Maths Intent

At Westcliff Primary Academy, we intend for children to experience a high-quality mathematics education which equips rich range of mathematical skills which allows them to use maths purposefully in the world beyond their time at school.

During their time here, we aim for children to become fluent and confident in understanding a mathematical concept before moving on to the next in order to build the foundations of their understanding.

We believe that the key element to mathematical thinking is the ability to think critically and communicate their understanding through reasoning.

We aim to:
● develop mathematical competency and skills and understanding across key concepts
● develop fluent mathematicians who are confident and able to apply their mathematical knowledge to a variety of problems
● develop pupils’ ability to reason about mathematical concepts and make connections within the mathematics programme of study, the whole school curriculum and between disciplines and the wider world
● develop independent problem solvers who take risks in their learning and challenge themselves
● foster an enjoyment of mathematics and create critical thinkers

Our mathematics curriculum is structured using small steps statements from each key learning area. We use the Power Maths scheme as a foundation to structure our planning within individual year groups. Each unit builds upon learning from the previous year group and has been designed so that links between concepts can be made.

Units are designed to focus on one specific area of the mathematics curriculum so that pupils have time to deepen their understanding as well as making connections across the different areas of learning. In addition to this, we have been accessing mathematical models and resources from the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics.

Each term, we measure progress through the completion of ‘Non-negotiables’. These are the number facts linking to the four key operations in maths (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division). The children enjoy seeing their own developments in terms of speed and recall.

Pedagogical approach – The school is currently on a journey to embedding a mastery approach in teaching. As such, Westcliff Primary Academy is working alongside a maths mastery specialist as a part of the Devon Maths HUB. We believe that this journey will help us to deliver our mathematical intent and raise attainment and enjoyment of mathematical learning throughout the school.

We believe that the most effective way for improvement is through conferencing and live marking. We try to do this as much as possible so that teachers are able to gain immediate feedback on the progress being made within a lesson and identify gaps, as well as misconceptions in learning in order to move forwards. We aim for maths to be memorable, continuing to allow the children to build and develop their knowledge so that it can be easily accessed in the world around them.