Maths at Westminster

Lead: Alison Moore

At Westminster Primary Academy we recognise the importance of Maths teaching in order to open up other areas of the curriculum. In addition to regular maths sessions, teachers try to make as many cross curricular links as possible in order to utilise these skills in a range of contexts.

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Maths at Westminster Primary is taught through different themes with prior learning built on in each year group in order to deepen knowledge and understanding of core concepts. The mathematics curriculum clearly states that children should develop competence in:

fluency - problem solving - reasoning

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Throughout school, teaching focuses on giving children practical experiences through concrete materials. Concrete is the “doing” stage. During this stage, children use concrete objects to model problems which brings concepts to life by allowing children to experience and handle physical (concrete) objects.

         

                     

Teaching then moves on to pictorial which is the “seeing” stage. Here, visual representations of concrete objects are used to model problems. This stage encourages children to make a mental connection between the physical object they just handled and the abstract pictures, diagrams or models that represent the objects from the problem.

                                      

Abstract is the “symbolic” stage, where children use abstract symbols to model problems. Students will not progress to this stage until they have demonstrated that they have a solid understanding of the concrete and pictorial stages of the problem. The abstract stage involves the teacher introducing abstract concepts (for example, mathematical symbols). Children are introduced to the concept at a symbolic level, using only numbers, notation, and mathematical symbols (for example, +, –, x, /) to indicate addition, multiplication or division.

   

To support the mental fluency with numbers we learn number facts, such as number bonds and times tables. These are regularly practised and tested - often in fun ways using online platforms such as: Times Tables Rockstars and Numbots.

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Supporting your child with Maths at home

Whilst children learn about maths in school, there are also lots of ways that we need you to support your child at home. There are so many fun activities and games you can include in your everyday routines! As maths is all around us and we’re using it every day, you may already be doing many of these mathematical activities and practicing your child’s numerical skills without even thinking about it. The most important thing you can do is to make learning maths fun! Many parents will find that the way maths is taught is different from their own experience. If there are aspects of maths you would like to know more about, please see our calculation policy.

 

Planning and delivery

We use Focus Education as a guide to the order of teaching and a mixture of resources for delivery including Focus Education, White Rose Maths and Third Space Learning. We are also using Third Space Learning online tuition as part of our recovery curriculum.

 

If you have any queries or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact your child’s class teacher.   

For planning purposes we follow Focus Education but utilise other resources including White Rose Maths for delivery: