Intent- What do we aspire for our children?
Staunton and Corse C of E Primary Academy recognises that an exemplary mathematics curriculum provides a sequential, progressive, and interconnected framework for learning. We have carefully designed our curriculum to ensure coverage of all key mathematical concepts and skills, building a strong foundation for future learning. The curriculum is aligned with the National Curriculum (2014), embodying an appropriate level of challenge and providing opportunities for mathematical thinking and problem-solving. At Staunton and Corse Academy, we set high expectations for all of our students, believing that every child has the potential to excel in maths.
Our curriculum reflects our ambition, catering to the needs of all learners, including those with additional needs or English as an additional language. We ensure that every child has access to challenging mathematical content, promoting equity and fostering a growth mindset.
Our intent at Staunton and Corse Academy is to instil a deep understanding of mathematical concepts in our students. We adopt a mastery approach, focusing on fluency, reasoning, and problem solving. We believe that students should have a secure conceptual understanding before moving to more complex topics.
At Staunton and Corse Academy, we provide ample opportunities for students to explore mathematical connections, enabling them to reason mathematically and apply their knowledge to solve problems in real-life contexts.
In addition, the maths curriculum at Staunton and Corse celebrates diversity and cultural relevance, ensuring that all students can relate to mathematical concepts. We embed culturally diverse examples, contexts, and representations to create an inclusive learning environment. We always aim to foster a positive attitude towards maths, dispelling common misconceptions that it is uninteresting or unreachable for some students. We promote this with a growth mindset approach and through our whole-school maths motto – “Mistakes are the Key to Success”.
Implementation-How Will We Deliver the Curriculum?
The content and principles underpinning the National Curriculum for Mathematics (2014) and the maths curriculum at Staunton and Corse Academy use the mastery approach. The following principles and features characterise this approach and convey how our curriculum is implemented:
Teachers reinforce an expectation that all children are capable of achieving high standards in mathematics. The large majority of children progress through the curriculum content at the same pace. Pre-teaching and other rapid-response and high-quality interventions ensure all pupils can keep pace with the maths content delivered on a daily basis. A concrete, pictorial, abstract approach is taken in all maths teaching and learning to ensure children’s learning is effectively scaffolded by the use of manipulatives and pictorial representations.
Regular high-quality CPD and training ensures that staff at all levels understand the pedagogy of this mastery approach and the tools available to them to support the outstanding teaching of maths. Staff work collaboratively and offer each other advice and support to ensure the outstanding teaching and learning of maths. In addition to collaboration in-school, staff also work alongside their year group and leadership colleagues within Primary Quest as part of continuous professional development, to share high-quality resources and ideas and to moderate maths assessments within the Multi-Academy Trust.
Pupils in the Early Years at Staunton and Corse Academy are well prepared for the National Curriculum aims by developing a strong foundational understanding of the concepts of number, shape, space and measure. In Reception, the Early Years Foundational Framework is used to guide maths learning. Mastering Number, a published scheme from NCETM, is used in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 to develop mathematical fluency and number sense. To ensure consistency and progression from EYFS to Year 6, we use the White Rose Maths scheme, which is fully aligned with the National Curriculum (2014). Teachers supplement this scheme with high-quality and rich resources, including mastery resources from NCETM; NRICH and “I See Reasoning and Problem Solving” are used to develop and promote mathematical discussion, problem-solving skills and to further deepen mathematical learning.
Lessons begin with a concise recap of prior learning, connecting mathematical concepts to previous knowledge. Staff explicitly teach mathematical vocabulary, encouraging students to articulate their ideas and share their reasoning. In addition, sentence stems are used in every lesson to develop children’s conceptual understanding and ability to explain their mathematical understanding. All children participate in fluency, reasoning and problem-solving during the input time as well as within their independent tasks, and mathematical jottings are encouraged to support mathematical learning and help teachers to identify mistakes and misconceptions. Timely feedback is given during or as soon after lessons as possible to promote understanding and address misconceptions promptly, ensuring students remain engaged and on track. Assessment of understanding allows the class teachers to ensure that all children, including those with SEND, are provided with prompt, appropriate and timely support. This support includes, but is not limited to, in-lesson adult support, access to manipulatives and pictorial representations, interventions and pre-teaching activities and online programmes such as Doodle Maths and Emile.
As a school of mixed year group classes, we are committed to providing an adapted learning experience that caters to the needs of all learners. Our Calculation Policy has been informed by the White Rose Maths calculation policy and NCETM to ensure children in every year group are confident with using a variety of mathematical calculation methods. Teachers use the White Rose Maths Mixed-Age schemes and most up-to-date schemes of learning to inform planning and teaching. In addition, by identifying and addressing any gaps in understanding, teachers strive to enable all students to make significant progress. Our teachers use a range of strategies, including careful questioning, scaffolding, and high-quality resources to meet the diverse needs of our students. We make full use of teaching assistants and additional support to provide targeted intervention for those requiring extra assistance, such as children with SEND. Working walls are used in every lesson to support children in their current mathematical learning and to encourage independence. As working walls are collaborative learning opportunities, these will usually provide the visual representations and mathematical jottings of both the teacher and of pupils to support learning in maths lessons.
Problem-solving lies at the heart of our maths curriculum. We dedicate regular lesson time to teach problem-solving techniques and strategies explicitly. Our teachers provide open-ended tasks that challenge students to apply their knowledge and think creatively. Students are encouraged to discuss their approaches and reasoning with peers, promoting collaborative and independent thinking skills.
We offer a variety of enrichment opportunities to enhance students' mathematical experiences. For example, we organise maths challenges and competitions. We encourage maths learning at home through the use of Doodle Maths and Doodle Tables, a curriculum aligned application which designs unique maths learning programmes for every child.
Data is analysed regularly by class teachers, the maths subject lead and the senior leadership team to ensure that all children remain on track. Children who fall behind in maths are offered high-quality, targeted intervention and pre-teaching to build their mathematical confidence and understanding.
Impact-How do we know Our maths curriculum is effective
Regular formative assessments paired with detailed tracking enable teachers to identify gaps in understanding promptly. This allows high-quality interventions to be put in place to support children at risk of falling behind and extending those working beyond age-related expectations.
Through the provision at Staunton and Corse Academy, students develop a high level of mathematical confidence and engagement. Student attitudes towards maths remain positive, with students consistently stating that they enjoy the subject and understand its relevance to their lives. Our emphasis on problem-solving and reasoning instils resilience and the ability to apply mathematical knowledge effectively.
At Staunton and Corse Academy, staff work hard to ensure that students are prepared for the next phase of their mathematical education. Our students transition to secondary school with a solid mathematical foundation, enabling them to access more challenging concepts seamlessly. Secondary schools consistently praise the mathematical competency and confidence of our students, indicating the smooth transition and long-lasting impact of our maths curriculum.
By providing an ambitious, masterful, and culturally relevant curriculum, delivering well-structured, high-quality lessons and by nurturing problem-solving skills, we aim to help our students to achieve exceptional progress and develop a deep understanding of mathematics.
