Intent:

At St Joseph’s, we believe that every child can achieve success in maths. Our goal is to help children feel confident, curious, and capable when working with numbers and solving problems. In Reception we want children to recognise small quantities quickly, understand how numbers are made up, and become fluent with number facts. As children move into KS1 and KS2 they are given time to explore ideas in depth, including opportunities to practise fluency, reasoning, and problem-solving. This ensures all pupils develop a deep, long-term, secure, and adaptable understanding of mathematics. This fosters a positive attitude towards the subject, enabling students to move beyond rote learning to achieve true confidence and competence. We use mastering Number to develop a strong number sense and fluency in pupils from Reception through to KS2.

Implementation:

Children use a method called the Concrete–Pictorial–Abstract approach, which means children first use a wide range of manipulatives such as numicom, counters, cubes, dienes and cuisenaire rods alongside real objects, then pictures, and finally symbols to help them understand mathematical concepts. Throughout all year groups, children are encouraged to explain their thinking using structured sentence frames known as STEM sentences. This helps them speak clearly, use accurate vocabulary, and build confidence in sharing their ideas. We teach in small, clear steps to reduce overload and ensure all children can progress together. To support this approach, working walls in classrooms display key vocabulary, visual models, sentence stems and non-examples. Children have access to number lines, place value grids, skip counting tracks, and visual aids like days of the week and months of the year to support their understanding. To develop pupils' number fluency, we follow Mastery of Number, 10–15-minute sessions 4 times per week and collaborative teaching. Through the use of targeted tools such as rekenreks, visualisation is developed alongside finger patterns and number blocks to move away from counting. The core concept of focus for KS1 is the ten and a bit structure and for KS2, multiplicative reasoning. All children work on the same core concepts to build confidence and understanding. Numbots/TT Rockstars is an online learning platform which supports children with developing their number bond and table knowledge. Children in KS2 engage in daily multiplication sessions.

Impact:

At St Joseph’s, pupils are confident and able to talk about what they have learnt in maths using subject-specific vocabulary and stem sentences accurately. In KS1, Mastering Number enables pupils to develop confidence in recalling number facts and KS2 quick recall of multiplication facts. The pupil's voice also demonstrates that pupils enjoy math and can recall their previous learning. Evidence in books, floor books and observations show that maths is taught using a concrete, pictorial, abstract approach, therefore delivering the maths curriculum through a math mastery approach. The work is of good quality and demonstrates that pupils are acquiring knowledge, skills and vocabulary in an appropriate sequence. Live marking ensures pupils' feedback offers an immediate response to their learning and the opportunity to extend learning or address misconceptions. In KS1, the end of block assessments and in KS2, pupils complete a formative assessment to identify and address gaps.