Maths Curriculum

Maths Leads: Mrs Catherine Wakeham (KS1), Mrs Sarah Cooney (FS) & Mr Mike Hancock (KS2)

Intent

At Westwood Farm Schools, we believe maths is an essential life skill and our wish is that all children enjoy maths and become confident mathematicians who thrive on challenge.

The main strands in the programme of study for mathematics are number, measure, geometry and statistics. We follow the White Rose Maths small steps to plan the teaching and learning journey, focusing on three key principles: becoming fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics (quick recall of number facts and application of knowledge), reasoning mathematically (justify, generalise and explain why) and problem solving. This is supplemented by NCTEM mastery and NRICH problem solving activities.

In doing this, we deepen children’s knowledge and understanding of mathematics. Our teaching and learning strategies are underpinned by the concrete pictorial and abstract teaching approach.

Implementation

We use White Rose as a teaching tool. This allows children to make small steps to move through the following aspects of mathematical thinking:

Fluency - having number sense, understanding how numbers relate to each other, seeing how numbers can be split and put together in different ways and having knowledge of number facts and efficient methods to calculate.

Problem Solving - drawing on problem solving skills such as working systematically, trial and improvement, logical reasoning and spotting and exploring patterns. Problems often have multiple solutions.

Reasoning - thinking through mathematical problems logically and systematically and involves using and applying their mathematical knowledge to explain or justify a solution.

CPA

Alongside the White Rose sequence, the CPA approach is a highly effective in supporting children to develop a deep and sustainable understanding of maths.

Concrete – students should have the opportunity to use concrete objects and manipulatives to help them understand what they are doing.
Pictorial – students should then build on this concrete approach by using pictorial representations. These representations can then be used to reason and solve problems.
Abstract – with the foundations firmly laid, students should be able to move to an abstract approach using numbers and key concepts with confidence.

Please click HERE for the Maths Cafe Presentation from 30th November 2021