*Click here for an overview of the Maths Curriculum for Year 1-6*

Our Mathematics Curriculum.

At Southbury, we want every child to become a confident, resilient and curious mathematician who understands mathematics, can explain their thinking and knows how to apply their knowledge in new situations.

We believe that every child can achieve highly in mathematics. Our curriculum is ambitious and carefully sequenced, building children's knowledge and understanding over time. New learning is connected to what children already know, allowing them to make meaningful connections and develop increasingly secure mathematical understanding.

We want children to develop both fluency and understanding. Children are given regular opportunities to practise essential mathematical knowledge until it becomes increasingly automatic, while also being challenged to reason, explain, make connections and solve problems.

Our lessons are designed around small, manageable steps, with teachers modelling mathematical thinking explicitly and providing carefully structured opportunities for children to practise before working independently. Scaffolds, representations and manipulatives are used purposefully to help children access challenging mathematics and develop a secure understanding of mathematical concepts.

Above all, we want children to leave Southbury believing that they can do mathematics and having the knowledge, confidence and resilience to tackle increasingly challenging problems.

Building Knowledge Over Time.

Mathematics is carefully sequenced so that children build on what they already know and understand.

Every lesson begins with a Daily Review, giving children regular opportunities to revisit important mathematical knowledge and skills. Arithmetic questions are deliberately repeated over time, helping children to retrieve and practise essential facts and procedures until they can recall and use them with increasing accuracy, fluency and automaticity.

New learning begins by connecting to prior knowledge. Teachers explicitly recap the mathematical ideas that children need, helping them to recognise relationships between previous and new learning.

Learning is then broken down into small, carefully sequenced steps, allowing children to develop understanding gradually and securely.

This means that children are not simply taught a collection of mathematical procedures. They develop a connected understanding of mathematics that they can recall, explain and apply.

Teaching and Learning in Mathematics.

At Southbury, we believe that excellent mathematics teaching combines clear explanation, deliberate practice, purposeful challenge and responsive teaching.

Teachers use live modelling to make mathematical thinking visible. Through an I do, We do, You do approach, teachers first demonstrate and narrate their thinking, before working through examples with children and gradually moving towards independent application.

Children are given frequent opportunities to practise new learning, allowing teachers to identify misconceptions and address them immediately. This responsive approach means that children are supported to develop secure understanding before moving on.

We don't simply wait until the end of a lesson to find out whether children have understood. Assessment happens throughout the lesson through questioning, discussion, observation and children's mathematical thinking.

Challenge for All.

We have high expectations for every child.

At Southbury, challenge does not simply mean giving children more difficult questions. It means giving every child the opportunity to think deeply, make connections, explain their reasoning and apply their mathematical knowledge in increasingly sophisticated ways.

Children are challenged within lessons through reasoning, problem-solving and opportunities to apply their learning in unfamiliar contexts.

Where children need additional support, teachers use scaffolds, representations and manipulatives purposefully to help them access the same ambitious learning. These supports are designed to develop understanding and independence rather than reduce the mathematical challenge.

We want every child to experience the satisfaction of solving something that they initially found difficult.

Mathematical Thinking.

We want children to understand why mathematics works, not simply remember what to do.

Children are encouraged to:

• explain their mathematical thinking;
• reason and justify their answers;
• make connections between different areas of mathematics;
• identify and correct misconceptions;
• use mathematical vocabulary accurately;
• explore different methods and representations;
• solve problems and apply their knowledge in unfamiliar contexts;
• recognise patterns and relationships; and
• evaluate whether an answer or method makes sense.

Through this, children become increasingly independent mathematicians who can think mathematically rather than simply follow a procedure.

 

• We ensure that pupils secure their knowledge of times tables and related division facts by the end of Year 4 through and use Times Tables Rock Stars as a tool to support this.  

Assessment in Mathematics

At Southbury, assessment is an integral part of teaching and learning in mathematics. It is an ongoing process that enables teachers to understand what children know, remember and can do, identify misconceptions and use this information to shape future teaching.

Assessment happens every day. Daily Reviews provide regular opportunities for children to retrieve and practise previously taught arithmetic knowledge, while questioning, discussion, modelling and guided practice allow teachers to check understanding throughout each lesson. Teachers use children's responses and work to identify gaps and misconceptions and respond to these immediately.

Our assessment is closely linked to our carefully sequenced mathematics curriculum. Teachers use assessment information to identify children's next steps and ensure that key knowledge and skills are revisited and secured over time. This enables teachers to make informed judgements about children's progress and to adapt teaching, support and challenge accordingly.

Children receive regular feedback through verbal feedback, discussion, live marking and feedback in their books. Feedback is used to help children recognise what they have done well, address misconceptions and understand how they can improve.

Alongside ongoing classroom assessment, children complete termly assessments in arithmetic and reasoning. Termly assessment information is analysed alongside teachers' ongoing knowledge of their pupils to identify patterns, monitor progress and inform future teaching and provision.

 Assessment that moves learning forward

    At Southbury, assessment is not an end point. It is part of the learning process.

    We assess → identify → respond → practise → secure → move forward.