Maths

At St Mary’s Priory CofE Infant & Nursery School and St Mary's Priory Junior School, we believe that mathematics is a fundamental life skill and a vital part of every child’s education. From the earliest stages of learning, we aim to develop confident, curious and resilient mathematicians who recognise the value and relevance of mathematics in the world around them.

Through a carefully sequenced and ambitious curriculum, underpinned by the Oak National Academy Maths Curriculum, we provide opportunities for all children to develop deep conceptual understanding, mathematical fluency, reasoning and problem-solving skills. We foster a culture where mistakes are valued as part of learning and where all children are challenged and supported to achieve success in mathematics.

Our mathematics curriculum aims to:

• Provide engaging, inclusive and ambitious learning experiences that enable all pupils to develop secure mathematical understanding through a mastery approach.
• Build strong foundations in number sense and mathematical concepts, ensuring children acquire knowledge that is retained and built upon over time.
• Develop confident mathematicians who can reason logically, think critically and apply their knowledge to solve increasingly sophisticated problems.
• Encourage resilience, perseverance and a positive mindset, helping children to approach mathematical challenges with confidence and determination.
• Ensure all pupils have access to high-quality teaching, rich mathematical discussions and opportunities to explain, justify and refine their thinking.
• Make meaningful connections within mathematics and across the wider curriculum, enabling children to recognise the relevance of mathematics in everyday life and other areas of learning.
• Promote fluency, flexibility and depth of understanding through carefully sequenced learning that allows children to explore concepts in greater depth before moving on.
• Prepare pupils for the next stage of their education and for life beyond school by equipping them with essential mathematical knowledge, skills and vocabulary.
• Meet and exceed the expectations of the National Curriculum, whilst promoting excellence, aspiration and a genuine enjoyment of mathematics.

This approach ensures that every child leaves St Mary's Priory with the confidence, knowledge and skills required to become successful lifelong learners and active participants in an increasingly mathematical world.

At St Mary’s Priory CofE Infant & Nursery School and St Mary's Priory Junior School, mathematics is taught through a carefully sequenced curriculum based on the Oak National Academy Maths Curriculum, which is underpinned by the principles of mastery. Learning is planned to ensure that children develop a deep and secure understanding of mathematical concepts through small, coherent steps that build on prior knowledge.

Teachers use formative assessment continuously to identify misconceptions and adapt teaching accordingly, ensuring all pupils can access and succeed in mathematics. Additional support and challenge are provided through responsive teaching, intervention and enrichment opportunities.

Structure of a Lesson

Our maths lessons typically include:

• Pre-teaching and targeted support for pupils who would benefit from additional scaffolding before new learning is introduced.
• Retrieval practice and review of prior learning to strengthen long-term memory and make connections between concepts.
• Clear sharing of the lesson objective and success criteria, linked to the progression of learning within the Oak curriculum and National Curriculum expectations.
• Explicit teaching of mathematical vocabulary, with opportunities for children to explain, justify and discuss their thinking using accurate mathematical language.
• Carefully modelled examples that expose mathematical structures and relationships.
• Opportunities for partner talk, collaborative learning and mathematical discussion to deepen understanding.
• Guided practice with teacher support before independent application.
• Frequent opportunities to revisit, consolidate and apply previously learned concepts.
• Responsive teaching, including live marking, verbal feedback and in-the-moment intervention to address misconceptions quickly.

At St Mary’s Priory CofE Infant & Nursery School and St Mary's Priory Junior School, the impact of our mathematics curriculum is evident in the confidence, understanding and enthusiasm our pupils demonstrate as mathematicians. Through a carefully sequenced mastery curriculum, children develop secure mathematical knowledge that they can recall, apply and build upon as they progress through the school.

As a result:

• Children develop strong fluency and demonstrate increasingly rapid and accurate recall of key number facts, including addition and subtraction facts, multiplication tables and related division facts.
• Children approach mathematics with confidence, resilience and a positive mindset, believing that they can succeed and make progress.
• Children can select and use appropriate mathematical strategies, representations and methods with increasing independence.
• Children demonstrate flexibility in their thinking, moving confidently between concrete, pictorial and abstract representations to deepen their understanding.
• Children reason mathematically, explain their thinking clearly and justify their answers using precise mathematical vocabulary.
• Children recognise patterns, make connections across different areas of mathematics and apply their learning to unfamiliar contexts and real-life situations.
• Children are able to solve increasingly sophisticated problems by drawing upon their mathematical knowledge and understanding.
• Mathematical concepts are mastered when children can represent their understanding in multiple ways, explain their reasoning, make connections between ideas and apply their learning independently.
• Children retain and build upon prior learning, demonstrating secure understanding over time rather than short-term procedural knowledge.
• Children take pride in the presentation, accuracy and quality of their mathematical work.
• Teachers use ongoing assessment to ensure pupils make strong progress from their individual starting points, while identifying and addressing misconceptions promptly.
• Pupils leave each key stage well prepared for the next stage of their mathematical education, equipped with the knowledge, skills and confidence needed to succeed.