Maths Curriculum

Intent

The Maths No Problem Curriculum allows our children to learn in small, precise steps.  This provides pupils with a foundation for understanding the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject. Our curriculum enables children to understand and appreciate relationships and patterns in both number and space in their everyday lives.

The children at Benhurst show resilience by building on stages of Maths learning, using a variety of teaching styles to cater for the needs of our children, from Early Years up to Year 6. Our principle aim is to grow children’s confidence and courage, knowledge, skills, reasoning, fluency and understanding in mathematics. We do this through a daily lesson that has a high proportion of whole-class and group-direct teaching. Using the CPA (concrete, pictorial and abstract) approach, our children are encouraged to express themselves fluently and creatively, talk about the subject with an assurance and use correct mathematical vocabulary. They also develop an ability to think clearly, logically and independently, using manipulatives to aid progression and learning. The Maths No Problem Curriculum allows our children to work together respectfully and compassionately whilst being ambitious. Our curriculum provides extension by deepening understanding of concepts and procedures, and daily intervention is used to support those needing extra tuition. Our curriculum encourages all children to achieve the best of their abilities.

Implementation

At Benhurst, our Mathematics Curriculum is designed to ensure that every child becomes confidently numerate as they progress through school. Lessons are carefully structured in small steps, taking into account our children’s cognitive development, with knowledge being built cumulatively over time. We place a strong emphasis on helping children understand and use the correct mathematical vocabulary, which in turn supports logical thinking, problem-solving, and the ability to systematically record their work. Our approach enables pupils to use mathematics to interpret, predict, explain their strategies, and reason mathematically.

At Benhurst, we have adopted a Maths Mastery approach, which aims to provide all pupils with a deep, secure, and adaptable understanding of mathematics. This approach is based on the five key principles of maths mastery. We believe that every child can succeed in maths, regardless of prior attainment, and reject the notion that only some pupils are naturally good at the subject. The mastery approach ensures that all pupils have access to the full maths curriculum, moving through topics together at a consistent pace. Each concept is explored in depth, and the teacher only moves on when every child has demonstrated a secure understanding.

To maintain consistency and progression across the school, we use the DfE-approved Maths No Problem scheme as the foundation for our lesson sequencing and planning. This ensures a comprehensive and well-structured curriculum that promotes continuity and consistency across all year groups.

Daily Maths Lessons in KS1 and KS2

Teachers primarily base their planning on the Maths No Problem scheme of learning, which effectively breaks down large mathematical concepts into smaller, manageable steps that build progressively to foster deeper understanding. Additional support for planning is provided through resources from Third Space Learning, White Rose Maths and the NCETM

• A typical maths lesson lasts approximately 1 hour and is taught daily. Children begin the lesson with a quick ‘Recap prior learning’ task which supports fluency and recall of number facts that are pertinent to the upcoming lesson.
• Following this, the main part of the lesson begins with an ‘Explore’ task’ a contextual problem is shared for the children to discuss and delve into in their maths journals. This helps promote discussion and reasoning and ensures mathematical ideas are introduced in a logical way to support conceptual understanding.
• During the ‘Master’ part of the lesson, the teacher demonstrates the varying strategies that could be used to solve the problem and they use careful and considered questions to draw out children’s discussion and their reasoning of the problem.
• Following this, the children are presented with similar problems during the ‘Guided Practice’ section of the lesson where the children can choose to use the scaffolds provided by the teacher should they wish to solve the problems. Teachers use this part of the lesson to address any initial errors or misconceptions as well as reminding and cementing the different methods that can be used in preparation for the children to succeed independently.
• The class then progresses to their independent practice part of the lesson, working in their workbooks, using their journals, working walls and concrete materials to support if necessary. This practice uses conceptual and procedural variation to build fluency and develop greater understanding of underlying mathematical concepts. For children who finish their independent practice work, appropriate challenge(s) is provided which promotes a deeper level of thinking around the same concept.
• In addition to the daily hour of maths, each class receives an additional 30-minute fluency and arithmetic practice as we recognise that children must have the fundamental and foundational building blocks on which to build their mathematical knowledge. During this session, teachers and support staff may also use a variety of strategies to target children who may need some extra support; this may be in the form of a pre-teach for the next lesson or a targeted intervention based on the lesson that morning. Teachers and support staff are skilled at being able to recognise when intervention is needed and choosing the appropriate way in which to do this.
• Teachers also have a 10 minute daily practice on Multiplication facts focusing on the key multiplication in line with the Year Group National Curriculum expectations.

Year Group Overview

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