Maths

Our Maths Curriculum

Intent

At Our Lady Of Lourdes Catholic Primary School, we are committed to ensuring that all pupils develop a deep understanding of mathematics and the confidence to apply their mathematical knowledge across the curriculum and in real life. We recognise that our results from last year were below where we want them to be, and we are determined to address this through high-quality teaching, targeted support, and a carefully sequenced curriculum.

 

Our intent is to:

Build strong foundations in number and calculation through systematic teaching that ensures all pupils develop fluency, reasoning and problem-solving skills

Develop mathematical resilience and confidence in all pupils, particularly those who may experience maths anxiety or have fallen behind

Ensure equity and inclusion so that every child, regardless of their starting point, can access and succeed in mathematics

Foster a love of mathematics by showing pupils how maths is relevant to their lives and future

 

We want our pupils to see themselves as mathematicians who can persevere with challenging problems, articulate their reasoning clearly, and apply their knowledge flexibly.

Implementation

We use White Rose Maths as the basis for our curriculum planning across all year groups. This provides: a coherent, well-sequenced curriculum that builds knowledge systematically, high-quality teaching resources and assessment materials and a mastery approach that ensures depth before breadth.

 

In Reception, Year 1 and Year 2, we implement the Mastering Number programme from the NCETM. This programme: focuses on developing deep understanding of number, including subitising, number bonds, and place value, provides daily, short, focused sessions (10-15 minutes) that complement our main maths lessons, uses carefully selected manipulatives and representations to help pupils visualise mathematical concepts and ensures all pupils develop automatic recall of key number facts.

 

In Key Stage 2, we use arithmetic and step counting to develop pupils' number fluency and mental calculation skills. This involves: daily practice of counting in different steps (e.g., 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, 10s, 25s, 50s, 100s), daily practice of working with number and calculation, counting forwards and backwards from different starting points, linking step counting to times tables knowledge and understanding of multiplication and division and building confidence and speed in mental calculation.

 

During lessons, manipulatives and representations are carefully chosen for specific concepts and used to scaffold learning, helping pupils to visualise and understand mathematical concepts. Once the pupil has mastered the concept then the manipulative or representation can be removed. We teach pupils a range of problem-solving strategies that they can apply in unfamiliar situations, and support pupils to explain and justify their thinking.

 

Pupils who are falling behind need targeted support that addresses the areas where they're struggling. We use regular assessment to identify gaps in learning and target interventions at their specific areas of weakness. 

Impact

By the end of their time at Our Lady Of Lourdes, we expect pupils to:

  • Have fluent recall of number facts and times tables

  • Be able to use a range of calculation strategies flexibly and efficiently

  • Reason mathematically and explain their thinking clearly

  • Approach problems with confidence and resilience

  • Apply their mathematical knowledge across the curriculum and in real-life contexts

  • Achieve in line with or above national expectations in statutory assessments

We will measure impact by:

Pupil outcomes: Tracking progress from starting points through to end-of-year assessments and SATs results. We are determined to see improvement on last year's results through our focused approach.

Lesson observations and learning walks: Monitoring the quality of teaching and pupils' engagement and understanding in lessons

Pupil voice: Talking to pupils about their confidence, enjoyment and understanding of maths

Book scrutiny: Reviewing pupils' work to ensure appropriate challenge, progression and depth of understanding

Assessment data: Analysing data at 4 points across the year to identify trends, gaps and areas for development

Staff confidence: Using our maths skills audit to track improvements in staff knowledge and confidence in teaching maths.

 

We are committed to being honest about where we are and where we need to be. Our impact measures will specifically track:

  • The percentage of pupils reaching expected standard and greater depth, with clear targets for improvement

  • Progress of pupils who were below expected standard, particularly those receiving interventions

  • Reduction in the number of pupils working significantly below age-related expectations

  • Improvements in specific areas of weakness identified from last year's results

 

Maths Subject Overview.docx