Albert Einstein, 'Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.'

Mathematics is a creative and highly interconnected discipline that has been developed over centuries, providing the solution to some of history's most intriguing problems. It is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment. A high-quality mathematics education therefore provides a foundation for understanding the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.

The national curriculum for mathematics aims to ensure that: 'all pupils become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately; reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language; can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions Mathematics is an interconnected subject in which pupils need to be able to move fluently between representations of mathematical ideas. The programmes of study are, by necessity, organised into apparently distinct domains, but pupils should make rich connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence in solving increasingly sophisticated problems. They should also apply their mathematical knowledge to science and other subjects'.

Our academy uses Complete Maths to support our pupils to fulfill and each individual child's needs. We have a specific programme called Maths Tutor that allows children to review and complete the personal goals they need to acheive. Our maths planning is carefully scaffolded to ensure all pupils can achieve the thrive in maths, using Complete Maths Classroom to set objectives and goals.

Inspired by teaching approaches developed in Singapore and Shanghai, mastery is an inclusive way of teaching that is grounded in the belief that all pupils can achieve in maths. A concept is deemed mastered when learners can represent it in multiple ways, can communicate solutions using mathematical language and can independently apply the concept to new problems.

Teaching for mastery supports National Curriculum objectives, but spends more time reinforcing number before progressing to more difficult areas of mathematics. 

We have chosen to use Complete Maths to support our Learning for Mastery approach. Mastery in Maths is a journey and long-term goal, achieved through exploration, clarification, practice and application over time. At each stage of learning, pupils should be able to demonstrate a deep, conceptual understanding of the topic and be able to build on this over time.

This is not about just being able to memorise key facts and procedures, which tends to lead to superficial understanding that can easily be forgotten. Pupils should be able to select which mathematical approach is most effective in different scenarios.