Maths Curriculum Intent

At Westminster, mathematics is a key part of our curriculum, serving as a crucial tool for understanding the world, solving problems, and developing effective strategies that our children will be able to build upon and use for the rest of their lives. Through mathematics, our children learn to think logically, reason systematically, and develop a sense of numerical fluency that supports their overall academic growth. Our mathematics curriculum is designed to develop students into confident, competent mathematicians who can approach challenges with resilience and apply mathematical concepts to a variety of contexts, both within and beyond the classroom.

Our curriculum is inclusive and is tailored to meet the diverse needs of all students. We provide a range of learning experiences and support strategies that cater to our children’s needs, abilities, and backgrounds, ensuring every child can succeed in mathematics. To ensure that every child can make strong progress over time, we provide them with carefully scaffolded activities that foster curiosity and encourage a love for learning mathematics.

Children explore a wide range of mathematical domains, including number, geometry, measurement, and statistics. They learn key mathematical concepts such as number sense, spatial awareness, and logical reasoning, which are revisited and deepened as they progress through the school. Our curriculum focuses on developing essential mathematical skills, including mental arithmetic, the ability to manipulate numbers and symbols, and the capacity to reason and explain their thinking. As pupils advance, they will build upon these skills, moving from basic number operations to more complex problem-solving and analytical tasks, preparing them for the demands of secondary school.

Our teaching strategies for mathematics include explicit instruction, guided practice, collaborative learning, and independent problem-solving activities, all within a framework that emphasises mathematical reasoning and application. Our teachers use the White Rose scheme to support the sequencing and planning of lessons and this ensures that all lessons have a clear purpose and context, and that each mathematical task is meaningful and relevant to the children. We ensure that children understand how what they have learned applies to everyday life, whether they are calculating, measuring, or interpreting data. Pupils have the opportunity to explore mathematical concepts, see real-world applications, generate solutions, and reflect on their learning.

Lessons are structured so that children are building on knowledge within individual sessions, and over time. We also recognise the importance of providing our children with opportunities to revise and consolidate prior learning so that they can retain key concepts as they progress through the school.

At Westminster, we also maintain regular communication with parents about their child’s progress in mathematics through parents’ evenings, reports and workshops, ensuring that parents are informed and involved in their child's mathematical education.

Maths Implementation

To support rapid progress, lessons are structured as follows:

• 4 a day: Four mixed arithmetic questions based on topics that the children have already been taught. This supports the children’s mathematical fluency and retention over time.
• Can you still? A question that is based on an area of the curriculum that has already been covered. This ensures that the children have retained this key knowledge.
• Practice: Following the teacher model, the children answer approximately six questions that allow them to demonstrate that they have understood the concept that has been taught to them.
• Embed: Children are then provided with an opportunity to explore the mathematical concept across a range of contexts. This is usually supported by a range of visual models to further support mathematical fluency.
• Reasoning/Problem solving: Children are given a small number of questions that require them to apply what they have learned to a real-life context and/or solve problems that require a deeper level of thinking.
• Greater Depth challenge: Children who have demonstrated a secure understanding of the lesson’s content will be provided with a challenging, often open-ended, question that encourages deeper thinking, creativity, and problem-solving by allowing the children to explore multiple approaches and solutions.

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Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6