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Mathematics

At Bamford Academy we are Mathematicians!

We recognise that maths is essential for everyday life and for understanding the world around us. It helps children to think logically, solve puzzles and tackle real-life problems, and we want every child to feel confident enough to say, “I can do this”. Our children are at the heart of everything we do, and our Mathematics (or Maths) curriculum is designed to help them grow into the happy, ambitious lifelong learners, curious about the world around them, that our school vision describes.

You will see our five core values at work in every Maths lesson. We show Respect when we listen to each other’s ideas, Perseverance when we keep going after a mistake, Kindness when we help a friend, Acceptance when we welcome different ways of thinking, and Responsibility when we look after the equipment we share. Read more about them on our Our Values and in the Headteacher’s Welcome where you can find our vision for every child.

We hope this page helps you understand what your child will experience in Maths and how you can share in their learning journey.

Maths at Bamford - At a glance

Every child from Year 1 to Year 6 has a one-hour Maths lesson every day, taught through the Power Maths mastery approach, with fluency practice, hands-on resources and plenty of talk to help every child feel “everyone can!”

Daily maths: one-hour lessons from Year 1 to Year 6; shorter sessions in Reception, supported through the learning environment.
Scheme: Power Maths, a government-recommended, high-quality mastery textbook approach used from Reception to Year 6.
Small, connected steps: each year group follows a medium-term plan in which small, cumulative steps build deep understanding.
Hands-on learning: children use real objects, pictures and then written symbols to understand ideas before they use them.
Maths Passports: every year group has a Maths Passport with six progressive fluency targets, one for each half term.
Mistake-friendly classrooms: mistakes are treated as learning tools, and “thinking” matters as much as “doing”.
Support and challenge: children who need extra help receive quick support, and children who are ready go deeper.

Subject Lead: Mr J Shepherd. Please see “Get in Touch” below.

Intent: Why we teach Maths at Bamford Academy

Maths helps children understand relationships and patterns in both number and space in the world around them. It is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment. Through our Maths curriculum we want to give each child the self-confidence and resilience to reach their full potential, with the tools to calculate fluently, reason logically, solve problems and think in abstract ways.

What are we trying to achieve in Maths?

Children become confident, competent and independent Mathematicians.
Children build a deep understanding of maths and how its ideas connect, so they can use their learning in different situations.
Children learn to explain and discuss their thinking using the right mathematical words.
Classrooms are “mistake friendly”: children see mistakes as chances to learn, with the focus on the power to think rather than just the “do”.
Every child and every adult believes that everyone can do maths and that maths is for everyone. EVERYONE CAN!
Children grow into resilient and inquisitive learners, with the skills to be lifelong Mathematicians.
Lessons are inspiring and engaging, taught by enthusiastic staff who spark curiosity and nurture confidence.

How does Maths help children learn about British values?

The above aims sit naturally alongside the British values we promote every day. When children listen to a classmate’s explanation, they practise mutual respect. When they are encouraged to think for themselves and trust their own reasoning, they grow in confidence and individual liberty. And when we say that maths is for everyone, we are making sure every child feels welcome and valued, whatever their background or beliefs.

Implementation: How we teach Maths at Bamford Academy

We use Power Maths, a government-recommended, high-quality mastery textbook approach, to help us teach Maths consistently well across the school. Each year group follows a medium-term plan in which small, cumulative steps build a solid foundation of deep understanding. Teachers adapt their plans as they go, so lessons always fit the needs of the children in front of them.

Some ideas matter more than others because so much future learning depends on them. If needed, teachers may spend extra time on these key building blocks, which come from the Department for Education’s “ready-to-progress” criteria, so that children move smoothly from one year group to the next.

What is mastery, and how does it work in the classroom?

Mastery means that children are taught to understand maths deeply, not just to memorise methods. In practice, this means:

Teachers hold the expectation that all children can achieve high standards in Maths.
The vast majority of children move through the curriculum together, at the same pace, with extra support and deeper challenge planned within lessons.
Practice and consolidation play a central role, with carefully designed variation to build fluency and a secure understanding of the ideas underneath.
Teachers use precise questioning to check understanding and spot children who need help, so that everyone keeps up.
Success criteria are shared in each session so children know what success looks like.

How do children learn with objects, pictures and symbols?

To build secure understanding, teachers plan carefully for concrete resources (things children can touch and move), varied pictorial representations and clear structures, guided by Power Maths. Children see an idea in real objects and pictures before they work with numbers and symbols alone. Our classrooms are well equipped, and children are encouraged to be responsible for the resources they share. Resources include:

number lines, hundred squares, place value cards, counters and grids, and bead strings
Dienes (base ten), multilink cubes and Numicon
money, clocks and measuring equipment for length, mass and capacity
2D and 3D shapes, pattern blocks and protractors
number and fractions’ fans, individual whiteboards, dice and interactive whiteboard software

How do children learn to be quick and confident with number facts?

Fluency means knowing key facts and being able to choose the most sensible method for the task at hand. Children cannot go deeper into maths until they can recall key facts efficiently, so fluency sessions are fun, varied and fast-paced, and we want every child to be “mathematically active” throughout. Key areas include addition and subtraction facts to 20, number bonds, doubling, halving, partitioning, rounding and times tables.

Our Bamford Maths Passports give this fluency journey a clear structure from Reception to Year 6. Each year group’s Passport has six progressive targets, one for each half term, so children, teachers and parents/carers can all see what is being learned and celebrate progress as it happens. Teachers share each half-term focus with families so you can support practice at home.

At the end of a half term, teachers describe progress as…	What this means
Growing	The child is developing the target knowledge and strategies, and still benefits from teaching, modelling, hands-on or picture support, or more practice.
Flourishing	The child can recall and use most of the key facts and strategies with growing independence, but is not yet consistently fluent in every context.
Thriving	The child recalls and uses the target facts fluently and independently, including related facts and missing-number problems, and can use them flexibly.

These are points on a learning journey, not fixed labels for children. Teachers use classroom work and their own assessment, alongside online tools such as Numbots, Times Tables Rock Stars and IDL, to decide what each child’s next step should be.

How do we get children talking like Mathematicians?

Children are taught to explain their thinking and justify their answers using precise mathematical vocabulary, and teachers place a strong emphasis on the correct use of mathematical language. You will often hear “How do you know?” in our classrooms, and children learn that sharing a mistake helps everyone learn.

How do we check that every child is keeping up?

Checking understanding is built into every lesson and every unit. Teachers listen, question and mark work during lessons, and at the end of a lesson children review their work and show how confident they feel, which helps teachers decide where to revisit an idea. At the end of each unit, children complete an End of Unit Assessment so any gaps can be closed before the next unit begins. Summative assessments also take place termly. Where a child needs a little extra help, short, focused “Keep Up” support begins straight away.

In the classroom: Year 3, Fractions (1)

Year 3 children spend ten lessons on Unit 8: Fractions (1) in Spring 2. Each lesson follows the familiar Power Maths rhythm. Children start with Discover and Share, exploring a new idea and talking about it together. In Think Together, the teacher guides practice so that everyone is ready to try the idea for themselves. Children then practise independently, using the success criteria, and finish by reviewing their work and showing how confident they feel. Hands-on resources such as fractions’ fans can help children see an idea before they use written symbols. Each small step is checked by the teacher and children before the class moves on to more depth.

You may notice your child…

using counters, cubes, drawings or a bar model to show an idea before writing it down
being asked to explain how they know an answer, and not only what the answer is
saying that making a mistake helped them to learn something
talking about a Maths Passport target and the number facts they are practising this half term
telling you how confident they felt about the day’s learning

British values in our Maths classrooms

Democracy: every child’s ideas and reasoning are heard and valued when we discuss maths together.
The rule of law: maths has clear rules and conventions that apply fairly to everyone, and children learn to follow them and to justify their answers with accurate language.
Individual liberty: children grow into independent Mathematicians who trust their own thinking and are confident to say “I can”.
Mutual respect: children listen to each other’s explanations and see mistakes as a shared chance to learn, living out our values of Respect and Kindness.
Tolerance and acceptance: maths is for everyone, and we welcome every child’s way of thinking, whatever their background, faith or belief.

Impact: What children achieve in Mathematics

Our aim is for every child to leave Bamford Academy as a confident, capable Mathematician. This is what we see when our approach is working:

Children are happy learners who talk enthusiastically about their maths and are eager to make further progress.
The impact of mastery and our emphasis on accurate mathematical language is clear in class and pupil discussions.
Children’s fluency in number is evident in our strong track record in arithmetic.
Teaching is more consistent across the school, using practices known to be effective for children’s progress in the long term.
Moderation across schools shows a high level of challenge for children of all abilities, through reasoning and problem-solving activities.
Teachers’ assessments of the depth of children’s learning are increasingly accurate.
Business and enterprise activities have enriched children’s mathematical experiences and supported their fluency in the basics.
By the end of Key Stage 2, achievement is in line with the national average, with an increasing proportion of children working at greater depth.

What does success in Maths look like?

Success is not about getting every answer right first time. It is a child who is willing to have a go, who can say “I’m not sure yet, but I’ll try a different way”, and who can explain how they worked something out. When children are confident to talk about their thinking, to learn from a mistake and to keep going when something is tricky, they are building the habits of a lifelong Mathematician. That is what we celebrate, and it is why the Maths Passport recognises children as Growing, Flourishing and Thriving as they move on step by step.

What your child will learn in Mathematics: Curriculum Overview

The overview below follows our Maths Long Term Overview 2026–2028. In each year group, the units come from Power Maths and run in the order shown. The final column shows the half-term fluency focus from the Maths Passport. Lesson numbers show roughly how long we spend on each unit. Teachers may adjust timings to meet the needs of their class.

Early Years Foundation Stage

Reception

In Reception, children learn through shorter Maths sessions that are then consolidated through the enhancements in the learning environment. They work with concrete and pictorial representations (for example, showing that five cars can also be shown as five counters or five cubes) and record their findings in their own way.

Half term	What we explore	Fluency focus (Maths Passport)
Autumn 1	Numbers to 5; comparing groups within 5 Geometry: properties of shape – shapes	Getting to know numbers 1–4 in depth (“the oneness of one” to “the fourness of four”)
Autumn 2	Change within 5; number bonds within 5 Geometry: properties of shape – space	Getting to know numbers 5–8 in depth (“the fiveness of five” to “the eightness of eight”)
Spring 1	Numbers to 10; comparing numbers within 10 Addition to 10	Getting to know number 9, and what zero is and means
Spring 2	Number bonds to 10, then subtraction Measure Geometry: exploring patterns	Subitising 1–4 (recognising a small amount at a glance)
Summer 1	Counting on and counting back Numbers to 20 Numerical patterns (multiplication and division)	Subitising 4–9
Summer 2	Geometry: shapes Number and place value Addition and subtraction Sorting Measurement Time	Adding numbers; making totals up to 9 with other numbers (“How can I make 7?”)

Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2)

Year 1

Half term	What we learn (Power Maths units)	Fluency focus (Maths Passport)
Autumn 1	Unit 1: Numbers to 10 (14 lessons) Unit 2: Part-whole within 10 (7 lessons)	Adding 0
Autumn 2	Unit 3: Addition within 10 (4 lessons) Unit 4: Subtraction within 10 (8 lessons) Unit 5: 2D and 3D shapes (5 lessons)	Adding – bonds to 10
Spring 1	Unit 6: Numbers to 20 (12 lessons) Unit 7: Addition and subtraction within 20 (11 lessons)	Subtracting – bonds to 10
Spring 2	Unit 8: Numbers to 50 (7 lessons) Unit 9: Introducing length and height (4 lessons) Unit 10: Weight and volume (7 lessons)	Adding 10 (from 10 + 0 to 10 + 10)
Summer 1	Unit 11: Multiply and divide (9 lessons) Unit 12: Halves and quarters (4 lessons) Unit 13: Position and direction (5 lessons)	Adding 2 and 3
Summer 2	Unit 14: Numbers to 100 (6 lessons) Unit 15: Money (3 lessons) Unit 16: Time (5 lessons)	Adding doubles (up to 10 + 10)

Year 2

Half term	What we learn (Power Maths units)	Fluency focus (Maths Passport)
Autumn 1	Unit 1: Numbers to 100 (17 lessons) Unit 2: Addition and subtraction (1) (13 lessons)	Adding – near doubles
Autumn 2	Unit 3: Addition and subtraction (2) (12 lessons) Unit 4: Properties of shapes (12 lessons)	Adding – bridging 10
Spring 1	Unit 5: Money (10 lessons) Unit 6: Multiplication and division (1) (8 lessons)	Adding – bonds to 20
Spring 2	Unit 7: Multiplication and division (2) (10 lessons) Unit 8: Length and height (5 lessons) Unit 9: Mass, capacity and temperature (8 lessons)	Multiplication: ×2 and ÷2, linked to doubles and halves
Summer 1	Unit 10: Statistics (7 lessons) Unit 11: Fractions (12 lessons)	Multiplication: ×5 and ÷5 (mental recall of questions out of sequence)
Summer 2	Unit 12: Position and direction (5 lessons) Unit 13: Time (5 lessons) Unit 14: Problem solving (11 lessons)	Multiplication: ×10 and ÷10 (mental recall of questions out of sequence)

Lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3 and 4)

Year 3

Half term	What we learn (Power Maths units)	Fluency focus (Maths Passport)
Autumn 1	Unit 1: Place value within 1,000 (13 lessons) Unit 2: Addition and subtraction (1) (10 lessons)	Adding – number bonds to 100
Autumn 2	Unit 3: Addition and subtraction (2) (13 lessons) Unit 4: Multiplication and division (1) (5 lessons) Unit 5: Multiplication and division (2) (13 lessons)	Multiplication and division: ×3 and ÷3
Spring 1	Unit 6: Multiplication and division (3) (13 lessons) Unit 7: Length and perimeter (11 lessons)	Adding and subtracting – doubles beyond 20 and matching halves
Spring 2	Unit 8: Fractions (1) (10 lessons) Unit 9: Mass (7 lessons) Unit 10: Capacity (6 lessons)	Multiplication and division: ×4 and ÷4
Summer 1	Unit 11: Fractions (2) (8 lessons) Unit 12: Money (5 lessons) Unit 13: Time (12 lessons)	Adding and subtracting – doubling and halving to 100 (partitioning two-digit numbers, then recombining)
Summer 2	Unit 14: Angles and properties of shapes (9 lessons) Unit 15: Statistics (7 lessons)	Multiplication and division: ×8 and ÷8

Year 4

Half term	What we learn (Power Maths units)	Fluency focus (Maths Passport)
Autumn 1	Unit 1: Place value – 4-digit numbers (1) (8 lessons) Unit 2: Place value – 4-digit numbers (2) (8 lessons)	Multiplication and division: 6 and 12 times tables, and their inverses
Autumn 2	Unit 3: Addition and subtraction (16 lessons) Unit 4: Area (5 lessons) Unit 5: Multiplication and division (1) (12 lessons)	Adding – number bonds to any 100 (building on the Year 3 approach)
Spring 1	Unit 6: Multiplication and division (2) (16 lessons) Unit 7: Perimeter (6 lessons) Unit 8: Fractions (1) (9 lessons)	Multiplication and division: 9 and 11 times tables, and their inverses
Spring 2	Unit 9: Fractions (2) (8 lessons) Unit 10: Decimals (1) (12 lessons)	Adding and subtracting – doubling and halving any two-digit number
Summer 1	Unit 11: Decimals (2) (7 lessons) Unit 12: Money (6 lessons) Unit 13: Time (5 lessons)	Multiplication and division: 7 times table and its inverse
Summer 2	Unit 14: Geometry – angles and 2D shapes (8 lessons) Unit 15: Statistics (6 lessons) Unit 16: Position and direction (6 lessons)	Multiplying single-digit numbers; dividing 4-digit numbers by 10, 100 and 1,000

Upper Key Stage 2 (Years 5 and 6)

Year 5

Half term	What we learn (Power Maths units)	Fluency focus (Maths Passport)
Autumn 1	Unit 1: Place value within 1,000,000 (1) (8 lessons) Unit 2: Place value within 1,000,000 (2) (6 lessons) Unit 3: Addition and subtraction (12 lessons)	Multiplication and division: revising all times tables in mixed order, using related multiples of 10, 100 and 1,000
Autumn 2	Unit 4: Multiplication and division (1) (10 lessons) Unit 5: Fractions (1) (8 lessons) Unit 6: Fractions (2) (11 lessons)	Multiplication and division: square numbers and square roots, and an introduction to cube numbers
Spring 1	Unit 7: Multiplication and division (2) (10 lessons) Unit 8: Fractions (3) (7 lessons)	Addition and subtraction: decimal bonds to 1 and 2
Spring 2	Unit 9: Decimals and percentages (15 lessons) Unit 10: Measure – perimeter and area (8 lessons) Unit 11: Graphs and tables (6 lessons)	Addition and subtraction: decimal bonds to 10 and 20
Summer 1	Unit 12: Geometry – properties of shapes (12 lessons) Unit 13: Geometry – position and direction (6 lessons) Unit 14: Decimals (15 lessons)	Multiplication and division: revising all times tables in mixed order, using decimals (tenths, hundredths, thousandths)
Summer 2	Unit 15: Negative numbers (4 lessons) Unit 16: Measure – converting units (10 lessons) Unit 17: Measure – volume and capacity (3 lessons)	Multiplication and division: cube numbers to 10

Year 6

Half term	What we learn (Power Maths units)	Fluency focus (Maths Passport)
Autumn 1	Unit 1: Place value within 10,000,000 (8 lessons) Unit 2: Four operations (1) (8 lessons) Unit 3: Four operations (2) (12 lessons)	Recap and revision of all previous year groups, filling any gaps that appear
Autumn 2	Unit 4: Fractions (1) (9 lessons) Unit 5: Fractions (2) (9 lessons) Unit 6: Imperial and metric (5 lessons)	Practice for the Year 6 SATs arithmetic assessment; pinpointing gaps and using fluency sessions to improve
Spring 1	Unit 7: Ratio and proportion (9 lessons) Unit 8: Algebra (11 lessons) Unit 9: Decimals (9 lessons)	Revision of key concepts and how they can be used in several different ways
Spring 2	Unit 10: Percentages (8 lessons) Unit 11: Measure – perimeter, area and volume (11 lessons)	Revision of key concepts and how they can be used in several different ways
Summer 1	Unit 12: Statistics (11 lessons) Unit 13: Geometry – properties of shape (12 lessons) Unit 14: Position and direction (5 lessons)	Revision of key concepts and how they can be used in several different ways
Summer 2	Unit 15: Problem solving (14 lessons) Consolidation and SATs preparation	Transition activities, including understanding the Key Stage 3 curriculum in children’s future settings

Maths beyond the lesson

Maths does not stop when the lesson ends. Alongside the curriculum, children meet maths in the wider life of the school as part of our Personal Development.

Business and enterprise: our business and enterprise activities have enriched children’s mathematical experiences and supported their fluency in the basics.
Role models: in Year 6, children study the Mathematician Alan Turing as part of our Personal Development programme.
Careers Week: each year, children meet people from a wide range of professions, which helps link careers to the curriculum and raises aspirations for the future.
myHappymind: through myHappymind, children learn about their brains and how to keep trying when something is difficult, which goes hand in hand with our mistake-friendly maths classrooms. Read more on our myHappymind page

How Can I Help My Child with Maths at Home?

You do not need to be a maths expert to help! Small, regular moments make a big difference. Try asking your child: “How did you know?”, “Can you do it in a different way?” or “Where might we use this in real life?” Our Maths Passport Parent Question Guides (see below) give quick questions and answers for every target.

Your child may also use these online tools, which their teacher will tell you about:

Times Tables Rock Stars for times table practice
Numbots for number fact practice
ActiveLearn, which has the Power Maths online games

View and download our Maths curriculum documents:

Our two key documents explain what we teach and why. You can read them online or download a copy.

Mathematics Intent, Implementation and Impact Statement

Mathematics Policy

Supporting every child

At Bamford Academy, Maths is for everyone. We expect every child to meet age-related expectations, and our teachers take the time to fill any gaps a child may have in a particular area. Teachers plan carefully for children who need extra help, using hands-on resources and pictures to help ideas stick, and short, focused support when a child is not yet keeping pace. Children who are ready to go further have “going deeper” opportunities planned for them. Where a child needs support beyond this, we work closely with parents to find the right help. You can read more about our approach on our SEND page

If you ever feel your child needs more support or more challenge in maths, please talk to us. Your child’s teacher will always work with you to find the right next step.

Frequently Asked Questions about Mathematics at Bamford Academy

How much maths will my child do each day?

Children in Years 1 to 6 have a one-hour maths lesson every day. In Reception, Maths sessions are shorter and are then built on through the learning environment, so children keep exploring number, shape and pattern as they play.

What maths scheme does Bamford Academy use?

We use Power Maths, a government-recommended, high-quality mastery textbook approach. It breaks learning into small, connected steps and uses real objects, pictures and symbols to build deep understanding. Children use practice books and a digital version of the textbooks is shared in class.

What is a Maths Passport?

A Maths Passport is a set of six fluency targets for each year group, one for each half term. It makes your child’s learning visible and helps you see what number facts they are working on. At the end of each half term, teachers check how your child is getting on and describe progress as Growing, Flourishing or Thriving. These are steps on a journey, not labels.

Why does my child use different methods from the ones I learned at school?

Children first use real objects and pictures to understand how a calculation works, then move to written methods. Our calculation policies show the methods taught at each stage, so you can see how children’s methods build up over time. Please feel free to ask your child’s teacher if you would like to talk through anything.

What if my child finds maths difficult, or needs more challenge?

Teachers check understanding in every lesson and every unit, so extra help starts quickly through short “Keep Up” sessions. In fluency work, a child may also practise targets from an earlier year’s Maths Passport. Children who are secure may start working towards targets in the next passport, and “going deeper” tasks are planned for those ready for more. Whole-class teaching stays focused on the current year group.

How will I find out how my child is doing in Maths?

Your child’s attainment and progress are discussed with you at Parents’ Evenings, informed by the End of Unit Assessments and termly assessments. You can also use the Maths Passport to talk about progress throughout the year. If you have a question at any other time, please just ask.

Get in touch

Our Maths Subject Lead is Mr J Shepherd. We love talking about maths and would be delighted to hear from you, whether you have a question about what your child is learning, how to help at home or how we support children in Maths. Please contact the school office and we will pass your message on.

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