apply in a range of contexts.

Our learners appreciate the power of mathematics and share a sense of curiosity about the real-life mathematical problems they solve.

Mathematicians enhance their mathematical knowledge and skills as they develop their fluency, proficiency and accurate recall of number facts and make connections between concepts, using a variety of representations to demonstrate their understanding. Learners use their mathematical toolkits as they move from concrete, pictoral and abstract representations, holding maths in their hands before holding it securely in their heads. In mathematics, EVERYONE CAN achieve as they are effectively supported through carefully sequenced small step progressive teaching and learn through their marvellous mistakes.