“The study of mathematics, like the Nile, begins in minuteness but ends in magnificence.” - Charles Caleb Colton

At St. Bernadette’s, our Maths curriculum is designed to enable our pupils to understand the world around them and allow all children to become confident, successful and resilient mathematicians, who are well-equipped to apply their learning to the wider world. We want all pupils to experience the beauty, power and enjoyment of mathematics and develop a sense of curiosity about the subject alongside a clear understanding of key mathematics principles.

Our approach aims to provide all children with opportunities to explore, reason and investigate in order that they develop a strong conceptual understanding of number, which can be applied to more sophisticated problem-solving and reasoning. Our curriculum is designed to meet the aims of the National Curriculum by ensuring that all children develop their fluency, reasoning and problem-solving skills by using a wide range of resources that meet the needs of individual pupils and offer challenge for all.

Substantive knowledge represents the Mathematics content that is taught in each year group. In planning, this knowledge is the content we want pupils to know and remember including key facts, methods and strategies. It’s knowing how to count, how to perform arithmetic, knowing the different kinds of number, what a function is and so on, so forth.

Themes are explored in each year group in a progressive and sequenced manner. Through using themes (linking directly to the National Curriculum), children are able to easily activate prior knowledge, which in turn enables quick and effective recall of key facts, allowing them to grow in confidence and apply their learning to more complex reasoning and problem-solving. In Maths, our themes include:

• Place Value
• Four Operations
• Fractions, Decimals & Percentages
• Geometry
• Measurement
• Statistics
• Ratio & Proportion
• Algebra

Disciplinary knowledge in Mathematics includes, but is not limited to, investigation, conjecture, proof, problem modelling and problem-solving.  At St. Bernadette's, the children are taught to make links across different mathematical components to build this knowledge in their long term memory. Through drawing connections between mathematical ideas and engaging in reasoning and proof, children are enabled and encouraged  to develop as Mathematicians in our ever-changing world. 

Assessment in Maths takes place both formatively and summatively. Formative assessment takes place on a weekly, often daily basis where teachers assess and record the extent to which pupils have achieved the Maths objectives, using our online tracking tool, Insight. Furthermore, PUMA summative assessments are used on a termly basis. These are used to support teacher assessment judgements and inform future teaching and intervention.