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Laira Green Primary School

Maths - Foundation

 

Welcome to the maths section for the Foundation Stage. Here you will find information relating specifically to this year group. 

What will my child be learning?

By the end of Foundation Stage, your child is expected to be:

  • Counting up to 20 everyday objects
  • Saying and using the number names in order
  • Finding one more or less than a number up to 20
  • Starting to use the language of addition and subtraction; counting on and back
  • Sorting and matching objects and shapes
  • Comparing quantities and shapes
  • Finding and recreating simple patterns
  • Beginning to do some simple measuring, comparing lengths and quantities
  • Talking about things like size, weight, distance, time and money to develop correct vocabulary

                                     

How is my child taught?

In Foundation, children have daily maths input with a teacher. These are only brief sessions, around 15 minutes, to allow for children’s developing attention span at this age. That said, we always ensure that the inputs are fun and engaging by getting the children moving, using physical resources, chanting with actions, singing and working in groups or pairs. The learning covered in these sessions is then supported with enhancements made to the learning environment which allow the children to apply what has been taught independently. This is when children are really able to demonstrate their understanding, and adults in the unit use their expertise to judge when to step in and support, and when to step back and observe. As well as learning through play and daily maths inputs, children in Foundation will be invited to take part in two guided maths activities a week with an adult. These activities are also play based but, in being led by an adult, provides an opportunity for probing questions which take the learning even deeper.

 

 

How is my child assessed in maths?

At Laira Green we don’t ever want your child to feel like they are learning something simply to be able to perform well in a test, this is particularly true for Foundation children. Our assessments are meaningful, their purpose to inform our next steps for the children. In the Foundation Stage, all assessment is taken from teacher judgement and observations of the children; which will be a mixture of their independent learning, contributions during maths inputs and observations from guided tasks. We don’t believe in making four and five year olds sit and perform for formal tests, especially when the evidence we get from simply watching them in their play is so rich. Evidence is collected in a range of ways, mostly photographs, recordings on paper and written observations, as well as teacher testimonial.

 

How can I help my child at home?

You should have received a handy booklet all about maths at Laira Green and how you can help your child. If you didn’t, please click here to download it : Foundation Stage Maths Booklet

Support your child to see maths in everyday activities:

  • Count the stairs every time you use them.
  • Look for numbers on car number plates, house doors, price labels, cooking instructions, barcodes, road signs, bus stops etc. Numbers are everywhere, if you look around.
  • Talk about your daily routine and relate it to the time of day e.g. in the evening we eat our tea, do some homework and watch some tv etc. 
  • Play board games - recognising the amount on a dice without needing to count is so important for spotting other patterns in number. Board games are also great for practicing jumping along a number line and remembering to jump, then count! 
  • Keep counting everything - count the potatoes on your plate, count the books on your shelf, count your marbles or your cars or your pencils.
  • Sort your toys into colour piles of size piles or type piles.
  • Arrange teddies in order of size or try to make a pattern from your Lego.

For more ideas, have a read of this really useful page: 

https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/maths/maths-skills-ages-4-5/ 

Online games:

These websites are great for age appropriate maths games which support learning taking place in school. They’re also ones which we use frequently in school:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/topics/numeracy

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/3-5-years/counting

https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/kids-activities/fun-maths-games-and-activities/