Maths

What do we want Maths to achieve?
At St. Peter’s we believe that mathematics provides an opportunity to help children achieve our core value of ‘Profound Personal Development’. Maths is a whole network of core concepts, patterns and relationships which provide a way of viewing and making sense of the world and each other, through our work.
Why is Maths important to us?
At St. Peter’s, our main ambition is for children to develop and maintain positive attitudes, enthusiasm, and engagement in Maths. We believe that by promoting confidence, competence, and fluency in the fundamentals of mathematics—particularly in numbers and the number system—children will not only improve their mathematical ability but also gain the self-assurance needed to thrive across other subjects.
How do we develop knowledge and skills in Maths?
We will deliver activities which inspire and include all children and enable them to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to be healthy, lifelong learners. At St. Peter’s, we strive for children to be able to confidently reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry and using mathematical language, and to develop the ability to solve problems through decision-making and reasoning in a range of contexts, alongside promoting perseverance and experimentation as they problem solve. We are determined to ensure that children have the opportunities to explore features of shape and space, and develop measuring skills in a range of contexts, understanding how maths can affect them, each other and the importance mathematics has in everyday life (the world).
How do we use assessment in Maths?
Our intended impacts are monitored and addressed by using:
Formative Assessment – assessment for learning (AfL) is carried out in every session and feedback is given to children verbally, through self/peer assessment or marking. Teachers use AfL to adapt their planning and children are quickly identified if they need additional support or challenge.
Same-day interventions are used to ensure all children are secure in the concept they are learning and can reach their full potential.
Fluent Recall and Low-Stakes Quizzing – children complete regular quizzes and tests in Arithmetic and Times Tables to assess their attainment and progress.
Summative Assessment – assessments are carried out in Autumn, Spring and Summer against the National Curriculum objectives to inform planning and monitor progress.
How do we include and challenge all children in Maths?
We implement our approach through high quality teaching delivering appropriately challenging work for all individuals - and differentiating work where appropriate to support all learners. This is often done ‘in the moment’ using skilled questioning and open-ended opportunities.
Through the planning of an engaging and inclusive curriculum Maths curriculum, we strive for children to discover along their journey here at St Peter's, who they are but more importantly who they can become, shaped through participation, showing effort, determination, resilience and a 'take care' attitude towards new and exciting learning opportunities, both in Maths and in our other subjects.
To support learning, we have a range of mathematical resources available for staff to use and share, stored in our Central Maths Resource Base (school hall) including Numicon, Base10 and other concrete equipment. Staff incorporate the use of manipulatives into planning using their professional knowledge.