Maths

Subject Leader: Lily Wood

Our Vision

Maths is fundamental to everyday life. It provides the tools and understanding children need to navigate the world with confidence, from calculating the amount of money needed to purchase something, weighing ingredients when cooking, or telling the time to stay punctual. Maths lessons should be full of exciting opportunities that allow children to be explorative in their learning and to solve problems in a range of contexts.

At Hartwell, we aim to inspire a lifelong positive attitude towards maths by creating engaging, supportive and challenging learning experiences for pupils. Our goal is to ensure every child develops strong number skills, resilience, and self-assurance, empowering them to approach mathematical problems with curiosity, confidence and enjoyment.

Maths Policy 25-26

Intent, Implementation and Impact

Intent

At Hartwell Primary School, we believe every child can be a confident mathematician. Our maths curriculum equips pupils with the knowledge and thinking skills needed to understand the world, developing fluency, logical reasoning, creative problem solving, and the ability to apply maths to real-life contexts. We aim for mathematics to inspire curiosity, perseverance, and enjoyment so that pupils feel successful and empowered.

Aligned with the National Curriculum aims of fluency, reasoning, and problem solving, our planning provides secure progression from Early Years to Key Stage 2. Learning builds on prior knowledge, with concepts revisited and strengthened as pupils move from concrete to pictorial to abstract understanding. This approach develops confidence, accuracy, and the ability to make connections across mathematical domains.

Mathematics also nurtures wider skills including critical thinking, resilience, collaboration, communication, and financial awareness, supporting learning across the curriculum.

Our key objectives are to ensure all pupils:

gain fluency and automaticity in key number facts
reason using precise mathematical vocabulary
apply understanding to increasingly complex problems
develop confidence, independence, and a growth mind-set
recognise the relevance of maths in everyday life and future learning

We promote diversity and inclusion by providing high-quality teaching and appropriate challenge for all learners. We value different methods and strategies, and use real-world examples and varied representations so that every pupil sees maths as accessible and meaningful.

By the end of primary school, we aim for pupils to be prepared to use maths confidently, creatively, and effectively in secondary school and beyond.

Implementation

Our consistent approach to mathematics ensures all pupils make strong progress. Teaching follows a structured, mastery-led model that develops deep conceptual understanding, fluency, and confidence. Lessons use small-step progression, modelling, mathematical talk, and regular opportunities to reason and problem-solve. Prior learning is revisited and applied, with pupils encouraged to reflect on how they learn and select efficient methods. Progression is mapped carefully so pupils move securely through increasingly complex concepts.

Effective teaching strategies include:

Concrete–Pictorial–Abstract (CPA) representation
Guided and modelled practice
Mathematical talk and questioning
Fluency rehearsal and retrieval
Collaborative problem solving
Stem sentences and precise vocabulary

Staff engage in ongoing CPD focused on curriculum content, pedagogy, subject knowledge, and assessment to ensure high-quality delivery.

Assessment is embedded throughout teaching. Formative assessment through questioning, observation, and feedback informs planning, addresses misconceptions, and provides appropriate challenge or scaffolding. Summative assessments (White Rose in KS1 and TestBase in KS2) track attainment and identify pupils needing support or extension. Feedback is timely and actionable, helping pupils understand next steps.

Teaching is adapted so all learners, including those with SEND and those working at greater depth, can access and succeed in the curriculum. Adaptations may include scaffolding, pre-teaching, manipulatives, targeted questioning, and deeper reasoning tasks. We maintain high expectations while recognising different routes to success.

Through this structured, inclusive, and reflective approach, all pupils are supported to thrive as mathematicians at Hartwell.

Impact

The impact of our maths curriculum is that pupils leave each stage of primary school with secure knowledge, strong mathematical skills, and deep conceptual understanding. They develop fluency, reasoning, and problem-solving abilities that enable them to apply maths confidently in school and everyday life. As a result, pupils become resilient, curious, and self-assured mathematicians.

School performance data reflects this strength, with KS1 and KS2 SATs outcomes consistently above national averages. Pupils enjoy maths, talk confidently about their learning, and use manipulatives and visual strategies independently to deepen understanding.

High standards are sustained through reflective teaching practice. Lesson observations, book looks and learning walks support consistency and targeted development. Mathematics also contributes to wider school priorities by building confident, articulate learners and strengthening cross-curricular application, such as data in science, measurement in design and technology, and pattern in music.

Parents are active partners through workshops, home-learning support, and clear communication. Achievement is celebrated through school-wide recognition systems (including 144 grids, decimal grids, values tokens, dojo points in KS1 and credits in KS2), motivating pupils and promoting a growth mind-set.

Through strong outcomes, positive attitudes, reflective practice, and effective home-school partnerships, mathematics supports pupils’ academic success and personal development, preparing them for secondary learning and life beyond primary school.

The Subject Leader

As the Maths Subject Leader, my role is to oversee and support the teaching and learning of mathematics across the school. I work closely with teachers to develop effective planning, share best practice, and ensure a consistent approach to teaching number skills and problem-solving. I also monitor progress, provide training, and introduce resources and strategies that help every child build confidence and enjoy their maths learning.

Maths Subject Development Plan 25-26

Pupil Voice

We value gathering pupils’ views throughout the school year. To see the results of the latest pupil surveys and the insights they provide, please click below:

Maths Pupil Voice Survey Results November 2025

The Mathematics Curriculum at Hartwell

At Hartwell Primary School, the maths curriculum is carefully structured to ensure all children make consistent progress and develop a deep understanding of mathematical concepts. We use long-term plans to provide a clear sequence of learning and allow opportunities to revisit and consolidate previous learning. Each unit of work is divided into small steps of learning, allowing pupils to build their knowledge gradually and avoid cognitive overload. Lessons focus on key skills and incorporate important mathematical vocabulary, helping children to articulate their understanding confidently. This approach ensures that every child builds strong foundations, develops number fluency, and is prepared to apply their maths skills in everyday life.

Calculation Policy

Long Term Maps

Ready to Progress Criteria.

Maths National Curriculum Key Stage 1 and 2

Maths Vocabulary Progression

Progression Document

Maths in EYFS

In our school, our Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) maths curriculum is designed to give children a strong foundation in number and mathematical understanding. We follow the NCETM Mastering Number programme to develop fluency and confidence with key number skills, and we supplement this learning with the White Rose Maths scheme to provide a broad and engaging mathematical experience. Our curriculum carefully supports children to achieve the Early Learning Goals (ELGs), ensuring they develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to progress successfully into Key Stage 1.

SMSC in Maths

Maths at our school contributes to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social, and cultural (SMSC) development by encouraging logical thinking, problem-solving, and reflection. Through exploring real-life contexts, collaborative tasks, and ethical decision-making in data and statistics, children develop respect for different perspectives, confidence in reasoning, and an appreciation of how maths shapes the world around them.

SMSC in Maths.

Times Tables

Times tables are a fundamental part of our maths curriculum, providing the foundation for multiplication, division, and more complex mathematical concepts. We focus on helping children learn them progressively, using engaging strategies to build fluency, confidence, and speed, so they can apply their knowledge confidently in a variety of mathematical contexts and everyday life.

In Year 3, children begin striving to reach the ‘144 club’. This is a times tables challenge completed on a weekly basis in class. Once children have completed their jumbled 144 grid in less than 5 minutes, they receive a certificate in celebration assembly. In Year 4, children take a Multiplication Check to assess their knowledge and fluency of times tables, ensuring they have a solid foundation for future maths learning.

As children move further up the school, they aim to complete their decimal grid, then complete timed maths sheets, involving multiplication and division calculations with missing numbers.

144 Grids.

Maths Sheets.