Maths

Our Vision for Maths Learning at Burlington

At Burlington Infant and Nursery School maths teaching will develop resilient learners who are confident and have a love of maths. The curriculum and teaching will equip pupils with the required skills of calculation, reasoning and problem solving that they will need in the future. Teachers will expose children to a variety of concrete and pictorial representations which will deepen mathematical understanding. The curriculum will be structured and taught in a way to ensure children have the ability to recall facts and solve problems fluently in a variety of contexts.

Maths Curriculum Overview

Nursery

In Nursery, children are given opportunities to enjoy learning and exploring about mathematics. Maths learning can happen anywhere and, by providing the children with a rich environment and carefully planned activities, we ensure that children have opportunities to develop their sense of number, learn about shape and experience solving practical problems.

The children will develop their counting skills and this will include being able to count in order, to understand the quantity of a group of objects and begin to match numerals to small sets of objects. In the mud kitchen children will count the spoonsful of mud needed for a recipe or they will hunt for and count the hidden jewels in the sand! At the same time teachers will work with small groups of children developing their ability to solve practical problems and practise singing and learning counting rhymes.

Alongside learning about number children’s understanding of shape and measure is also developed. Children will begin to recognise simple shapes for example, as they go on a walk around the school they will observe the different shapes they can see, and through play will learn simple shape properties. Children will also be provided with lots of opportunities to develop their understanding of measure, for example children will build towers of different sizes or make long and short water tunnels for their toys to travel along.

Reception

In Reception, the children will continue to build on their knowledge of number, shape, pattern and measure. As they enter Reception they develop and deepen their understanding of number, for example they will count to and beyond 20 and they understand how numbers can be made of two or more smaller numbers. For example, children playing with 5 teddies will explore how many different ways they could be arranged in two beds. By the end of Reception children will have a secure understanding of number bonds to 5 and will be able to recall these with fluency. In addition to understanding about numbers they will also explore comparing numbers and quantities and will understand numbers can be greater than, less than or the same as the other quantity. Teachers will also carefully plan activities that teach children the strategies of addition, subtraction and how to share quantities. As the children develop their maths knowledge they will be encouraged to record their work.

Another important part of maths learning in Reception is to extend the children’s understanding of shape, pattern and measure. They will build on their understanding of shape and develop their ability to describe different shapes and their properties.

Throughout Reception teachers will ensure that children have positive attitudes towards maths by providing the children with opportunities to talk about their maths, to take risks and to investigate their understanding of maths through play.

Year 1

As the children enter Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2) the children will consolidate their understanding of number and how numbers can be made up of two or more smaller numbers which are called number bonds. In Year 1 the children will use a variety of models and resources to help them to develop their conceptual understanding, for example they will use tens frames and the part, part whole model. As their understanding deepens they will use their knowledge of number bonds to help them to solve addition and subtraction facts up to 20. Through regular practise the children will develop their ability to solve addition and subtraction problems with increasing fluency.

An important area of maths that will be developed is the children’s understanding of place value. The children will be provided with lots of practical activities that use carefully selected resources that will help children understand how many tens and ones are in numbers up to 100. This knowledge and understanding will help them to order numbers, say one more and one less than any number and compare numbers by saying which numbers are greater, less than or equal. Counting will be developed further as they will learn to count in steps of 2s, 5s and 10s. This knowledge will be used to solve practical problems that involve multiplication and division.

Maths in Year 1 also includes developing children’s knowledge of shape and measure. In Year 1 they will learn to name common shapes and use vocabulary such as vertices, edges and faces. In addition to learning about shape they will develop their ability to measure in non-standard units and standard units such as centimetres and litres.

In all areas of the maths the children will be provided with opportunities to apply their knowledge to solve problems.

Year 2

In Year 2, the children will secure and deepen their understanding of place value for numbers up to 100. They will explore how a number can be partitioned in different ways. To help them to develop their conceptual understanding they will continue to use a variety of concrete resources such as Dienes and tens and ones counters. Their knowledge of place value will help them to add and subtract two digit numbers. They will use practical resources and, when ready, they will be encouraged to record their work in different ways, for example by drawing the tens and ones or by using an empty number line. The children will learn that when adding and subtracting tens and ones there it is sometimes necessary to exchange the tens or ones.

In year 2 the children will build on the learning from the previous year and will solve multiplication and division problems but this will be extended and children will learn how to solve numerical problem. They will also learn that numbers and shapes can be divided into fractions. In all maths learning the children will apply their knowledge to solve a variety of real life word problems, number problems and puzzles.

In addition to developing their calculation and number knowledge they will also refine and improve their understanding of shape and measure. Children will be able to describe shapes by referring to the number of vertices, edges, sides, faces and curved surfaces. They will be provided with opportunities to use standard units of measurement when measuring mass, length and temperature and will learn how to read a variety of measuring scales.

National Curriculum

The Maths curriculum at Burlington follows the National Curriculum. You can find the appropriate extract of this National Curriculum for Science here:

National Curriculum in KS1 - Maths

Please note this extract covers KS1 (Years 1 and 2) and Key Stage 2 which is followed by the Junior School (Years 3 to 6).

The curriculum maps below gives you a complete summary of the Maths skills, knowledge and key vocabulary that we teach our children, during each term as they progress from Nursery / Reception and through to Years 1 and 2.

Maths @Burlington - Curriculum Map for Nursery and Reception

Maths @Burlington - Curriculum Map for Years 1 and 2

Here are some photos of our teaching and learning for Maths across the school:

News and Events

Maths Day 2023

At Burlington, we enjoyed our annual Maths Day. This year we based all our learning around the book Walter’s Wonderful Web, which is about a spider who is desperate to make different shaped webs and has to keep persevering. Please see below for more news and photos.

Maths Day 2023

Mastering Number

This year we continue to take part in an exciting Maths project called Mastering Number. To find out more, please click below:

Mastering Number - Spring 2022

Monthly Maths Challenge

Every month the children will be given a Maths Monthly Challenge. The children will take home a maths activity that is linked to the learning they do in their year group. Sometimes it will focus on developing their fluency or developing their problem solving skills. The children will need to bring in their completed work which will be placed in a special box. At the end of the month all sheets will be collected in and three lucky children will be randomly picked as our winners. Each child will receive a small prize. Good luck!

How to Help at Home

We recently held a Maths workshop where parents from all year groups were invited to find out about the different ways we teach number bonds, addition and subtraction. At the workshop we looked at the different models and methods we regularly use, such as how we use tens and ones resources, bar models and tens frames. The aim of the session was to give parents / carers a better understanding of how we teach maths and how children can be supported at home. You can find a copy of the presentation shared at the workshop in the link below.

Maths Workshop

Here are some other documents you may find useful:

Maths workshop Y1 and Y2 multiplication and division April 2023

Maths workshop on place value

Progression in Calculation

Maths Vocabulary List (Nursery to Year 2)

Below are some practical ideas to help your child with the different areas of Maths. This is a very important aspect of Maths and it will be really useful if you can use these ideas at home.

Count forwards and backwards starting at different numbers
Count objects (for younger children count a few objects, for older children group objects into tens and ones to count)
Play board games like Snakes and Ladders, Ludo, bingo that involve counting and opportunities for addition and subtraction.
Sing number songs together
Play games like dominoes where children have to recognise, count and match number/pattern of dots.
Play dice and card games.
Look for numbers whilst walking or on a journey count stairs, count buttons, count lampposts on a walk, count ‘red’ cars on a journey, add together numbers on a number plate etc.
Cut out numerals from newspapers and magazines and put in order.
Choose a shape of the week eg square or cuboid. How many times can you see it when at home, or when you are out? Can your child describe the shape to you by naming its properties?
Make up shape games. How quickly can you find 5 triangles in a particular room?
Make pictures with different shapes.
Allow your child to add up amounts of real money.
Encourage children to think about ‘change’. Ask them how much change they would get from 10p if they spent 5p etc.
Allow your child to pay for things at the supermarket and work out how much change they will get.
Involve your child in cooking. Look at numbers on scales and measuring jugs.
Ask questions eg Who’s the tallest/shortest in the family? Who is the oldest/youngest in the family? When shopping which is the lightest/heaviest item? … etc
Plan an outing during the holidays. Think about what time you will need to set off and how much money you will need to take.
Use a bus/train timetable to work out how long a journey between 2 places should take.