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Maths

Times Tables Rockstars!

We are all Times Tables Rockstars at St Aloysius! Log on and play for 10 minutes every night to try and become a Rock Hero! Children will play in school  and online at home to earn coins for their rock alter-ego. The more you practice, the faster you will progress. Our aim is for all children to become ‘rock stars’ by the end of Year 4.

Each week, Miss Wrigley will set the whole school a challenge. At  the moment, the children are trying to knock the  teachers out of the top 10 but there are still two teachers in there! Can you knock them off the charts?

Follow the link to get rocking!

https://play.ttrockstars.com/

How to play:

  1. Type in the school postcode (L36 2LF) and select St Aloysius.
  2. Type in your username and password.
  3. You are ready to play!

Maths Intervention:

We try to operate  same day intervention in maths at St Aloysius. If a child has a misconception or has missed a lesson we always try to solve these issues before the next lesson. That could be a conversation with  the teacher, a small group task or even 1:1 support from a teaching assistant.

At the start of each unit in maths, teachers will look at the pre-requisite learning required for children to access new concepts and learning. This usually consists of a revisit of 1-2 lessons from the previous year’s curriculum, ensuring that all children can access the maths learning. If there are further gaps identified, the teacher will carefully plan lessons to close these gaps before the children continue.

Teachers use strengethening activities within lessons to support any child who might need extra practice, while there are deepening activities to stretch those who grasp concepts more rapidly.

Maths Mastery at St Aloysius

At St Aloysius we are on a journey of continued development to sustain our  teaching for mastery approach to mathematics as a whole school. We have taken part in several years of Mastery TRGs through North West Hub 3, starting with ‘Mastery Readiness’ and we are now working towards sustaining maths mastery within St Aloysius.

As part of this teachers and staff in our school will:

  • enhance their mathematical subject knowledge, emphasising key areas of maths
  • learn how to establish an effective collaborative planning culture
  • plan, teach and reflect collaboratively to provide a coherent mastery curriculum
  • continue to refine our school structures and systems to embed and sustain mastery
  • continue to ensure a sustainable model for collaborative planning and ongoing specialist subject knowledge development for all teachers.

From Reception to Year 6 all classes follow the DfE approved Power Maths scheme of work. This ensures all children have a consistent experience of maths throughout the school, with intelligent practice and variation embedded in all lessons.
To support fluency, Reception and KS1 are taking part in the NCETM Mastering Number programme including regular training for teaching staff. This involves additional15 minute sessions in addition to Power Maths.

In Key Stage 2 all classes have a 15 minute basic skills revisit and review session in addition to their daily Power Maths  lesson, enabling children to practice strategies they have previously worked on in class.

Power Maths

At St Aloysius, we have spent the last few years on a whole school mastery journey and we now plan our maths lessons using Power Maths. This involves a whole class mastery approach to teaching and learning in maths, making every lesson engaging and challenging for all children.

Power Maths:  

  • Builds every concept in small, progressive steps.
  • Is built with interactive, whole-class teaching in mind.
  • Provides the tools needed to develop growth mindsets.
  • Establishes core elements such as intelligent practice and reflection.

All children explore mathematical problems together as we ‘discover’ the learning for the day. From Year 1 to Year 6 children have a maths journal to explore their mathematical thinking and develop explanations.  They then work with a Power Partner to ‘share’ ways they could solve the problems. Then they ‘think together’ and work through a range of problems as the teacher guides them.  Next, they are ready tackle a variety of questions independently in their practice books.

When planning and teaching maths, teachers ensure all children are learning the same concept in small, cumulative steps, each finding and mastering challenge at their own level. When we  teach for mastery, EVERYONE can do maths! Those who grasp a concept easily have time to explore and understand that concept at a deeper level. The whole class therefore moves through the curriculum at broadly the same pace via individual learning journeys. We believe that with this approach, all children can make good progress and achieve their mathematical potential.

Power Maths Characters

The Power Maths Characters