#389 Improving Arithmetic Across UKS2 – Sprites Primary Academy

Arithmetic lessons are embedded as part of our practice when teaching maths at Sprites. We all teach arithmetic daily. There is an arithmetic schedule which we all stick to, however this also enables us to be flexible, with targeted support for certain children with gaps that we have identified from our assessment tool, PiXL.

Children in Year 6 have made good progress in maths this year. Children who attended extra booster sessions have made accelerated progress.

Children who attended booster groups made an average of 19 marks progress in their maths assessments, and children who did attend boosters made an average of 38 marks progress in their maths assessments.

This shows us that children have made progress in maths based off their arithmetic and maths lessons, but alongside that, children have made accelerated progress if they attended after school booster groups.

I started implementing my project at the end of last school year. We started with a CPD session during summer term 2021. This outlined the new ‘look’ for maths, and introduced the idea of having arithmetic every day for 15 minutes.

I then repeated this CPD session at the beginning of this academic year. This was due to there being a high number of new staff. I then provided staff with an arithmetic schedule, and we discussed what arithmetic was for.

Teachers then started consistently implementing arithmetic sessions in each maths lesson from September 2021. Maths lessons were elongated from either 9.00-10.30 or 1045-12.15 to allow for us to have enough time to complete arithmetic and then complete a full maths lesson.

I then consistently monitored as part of my role as maths lead, checking books periodically, and discussing with teachers. I also covered arithmetic sessions in Year 6 to see how they worked and how well rehearsed the children were.

I taught booster groups, and then when booster groups were reduced due to other after school clubs being implemented, checked up on the teacher who was covering maths booster groups.

The things I would do differently if I undertook this project again are:

• I would complete interventions in school time as well as booster groups. This would alleviate the attendance problem and allow all children to make progress.
• Instead of doing CPD for teachers, I would also give CPD sessions for LSAs and other support staff. This would ensure that all staff were on the same page about what arithmetic was and what it was there for.
• I would also give more of a focus to SEND provision within arithmetic, and give teachers more CPD on how to specifically cater arithmetic sessions for SEND.

• Three CPD sessions (1 hour each).
• Every Thursday morning release time to attend training / implement activities.
• Staff time – booster groups after school.
• Resources required to implement arithmetic activities.

Teacher feedback:

Do you feel arithmetic sessions benefit the children in Year 6?

Yes, regular (usually daily) arithmetic sessions are crucial for helping children develop and improve their arithmetic skills and the pace of their calculation work. It also helps them to make fewer basic errors in their work and take greater care to avoid doing so.

Do you feel the children who are attending booster sessions for maths are benefitting from these?

Yes, children attending maths booster groups are definitely benefitting. They show a positive attitude and a good understanding of the work covered. Over time, their scores on SATS arithmetic papers have all improved, although some obviously more than others.

Are there any barriers to this?

There are a few barriers: the first is that some children who would benefit don’t come, despite being encouraged to; the second is that some are missing the maths booster session on Thursdays after school because they prefer to go to an after-school club. To try and circumvent this, I’m also now doing a maths booster on a Tuesday too and several children are now coming to this session who have an after-school club on a Thursday.

Are children making progress in maths?

The overwhelming majority of children are making progress in maths and their scores are creeping up but not quite as much as we’d hoped in some cases, so it’s going to require a big push to get some to ARE in May. We have two months, so more lessons, more booster sessions and the time to go through the practice test papers they’ve done so they can correct their mistakes. The Pixl gaps analysis spreadsheet that we’ve used to input their arithmetic scores is clearly showing areas/questions where fewer children scored marks, so I can start to target these specific areas and cover them in more depth in the arithmetic sessions I plan from now on, particularly by looking at the breakdown of the ‘Target’ children’s scores.

Pupil feedback: Children were given a survey to complete at the beginning, vs the end of the school year.

Children reported higher levels of confidence in arithmetic, and in maths in general in our latest survey, vs the one we completed in September 2021.

Children in both surveys rated their arithmetic lessons as ‘helpful’ in helping them progress in their maths lessons.

Quotes from children in year 6 include: ‘Arithmetic helps you to warm your brain up, and helps us to revisit things you have already learnt so you don’t forget.’