Mathematics

Subject Lead: Mrs Moodie

     

     

     

A warm welcome to our Mathematics page. At St Joseph's, our curriculum has been designed to excite and inspire all of our children, ensuring it is purposeful, progressive and meaningful for every child. 

Intent

  • A positive attitude to mathematics. 

  • Confidence and competence with numbers and the number system. 

  • To ensure pupils become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics. 

  • Develop conceptual knowledge and an ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately. 

  • Ensure that pupils can reason mathematically and solve problems. 

 

Implementation 

At St. Joseph’s we teach maths daily following the National Curriculum. We use the NCETM Curriculum Maps to ensure coverage and that lessons are pitched consistently across the school.  

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We have worked with the Maths Hub to create a lesson pedagogy with the aim of reducing cognitive load and deepening thinking. Each maths lesson follows a carefully designed sequence that supports pupils in developing fluency, reasoning, and problem-solving skills. Our approach is grounded in evidence-informed practice and ensures that learning is broken into manageable steps, reducing cognitive load and building confidence. 

Lessons are typically broken into six parts: 

  1. Recall – children begin the lesson with retrieval questions from previous maths learning. 

  1. Goal Free Problem - this encourages children to calculate as many solutions as they can rather than calculate a single given goal.  

  1. Learning Objective – the teacher introduces and explains the new learning for the lesson, including vocabulary. 

  1. Skills and Concepts 

  • I do – the teacher models the learning for the lesson using worked examples. 

  • We do - children practice the learning in groups, pairs or individually guided by the teacher. 

  • You do - practice learning through varied fluency to allow for a deep understanding. 

  1. Strategic Thinking 

  • I do – the teacher models the learning for the lesson using worked examples. 

  • We do - children practice the learning in groups, pairs or individually guided by the teacher. 

  • You do - practice learning through reasoning and problem-solving to allow for a deep understanding. 

  1. Reflection – ongoing reviewing of learning by both the adults and the children during the lesson.   

 

We use Mastering Number from the NCETM to secure strong foundations in the development of children’s number sense.  

Where needed, daily inclass support is provided, alongside postteaching and consolidation activities, to ensure children are well prepared for subsequent lessons. 

During lessons, children are encouraged to selfmark, followed by wholeclass discussions of answers, strategies and common misconceptions. This approach provides immediate feedback and dedicated time for reflection, with mistakes explored and corrected as an integral part of the learning process. 

Oracy and the use of precise mathematical vocabulary are actively promoted by encouraging children to explain their thinking, strategies and errors. This supports deep understanding and enables effective peertopeer learning, recognising that children learn well from one another. 

Formative assessment used throughout lessons which then informs the teacher’s planning and lesson content for the following lesson. Summative assessment: in EYFS, the Early Years Framework is used, in KS1 previous SAT’s papers are used, Y3 to Y5 NFER papers are used and in Year 6 previous SATS papers. 

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Impact 

  • Confident children who are challenged and engaged in their mathematical learning 

  • Children who can talk about Maths and their learning and the links between Mathematical topics 

  • Lessons that use a variety of resources to support learning 

 

We are always looking for ways to improve the teaching of mathematics in our school. This includes regular staff training, working with national organisations such as the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM), using carefully researched approaches from the Education Endowment Foundation, and taking part in additional support and research groups through the Archimedes Northeast Maths Hub.