Curriculum Vision

At Brackley C of E Junior School we have designed our curriculum with pupils learning and development at the heart. We are committed to providing a curriculum that is broad, balanced and offers opportunities to grow. It is the school’s curriculum vision that teachers strive for academic excellence and encourage every child to reach the highest levels of achievement and personal development. We recognise that every child is unique - therefore we are dedicated to providing a curriculum that is inclusive and meets the needs of every pupil by supporting them in becoming the best they can be, regardless of their background, special/additional needs, ethnicity or disability. We strive to create a friendly, caring atmosphere which is designed to help every child flourish and realise their full potential. The school staff value the different ways in which pupils learn and plan lessons to account for these differences. Through our curriculum we intend all pupils to be prepared to live life in all its fullness. We want them to be aspirational for their future and recognise that through valuing and participating fully in their education, everyone has a place and can contribute to the wider community.

Subject Intent

At Brackley Junior School, our intent is to ensure all children are challenged and encouraged to excel in mathematics to enable them to meet their full academic potential. We attach great importance to the development of both mental and practical mathematics as an aid to understanding. We follow a ‘Teaching for Mastery’ approach in mathematics to allow children to demonstrate coherent learning strategies that give them the ability to solve problems; reason; think logically; and work systematically and accurately in a range of contexts. Arithmetic skills, calculation strategies and mental maths approaches are core to our intention that key mathematical concepts are embedded through a mastery curriculum. We intend to give our learners the skills required to retain and apply previously taught concepts out of context. We want the children to be able to recall and apply this information to see the links between topics and to apply their understanding in a range of investigative activities. We strive to ensure that children recognise the importance of mathematics in everyday life, and we intend to support them in becoming confident and competent when approaching mathematics in a range of contexts. From the time children enter our school, we intend to give them mathematical experiences from which they derive pleasure and enjoyment.  In promoting this positive attitude, we can teach them the necessary skills and basic facts at the appropriate stages. Our maths curriculum is progressive and through enquiry and discovery; our intention is to develop children’s understanding of mathematics and their awareness of its uses in the world beyond the classroom, where learners will build on their knowledge to make connections and solve increasingly sophisticated problems as they progress to key stage 3.

Subject Implementation

At our school, we teach maths daily using a mastery approach, following the Oak National Academy scheme of work (based on NCETM principles) and adapting it to meet the needs of our pupils. We have high expectations for all learners, teaching to the top while providing support and scaffolds for those who need it, including pupils with SEND.

We use the CPA (Concrete–Pictorial–Abstract) approach to build deep understanding, and manipulatives are used across all year groups to support engagement and thinking. Lessons focus on rich mathematical discussion, precise vocabulary, reasoning and problem solving.

Fluency is developed through daily practice, with additional times tables sessions (daily in most year groups, twice weekly in Years 5 and 6). Home learning supports fluency too, with a focus on times tables in lower school and arithmetic in upper school.

Assessment is used to inform teaching, with low-stakes quizzes, regular AfL, and twice-yearly summative assessments. Pupils at risk of falling behind receive timely intervention to help them keep up.

Our staff benefit from regular CPD, both whole-school and tailored to individual need, and we work closely with our local Maths Hub to continually strengthen our practice.

We aim for all children to leave us as confident, fluent, and resilient mathematicians, ready for secondary school and beyond.