Maths at St Francis

At St Francis we follow the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Advisory Service’s Scheme of Learning for maths.  This is a spiral curriculum where key mathematical concepts are revisited regularly both throughout each year group as well as across year groups.  Learning is structured so that each unit builds on what has been taught previously.  Assessment is used within and across lessons and units to ensure that children’s starting points are clearly identified and this is used to adapt learning to meet the needs of all learners. 

Maths across the school incorporates opportunities for fluency, problem solving and reasoning.  These concepts are threaded throughout the learning journeys.  Planning is structured so that each lesson there is a short starter which ‘warms the children up’ for the topic being covered that day.  This is followed by a key model which is introduced through an ‘I do, we do, you do’ approach.  This gives children the opportunity to develop fluency with this model.  Children will then complete a task which allows them to apply the key learning from the lesson.  Planning is supported by a Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract (CPA) approach and this links to the key models being taught. There are also daily opportunities outside of the maths learning for children to revisit prior learning in order to help embed concepts. 

Number Bonds and Times Tables:

Children are individually tested on their number bonds and times tables in order to set personalised targets. Teachers include the teaching of number bonds and times tables in lessons to develop recall and/or strategies to work out unknown facts. This is being supported through subscriptions to the following online resources: Numbots, Times Tables Rock Stars (TTRS) and Mathletics.

Statutory Assessment:

There are three main statutory assessments for maths across the early years and primary years.

1. Early Years and Foundation Stage Profile – this takes place in the summer term of Year R and is based on teacher assessment.  There are two Early Learning Goals related to maths; one linked to number and one to numerical patterns.  More information on this can be found on pages 26 and 27 of the handbook: Early years foundation stage profile: 2024 handbook (publishing.service.gov.uk)
2. Multiplication Tables Check (MTC) – this takes place in June of Year 4.  It consists of a 25 question online test which they must complete in 5 minutes.  Fluency of times tables is crucial for successful completion of this test and regular use of TT Rockstars can have a significant impact on children’s speed of recall. 
3. End of key stage 2 statutory assessments – SATs.  These take place in May of Year 6.  For maths there are three papers:
   • Paper 1: Arithmetic – 30 minute paper consisting of 36 questions and 40 marks.
   • Paper 2: Reasoning – 40 minute paper worth 35 marks
   • Paper 3: Reasoning – 40 minute paper worth 35 marks

Children’s marks are totalled and converted into a standardised score of between 80 and 120.  If children score 100 then they have achieved age related expectations for key stage 2.  If a child scores 110 or above then they are working at greater depth.  The papers are externally marked and the scores will be shared with parents before the end of the academic year.