At St Alphonsus’ Catholic Primary School we plan learning and teaching with a view to enabling each child to achieve their full potential and seek the highest level of personal achievement.  

Our Maths Vision

At St. Alphonsus’, we believe that all children can succeed in mathematics. We don’t believe that there are individuals who can do maths and those who can’t. A positive teacher mind-set and strong subject knowledge are key to every child’s success in mathematics. This will ensure that all pupils are challenged in lessons, in order to increase the proportion of pupils working at the higher standard.

Our Maths Intent – Why do we teach maths the way we do, and how does it meet the needs of our pupils?

High Five

1. Through an ambitious and broad curriculum, pupils will be positive and curious about maths and will seek challenges in their learning.
2. Pupils are challenged in lessons in order to increase the proportion of pupils working at the higher standard in mathematics.
3. Pupils will be resilient in maths and will have the confidence to make and learn from mistakes. 
4. Pupils will have the confidence and skills to reason and problem solve. 
5. Pupils will have secure mathematical knowledge across a range of key mathematical concepts to prepare them for academic success at KS3 and beyond.

We understand that a secure understanding of primary mathematics and basic numeracy skills are fundamental to future academic success. We place high priority on proficiency in early maths skills such as counting, comparing and classifying, and thinking skills as a basis for sound mathematical understanding, so pupils find success when learning more advanced skills later in school. Many of our pupils have low starting points, so this drive to secure basic skills is essential for many of our children but this certainly does not deter us from our vision of universal academic success in mathematics. 

In Key Stage 1 and Early Years we aim to develop a strong sense of number. We are currently taking part in the Mastering Number Programme. This will develop 

firm foundations in the development of good number sense for all children from Reception through to Year 1 and Year 2. The aim over time is that children will leave KS1 with fluency in calculation and confidence and flexibility with numbers.

A culture of embracing mistakes is evident in every classroom. The aim is to build resilience in our young mathematicians: learners are encouraged to identify and discuss errors, in order to recognise when they are successful and learn from our mistakes. Each child is coached to become confident in maths by overcoming barriers to learning with ‘lightbulb moments’. The concept of ‘Mistakes are powerful!’ will be celebrated in each classroom.

To support teaching and learning of mathematics in our school, we follow the scheme of learning from White Rose Maths. We chose WRM as it ensures all children have the same opportunities to learn and the support they need to fully grasp key concepts. The philosophy behind White Rose Maths also focuses on making maths fun for children and helping them to find enjoyment in number problems, something which we fully embrace at St Alphonsus’ to promote a positive, resilient attitude to maths.

Implementation of our Maths Curriculum – What do we teach? What does it look like?

What do we teach?

To support teaching and learning of mathematics in our school, we follow the scheme of learning from White Rose Maths. As a whole school, we also work collaboratively to ensure WRM works in the best way possible for our children by incorporating a range of other resources – where appropriate – to best support pupils to meet and exceed curriculum objectives. Staff also implement our agreed calculations policy for progression in written and mental calculations.

We teach in mixed ability groups, where children can talk about their mathematical ideas and reason with each other. Through reasoning and discussion, more confident learners will raise the status of maths with children who find certain concepts in maths challenging. Teaching staff teach content only for their required key stage or year group, to ensure that true mastery of learning occurs: depth before breadth.

Adaptations will occur in a way that does not limit a child’s achievements. All children will be working towards the same goal, however where pupils with SEND need adaptations making, this takes into account the needs of individual children. Skilled teachers and TAs will provide instant feedback to ascertain if the child is being appropriately challenged, and move their learning forward or address misconceptions.

Scheme of Learning

• Nursery – we ensure that all children develop firm mathematical foundations in a way that is engaging, and appropriate for their age. Our Nursery SoW was developed using Mastering the Curriculum resources, which provide a platform for everything children will encounter as they progress through their maths learning at primary school which are implemented within the continuous provision. 
• Reception to Year 6:
  • Long Term Plan – a yearly overview provides a layout of what should be taught across the year and the number of weeks suggested teaching time.  
  • Medium Term Plan – each term is split into twelve weeks and covers all statutory national curriculum topics for maths.  The overviews show that  a  significant  amount of  time  is devoted  to  developing  key  number  concepts  each  year. This  is  to  build  their  fluency  as  number  sense  will  affect their success in other areas of mathematics.  Children who are successful with number-sense become much more confident mathematicians. 

What maths looks like at St Alphonsus’:

• Daily maths lessons:
  • EYFS – staff dedicate time to focus on mathematics each day. Learners explore mathematics through different contexts, including storybooks, puzzles, songs, rhymes, puppet play, games and real-life scenarios. Every moment is capitalised to highlight and use maths, for example, in daily routines, play activities, and while our children are in the provision.
  • Across school, every child receives high-quality maths teaching where teacher’s recap prior knowledge, model new learning strategies, check for understanding and apply their learning in a variety of ways. This is often supplemented with group or 1:1 interventions led by our highly valued and skilled TAs.
  • Follow the principles of our teaching and learning model: 
    • Retrieval
    • Explain and Model
    • Check for understanding
    • Apply

• Mastering Number:

• • Reception-Y2 complete 4 sessions of NCETM Mastering Number per week. 
  • All children within the classes have the opportunity to participate and build on their sense of number using concrete, pictorial and abstract representations. 
  • Sentence stems are used throughout sessions to support and consolidate an understanding of number.
• Maths Interventions:
  • Maths interventions and support happen in a variety of contexts based on the needs of individual students across school:
    • 1:1 and small group support based on regular assessment for learning.
    • Targeted and timetabled support (1:1 or in groups) to push SEND, ARE and GD groups.
    • Tailored pre and post-teaching groups to support learning and consolidate understanding. 
    • PiXL, Sumdog and TT Rockstars diagnostics and assessments.
• Morning Maths:
  • Every class from Y1-6 starts the day with maths challenges to promote fluency, retrieve prior knowledge and also practise their problem solving skills. 
• Everybody Counts:
  • We recognise the importance of counting and number sense across school and dedicate time to this everyday both in and outside of maths sessions for example: 
    • EYFS counting games and songs.
    • KS1 songs and chanting before maths sessions and when lining up after break times.
    • KS2 chanting times tables while lining up at breaks and lunch times.
• KS1 & KS2 Arithmetic quizzes:
  • This low-stakes retrieval practice is fast becoming an integral part of our drive for fluency and number-sense confidence school. 
  • All Y1-6 children independently complete an arithmetic quiz once per week with questions targeted towards the end of KS1 and the end of KS2 NC fluency objectives. This is timed to promote rapid recall of key skills and known written methods. 
  • Every child takes their own year group’s arithmetic test, unless they are working well- below ARE and will not access their end of Key Stage assessments. 
  • Results are recorded on the Assessment Marksheet to celebrate success and encourage small-step positive progress.
  • A crucial part of the arithmetic session uses AFL and high-quality questioning to address any misconceptions as a whole class; complete worked examples; discussing strategies; and to also look at areas for additional focused T/TA support.

Impact of our Maths Curriculum – What will be the outcomes we hope to achieve as a result of our maths curriculum?

Pupils will leave St Alphonsus’ displaying the qualities of our High Five curriculum intentions. This will be regularly and consistently monitored through:

• Resilient mathematicians with a life-long curiosity for mathematics. 
• Fluency and times tables – multiplication check Y4. 
• Daily live marking, feedback and assessment for learning.
• Regular formative, low-stakes assessments e.g. arithmetic quizzes, times table tests, recap challenges and counting to retrieve learning and checking understanding.
• Termly assessments based on formal assessments and teacher assessment. 
• Termly pupil progress meetings to monitor progress, analyse data and create learning action plans identifying underperforming groups and what support can be provided.