Maths at Kexborough Primary School
CURRENTLY UNDER DEVELOPMENT - AREAS THAT ARE NOT COMPLETE WILL BE UPDATED BEFORE THE START OF THE 2026/2027 ACDEMIC YEAR.
Intent
At Kexborough Primary School, our intent is to provide a high-quality mathematics education which enables every pupil to develop secure mathematical understanding, confidence and fluency. We want children to become resilient mathematicians who can reason, solve problems, make connections and apply their mathematical knowledge effectively in different contexts.
Our curriculum is underpinned by the principles of NCETM Teaching for Mastery. We believe that mathematical success is built upon secure foundations: new learning must connect to what pupils already know, important concepts must be revisited and pupils need sufficient opportunity to practise and apply their learning so that it becomes secure and readily available.
The mathematics curriculum has been carefully mapped from EYFS to Year 6 to ensure that knowledge and skills develop progressively. Particular importance is placed upon number sense, arithmetic fluency and multiplicative reasoning because these provide essential foundations for increasingly sophisticated mathematical thinking.
Our ambition is that all pupils, regardless of starting point, leave Kexborough with the mathematical knowledge, fluency, reasoning skills and confidence required for the next stage of their education.
At Kexborough Primary School, our intent is to provide a high-quality mathematics education which enables every pupil to develop secure mathematical understanding, confidence and fluency. We want children to become resilient mathematicians who can reason, solve problems, make connections and apply their mathematical knowledge effectively in different contexts.
Our curriculum is underpinned by the principles of NCETM Teaching for Mastery. We believe that mathematical success is built upon secure foundations: new learning must connect to what pupils already know, important concepts must be revisited and pupils need sufficient opportunity to practise and apply their learning so that it becomes secure and readily available.
The mathematics curriculum has been carefully mapped from EYFS to Year 6 to ensure that knowledge and skills develop progressively. Particular importance is placed upon number sense, arithmetic fluency and multiplicative reasoning because these provide essential foundations for increasingly sophisticated mathematical thinking.
Our ambition is that all pupils, regardless of starting point, leave Kexborough with the mathematical knowledge, fluency, reasoning skills and confidence required for the next stage of their education.
The image below shows an example (Year 3) of how the curriculum is mapped out over the course of the academic year.
Implementation
Mathematics is taught in single year-group classes so that pupils receive teaching closely matched to the curriculum expectations and progression for their year group.
Across Years 1–6, the structure and sequencing of the taught curriculum is provided through Oak National Academy mathematics units, carefully mapped against the National Curriculum and the NCETM Ready to Progress (RtP) criteria. NCETM Teaching for Mastery principles underpin classroom practice, ensuring that pupils develop conceptual understanding alongside procedural fluency and that new learning builds systematically upon previously secured knowledge.
Each year group's curriculum has been mapped across the academic year so that teachers understand not only what is taught, but how individual units connect to previous and subsequent learning. This enables mathematical knowledge to develop cumulatively rather than concepts being taught in isolation.
Mathematics is taught in single year-group classes so that pupils receive teaching closely matched to the curriculum expectations and progression for their year group.
Across Years 1–6, the structure and sequencing of the taught curriculum is provided through Oak National Academy mathematics units, carefully mapped against the National Curriculum and the NCETM Ready to Progress (RtP) criteria. NCETM Teaching for Mastery principles underpin classroom practice, ensuring that pupils develop conceptual understanding alongside procedural fluency and that new learning builds systematically upon previously secured knowledge.
Each year group's curriculum has been mapped across the academic year so that teachers understand not only what is taught, but how individual units connect to previous and subsequent learning. This enables mathematical knowledge to develop cumulatively rather than concepts being taught in isolation.
Concrete resources, pictorial representations and abstract methods are used appropriately to help pupils understand mathematical structures and make connections between concepts. Precise mathematical vocabulary, reasoning and explanation are integral to mathematics teaching, with pupils encouraged to explain their thinking and justify the strategies they use.
In EYFS, Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3, pupils also participate in the Mastering Number programme. These regular sessions strengthen number sense, fluency and understanding of key number relationships, providing secure foundations for later calculation and mathematical reasoning.
Alongside the main mathematics curriculum, pupils (Y4-Y6) complete a short daily Ten A Day (TAD) session before their mathematics lesson. TAD is a retrieval and arithmetic programme designed to secure previously taught mathematical knowledge rather than introduce new learning. Its content is responsive to pupils' needs and is informed by formative assessment, Ready to Progress assessments and ongoing teacher evaluation. This enables important knowledge to be revisited regularly, misconceptions to be addressed and arithmetic fluency and automaticity to develop over time.
Multiplication facts are taught and practised systematically throughout the school, with Times Tables Rock Stars providing additional opportunities for rehearsal and the development of speed, accuracy and automatic recall.
Together, the main mathematics lesson, Mastering Number and Ten A Day provide complementary opportunities for pupils to learn new mathematical concepts, develop fluency and retrieve previously taught knowledge, ensuring that learning is progressively developed and secured over time.
In EYFS, Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3, pupils also participate in the Mastering Number programme. These regular sessions strengthen number sense, fluency and understanding of key number relationships, providing secure foundations for later calculation and mathematical reasoning.
Alongside the main mathematics curriculum, pupils (Y4-Y6) complete a short daily Ten A Day (TAD) session before their mathematics lesson. TAD is a retrieval and arithmetic programme designed to secure previously taught mathematical knowledge rather than introduce new learning. Its content is responsive to pupils' needs and is informed by formative assessment, Ready to Progress assessments and ongoing teacher evaluation. This enables important knowledge to be revisited regularly, misconceptions to be addressed and arithmetic fluency and automaticity to develop over time.
Multiplication facts are taught and practised systematically throughout the school, with Times Tables Rock Stars providing additional opportunities for rehearsal and the development of speed, accuracy and automatic recall.
Together, the main mathematics lesson, Mastering Number and Ten A Day provide complementary opportunities for pupils to learn new mathematical concepts, develop fluency and retrieve previously taught knowledge, ensuring that learning is progressively developed and secured over time.
Assessment
Assessment is deliberately aligned with the mathematics curriculum and is used to establish not simply whether content has been taught, but whether pupils have learned, retained and can independently apply important mathematical knowledge.
The NCETM Ready to Progress (RtP) criteria provide a key framework for assessing attainment. RtP assessments are carefully mapped onto each year group's curriculum overview so that teachers can see precisely when each assessment should be completed in relation to the corresponding Oak curriculum unit.
Importantly, RtP assessments are not completed immediately after a unit has been taught. They are deliberately scheduled a short period after the relevant teaching has been completed. This provides distance between initial teaching and assessment and enables teachers to evaluate the embeddedness and retention of learning, rather than simply measuring pupils' immediate recall or short-term performance at the end of a unit.
Assessment is deliberately aligned with the mathematics curriculum and is used to establish not simply whether content has been taught, but whether pupils have learned, retained and can independently apply important mathematical knowledge.
The NCETM Ready to Progress (RtP) criteria provide a key framework for assessing attainment. RtP assessments are carefully mapped onto each year group's curriculum overview so that teachers can see precisely when each assessment should be completed in relation to the corresponding Oak curriculum unit.
Importantly, RtP assessments are not completed immediately after a unit has been taught. They are deliberately scheduled a short period after the relevant teaching has been completed. This provides distance between initial teaching and assessment and enables teachers to evaluate the embeddedness and retention of learning, rather than simply measuring pupils' immediate recall or short-term performance at the end of a unit.
The image below shows an example (Year 3) of how the RtP assessments are mapped out over the course of the year.
During the period between teaching and assessment, pupils continue to encounter previously taught knowledge through retrieval, Ten A Day activities and opportunities to apply their mathematics within subsequent learning. When pupils then complete the RtP assessment, they are required to independently retrieve and apply knowledge that is no longer part of their immediate teaching sequence. This provides a more meaningful indication of whether learning has become secure and is available for future mathematical thinking.
Assessment information is used diagnostically. Teachers identify secure knowledge, misconceptions and gaps and use this information to adapt subsequent teaching, inform future Ten A Day retrieval and provide targeted support or intervention where required. In this way, assessment does not simply record attainment; it actively informs what happens next.
Alongside ongoing formative assessment and RtP assessments, pupils complete Trust-designed arithmetic assessments during the year. At the end of each year, pupils (in Year 3, 4 and 5) complete consistent Trust mathematics assessments covering both arithmetic and reasoning. These assessments are used across schools within the Trust, supporting reliable teacher judgements and enabling attainment and progress to be evaluated at pupil, class, school and Trust level.
Together, these approaches provide a cumulative picture of mathematical attainment based upon what pupils can understand, retain and apply over time, rather than what they can demonstrate immediately following teaching.
Assessment information is used diagnostically. Teachers identify secure knowledge, misconceptions and gaps and use this information to adapt subsequent teaching, inform future Ten A Day retrieval and provide targeted support or intervention where required. In this way, assessment does not simply record attainment; it actively informs what happens next.
Alongside ongoing formative assessment and RtP assessments, pupils complete Trust-designed arithmetic assessments during the year. At the end of each year, pupils (in Year 3, 4 and 5) complete consistent Trust mathematics assessments covering both arithmetic and reasoning. These assessments are used across schools within the Trust, supporting reliable teacher judgements and enabling attainment and progress to be evaluated at pupil, class, school and Trust level.
Together, these approaches provide a cumulative picture of mathematical attainment based upon what pupils can understand, retain and apply over time, rather than what they can demonstrate immediately following teaching.
EYFS
Mathematical development begins in EYFS, where teaching is aligned with the Early Years Foundation Stage framework and provides the foundations upon which the school mathematics curriculum is built.
Children develop an understanding of number, numerical patterns, comparison, composition and mathematical relationships through a combination of explicit teaching and purposeful opportunities within continuous provision. Mastering Number is used to support regular, carefully sequenced number teaching, alongside high-quality practical experiences, mathematical talk and opportunities to explore mathematics through play.
The emphasis in EYFS is upon developing secure number sense and enabling children to see, explore and talk about mathematical relationships. Children learn to notice patterns, make comparisons, subitise, count accurately and develop an increasingly secure understanding of the composition of number.
This provides the conceptual foundation from which the increasingly formal mathematics curriculum develops in Year 1 and beyond, ensuring that the progression through the school begins with, and builds directly upon, children's mathematical learning in EYFS.
Mathematical development begins in EYFS, where teaching is aligned with the Early Years Foundation Stage framework and provides the foundations upon which the school mathematics curriculum is built.
Children develop an understanding of number, numerical patterns, comparison, composition and mathematical relationships through a combination of explicit teaching and purposeful opportunities within continuous provision. Mastering Number is used to support regular, carefully sequenced number teaching, alongside high-quality practical experiences, mathematical talk and opportunities to explore mathematics through play.
The emphasis in EYFS is upon developing secure number sense and enabling children to see, explore and talk about mathematical relationships. Children learn to notice patterns, make comparisons, subitise, count accurately and develop an increasingly secure understanding of the composition of number.
This provides the conceptual foundation from which the increasingly formal mathematics curriculum develops in Year 1 and beyond, ensuring that the progression through the school begins with, and builds directly upon, children's mathematical learning in EYFS.
Impact
By the end of each key stage, our children develop a deep and secure understanding of mathematical concepts that prepare them for the next phase of their education. Pupils are confident in using mathematical language, reasoning, and problem-solving strategies. Our mastery approach ensures that all children are challenged appropriately, with intervention in place for those who need additional support.
Assessment data shows strong progression across the school, with pupils demonstrating both conceptual understanding and procedural fluency. Our approach equips children with the mathematical skills they need for future success, both in their education and in real-life situations.
By the end of each key stage, our children develop a deep and secure understanding of mathematical concepts that prepare them for the next phase of their education. Pupils are confident in using mathematical language, reasoning, and problem-solving strategies. Our mastery approach ensures that all children are challenged appropriately, with intervention in place for those who need additional support.
Assessment data shows strong progression across the school, with pupils demonstrating both conceptual understanding and procedural fluency. Our approach equips children with the mathematical skills they need for future success, both in their education and in real-life situations.
Multiplication Tables Check
The Multiplication Tables Check (MTC) was officially announced by the Department for Education (DfE) in September 2017. It has been compulsory for children in Year 4 since the summer term of 2022.
Primary-school children are expected to know all their times tables up to 12x12. Under the current National Curriculum, children are supposed to know their times tables by the end of Year 4, but until now they were not formally tested on them other than through multiplication questions in the Year 6 maths SATs.
How will children be tested?
* Children will be tested using an on-screen check (on a computer or a tablet), where they will have to answer multiplication questions against the clock.
This was the first test that was computerised in primary schools. Calculators and wall displays that could provide children with answers will be removed from the room the MTC is taking place in.
* The test will last no longer than 5 minutes and is similar to other tests already used by primary schools. Their answers will be marked instantly.
* Children will have 6 seconds to answer each question in a series of 25. Each question will be worth one mark and be presented to the child in this format:
n1 x n2 = ____
* Questions will be selected from the 121 number facts that make up the multiplication tables from 2 to 12, with a particular focus on the 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 times tables as they are considered to be the most challenging. Each question will only appear once in any 25-question series, and children won't be asked to answer reversals of a question as part of the check (so if they've already answered 3 x 4 they won't be asked about 4 x 3).
Once the child has inputted their answer on the computer / device they are using, there will be a three-second pause before the next question appears. Children will be given the opportunity to practise answering questions in this format before the official check begins.
The six-second time limit per question has been decided on by the DfE because it should allow children enough time to demonstrate their recall of times tables without giving them the time to work out the answers to each question.
Primary-school children are expected to know all their times tables up to 12x12. Under the current National Curriculum, children are supposed to know their times tables by the end of Year 4, but until now they were not formally tested on them other than through multiplication questions in the Year 6 maths SATs.
How will children be tested?
* Children will be tested using an on-screen check (on a computer or a tablet), where they will have to answer multiplication questions against the clock.
This was the first test that was computerised in primary schools. Calculators and wall displays that could provide children with answers will be removed from the room the MTC is taking place in.
* The test will last no longer than 5 minutes and is similar to other tests already used by primary schools. Their answers will be marked instantly.
* Children will have 6 seconds to answer each question in a series of 25. Each question will be worth one mark and be presented to the child in this format:
n1 x n2 = ____
* Questions will be selected from the 121 number facts that make up the multiplication tables from 2 to 12, with a particular focus on the 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 times tables as they are considered to be the most challenging. Each question will only appear once in any 25-question series, and children won't be asked to answer reversals of a question as part of the check (so if they've already answered 3 x 4 they won't be asked about 4 x 3).
Once the child has inputted their answer on the computer / device they are using, there will be a three-second pause before the next question appears. Children will be given the opportunity to practise answering questions in this format before the official check begins.
The six-second time limit per question has been decided on by the DfE because it should allow children enough time to demonstrate their recall of times tables without giving them the time to work out the answers to each question.
MTC : Workshop
In January 2025, we held a workshop with regards to the MTC (Multiplication Tables Check) that children in Year 4 will take part in during the month of June. Lots of information around the check was shared as well as information about how we approach the teaching of times tables and practical strategies for supporting children at home with this essential knowledge.
The Powerpoint that was shared in the workshop is below
The Powerpoint that was shared in the workshop is below
