Maths Overviews

These documents details how we organise the skills, knowledge and vocabulary that is taught in Maths across the school in each year group. 

Curriculum Intent

Through our Maths Curriculum, our aim is for pupils to develop a deep understanding of the fundamentals of Maths and then confidently apply these skills to real-life reasoning and problem solving. We strive to ignite mathematical curiosity and prepare the pupils for everyday life and future employment.

Curriculum Implementation
Our school follows the National Curriculum and the White Rose Maths program from EYFS into Key Stage 1, and continues into Key Stage 2.  Each year group has a programme of study that outlines how long each area should be taught for.

In EYFS, Maths is planned from Development Matters and the Reception classes use the White Rose Maths program. Group teaching sessions are taught each week with a differentiated task planned in Reception for all children to access in small groups with an adult. Continuous Provision activities reinforcing the teaching are planned throughout EYFS for both indoors and outdoors.

Year 1 follow the National Curriculum and the White Rose Maths program. They use the EYFS format of teaching Maths until the Spring Term. This enables a smooth transition from EYFS into Year 1, and gradually moves from a Continuous Provision approach to a semi-formal group learning approach.

 From Year 3 and above Maths is timetabled each day and lasts for 1 hour each day.  Lessons are planned for so that children of all ability groups are accounted for. Learning intentions and steps to success are shared with the children and all link to the national curriculum objectives. All teachers carefully plan their lessons to include a concrete, pictorial and abstract approach to the subject.  

In EYFS, children are baselined using Development Matters in both Nursery and Reception and given a teacher judgement. At the end of Reception, a judgement based on the Early Learning Goals is given and submitted to the LEA. Summative assessments are given each term and based on tests (all Year 2 and Year 6 children take SATs) Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4 and 5 use Non-Statutory assessments from NFER.

Mastery Approach

We teach maths at Westmoor using a mastery approach which allows pupils to acquire a deep, long-term and secure understanding of the subject.

This is achieved through:

Coherence – mathematical content is broken into small, sequential steps which the children master before moving onto new content, allowing for a progressive curriculum.

Representation and Structure – pupils use manipulatives to support new ideas and to visualise maths whilst exploring problems.  

Mathematical Thinking – we encourage pupils to explore and question whilst making connections and recognising patterns within their learning.

Fluency – we believe fluency is key to building strong foundational knowledge within mathematics so we teach this through daily retrieval practice.

Variation – children are exposed to a variety of strategies and are supported in the skill of reasoning.

Reasoning and Problem Solving

We aim for children to reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language and representation. We aim for children to be able to 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.

Vocabulary

Mathematical vocabulary is explicitly taught and modelled to children in all lessons. Subject specific vocabulary is introduced precisely and sequentially. Children are expected to use correct mathematical vocabulary to enable them to talk like a mathematician and to establish a common mathematical language. Vocabulary and STEM sentences are used in each lesson and are displayed on Maths displays throughout the school and refereed to within each teaching session. 

Curriculum Impact

Maths in our school is progressive and planned to meet the needs of all children. Assessments are carried out regularly to ensure children are accessing fluency, reasoning and problem-solving objectives at age related expectations. If children are keeping up with the curriculum, they are deemed to be making expected or more than expected progress. The implementation of the White rose planning scheme has meant the school have been successful over the years.  All staff are regularly updated with any changes. In addition, we measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods: Assessment for Learning after every Maths lesson; End of block assessments; Formative assessments which are inputted on FFT Aspire; Summative assessments each term and End of Key stage SATs results.

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Relevant Documents

Here are some documents which are relevant to Maths at Westmoor. 

Recommended websites

Below are some websites that your child may find enjoyable and help to develop their understanding of Maths.