Maths

“Arithmetic is being able to count up to twenty without taking off your shoes” - Mickey Mouse

Mathematics Lead – Mr Joe Atherton

The intent of maths curriculum at Berrycoombe School is ensure children become competent mathematicians by the end of their time at Berrycoombe School. We aim to develop children’s enjoyment of maths and provide opportunities for them to build a conceptual understanding of it, before applying their knowledge to everyday problems and challenges. We believe that if children can manipulate numbers confidently, accurately and efficiently, they will be able to develop their reasoning and problem-solving skills successfully.

At Berrycoombe School, we follow the aims of the National Curriculum, whereby we intend that children:

• Become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics through varied and frequent practise with increasingly complex problems over time.
• Reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, exploring relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language.
• Can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of problems of increasing complexity, including breaking these down into a series of smaller steps.

Our long-term plan follows the small steps of White Rose Maths, although there is scope for class teachers to flex the curriculum to best support the needs of their class. Examples of this include spending longer on a topic where children need to consolidate their learning or require more opportunities to ‘think deeper’.

Prior to a new maths unit starting, teachers break it down to ensure that the essential small steps are being taught in order to achieve the overall learning objective. Teachers look back at the previous year group’s expectations as a starting point and assess from here before moving on to ensure critical knowledge, skills and understanding are in place.

Each small step then forms a section on a pyramid that may take different amounts of time to teach, from one lesson to three.  This pyramid is displayed on learning walls, so everyone (including the children, parents and staff) know where the learning is aiming.

Individual lessons are planned from this framework in the form of slides which provide a clear progression of skills. Representations and calculations are chosen carefully in order to maximise understanding.

Here is what a Maths lesson looks like at Berrycoombe School:

Arithmetic Fluency

At Berrycoombe School, arithmetic skills are taught using a flexible streamed approach informed by outcomes from 3‑weekly arithmetic assessments. These regular checks allow teachers to identify pupils’ strengths and gaps accurately, ensuring teaching is responsive and targeted. Pupils are grouped into streams based on current need rather than fixed ability, enabling focused teaching of key arithmetic skills such as number fluency, calculation strategies and recall. Streams are reviewed after each assessment cycle, allowing pupils to move groups as their understanding develops. This approach ensures that all pupils receive the appropriate level of challenge or support, promotes rapid progress, and helps secure strong foundations in arithmetic across the school.

Here’s what an arithmetic fluency session looks like: