Maths

Mathematics AT WHINSTONE PRIMARY

CURRICULUM INTENT

Our Mathematics Curriculum at Whinstone Primary:

Is well planned and well sequenced following a ‘Spiral’ curriculum design;
Has breadth, depth and ambition for all;
Has full scope to ensure challenge for all (embedding and enhancing the EY Educational Programme/National Curriculum);
Has high expectations and rigour, with careful scaffolding where necessary;
Guarantees long-term learning and ensures pupils know more, remember more and can do more (progress);
Is underpinned by a range of research;
Reflects our ethos.

CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION

High standard of classroom practice –based on high quality pedagogy;
Use of pre and post assessment tasks;
Enhanced curricular offer.

CURRICULUM IMPACT

Outcomes –formative and summative assessment;
Quality assurance;
Children know more, remember more and can do more in maths;
Children enjoy mathematics and are ready for the next step of their mathematical journey.

Whole School Progression Map

Curriculum Overviews – Nursery to Year 6

NURSERY/PRE-SCHOOL

In Vision Academy Learning Trust, we believe in the importance of providing our youngest children with rich, bespoke mathematical learning experiences. We aim to promote a love of mathematics, developing positive attitudes and curiosity. This is fostered within enabling environments created to provide opportunities and ambition for all children through:

Quality-first teaching
Continuous provision
Enhanced provision
Scaffolding in play
Quality adult interactions

Each of our schools have developed bespoke, well-sequenced Early Years curriculums to meet our children’s unique needs. As a Trust, we have high expectations for all of our children, therefore we have developed key ‘Reception Ready’ statements to ensure our children have firm foundations in Mathematics for the next stage of their learning journey.

Reception Ready

MATHEMATICAL PROVISION IN RECEPTION

In Early Years, we ensure children have a deep understanding of numbers to 10 and extend their understanding of the number system.
In Reception, children have daily Mathematics lessons. We use a ‘spiral’ approach ensuring the Mathematics Educational Programme and bespoke curriculum are embedded and enhanced throughout our Mathematics lessons and continuous provision. Our long-term plan has been well planned and sequenced, ensuring breadth, depth and ambition for all. The spiral approach allows us to revisit and deepen mathematical knowledge, understanding and using vocabulary. We ensure shape, space and measure are threaded through our curriculum every half term.

Our curriculum encompasses the following:

Daily counting (progressing across the year, to reach numbers to 50), starting from any number, including finding one more and one less;
A variety of representations and manipulatives, including Numicon and tens frames;
Regular subitising activities;
Ongoing focus on number bonds;
Introducing shapes with associated number of sides as a number is taught;
Language of time used throughout the school day;
Regular reading and writing of numerals, progressing beyond 10.

Enriched Opportunities:

Songs and nursery rhymes throughout our mathematics curriculum;
Continuous provision offers additional high-quality mathematical opportunities;
Using Mathematics in the outdoor environment, embedding the concept that Mathematics takes place all around us;
Bridging the curriculum and preparing for Year 1 through our ‘Year 1 Ready’ statements.

Partnership with Parents:

Curriculum information for parents
Communication with and updates for parents
Encouraging mathematics at home

Year 1 Ready

KEYSTAGE 1 AND KEYSTAGE 2 CURRICULUM:

CURRICULUM DESIGN:

At Vision Academy Learning Trust, our primary Mathematics curriculum is designed, in line with the National Curriculum, using a ‘spiral approach’ (Bruner, 1960), where learners revisit mathematical aspects throughout the year, each time making connections and deepening their understanding. Our mathematics curriculum is the product of careful sequencing and linking of declarative, procedural and conditional knowledge, which has been coherently planned and sequenced, guaranteeing long-term learning and ensuring learners are best prepared for the next stage of their learning (see curriculum plans). We want all of our pupils to develop a love and enthusiasm for Mathematics.
Our mathematics curriculum aims to build knowledge in three forms:

Declarative knowledge: (facts)
Procedural knowledge: (methods)
Conditional knowledge: (strategies)

PROGRESSION AND SEQUENCING

Progression is based on the development of interdependent units, outlined below. Pupils should make rich connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence in solving increasingly sophisticated problems:

Number – Number and Place Value
Number – Addition and Subtraction
Number – Multiplication and Division
Number- Fractions (including decimals and percentages)
Ratio and Proportion
Measurement
Geometry – properties of shapes
Geometry – position and direction
Statistics

To build mathematical knowledge effectively, some knowledge has to be built before others, e.g. elements of place value need to be understood before working with addition and subtraction and addition needs to be learnt before looking at multiplication (as a model of repeated addition). Emphasis is on number skills and mental/written methods first, carefully ordered and sequenced, throughout our primary curriculum. For some other topics, the order isn’t as crucial, e.g. Shapes and Statistics need to come after elements of number, but don’t depend on each other. We have tried to mix these so pupils have as wide a variety of mathematical experiences as possible in each term and year, in accordance with the national curriculum. We have ensured an appropriate amount of teaching time is allocated to each unit, in accordance with the number of objectives.

ARITHMETIC

From Year 1-6, we have a daily 15-minute arithmetic session which is planned time for pupils to rehearse declarative knowledge (facts – number facts and times tables) and procedural knowledge (methods). We aim to ensure pupils have efficient, accurate and clear methods for the four operations and fractions, which should be taught and rehearsed to automaticity. Equally important is the neatness and logical approaches to reduce the risk of accidental errors (Ofsted Mathematics Research Review 2021). Arithmetic content for each year group is provided, ensuring we revisit content from previous years.
Times tables and number facts should be an explicit part of the arithmetic session, ensuring rapid and accurate recall.

ASSESSMENT – FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE

Assessment is an on-going process in Mathematics, informing teaching and learning to ensure pupils make maximum progress. It consists of:

Pre-learning tasks;
Formative assessment methods: effective questioning; thumbs up/down, uses of resources etc;
Daily arithmetic;
Marking of pupils’ work;
Post-learning tasks – EYFS-Y6

Mathematics in Our School:

Pre-School

EYFS

KS1

KS2

What our children think about Mathematics at Whinstone

‘I like working in maths because it helps me to be clever with my numbers.’
‘Singing and moving to number songs is fun!’
‘Capacity work – I get to use equipment to measure liquids, which is great!’
‘Challenging word problems – I love it when my brain has to work hard.’
‘It’s fun – my teacher makes it fun.’
‘Using clocks to learn the time.’
‘It gets my brain working and makes me smarter.’
‘Tables, line graphs, bar charts – anything to do with statistics really.’
‘I like to compare how I did in my Pre-learning task, to how I did in my Post-learning task: it shows me what I’ve learnt during the week.’
‘All of it, it’s the best subject ever!’