At St. Paul’s, we are passionate about mathematics! We believe that at each stage of learning, children should be able to demonstrate deep, conceptual understanding of a topic and build on this over time. We aim to develop our children as mathematicians who enjoy engaging with the processes of problem solving over and above the completion of the actual calculations involved. We embed the core skills of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, realising the importance and application of number in an everyday real-life context. 

We promote the importance of learning the multiplication tables and their related division facts through fun, effective, relevant lessons, celebrating individual achievements along the way.

We develop an understanding of shape, data and measures through practical creative lessons which are often cross-curricular and encourage pupil led investigations. Sensory mathematics is also introduced across the school to support practical learners.

Mathematics is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment. A high-quality mathematics education therefore provides a foundation for understanding the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.

For the planning of the main mathematics lessons, the school follows the White Rose Maths Curriculum combined with other mastery documents such as: Classroom secrets, Master the Curriculum and NCETM.

When marking books, teachers acknowledge when the learning objective has been achieved.  Teacher might use ‘Check and Challenge’.  ‘Check’ gives the opportunity for children to correct their mistakes and ‘Challenge’ helps to extend the children’s learning.

When calculating in school, children should ask themselves:

- Do I know the answer because it is a fact I have learnt?
- Can I work it out easily in my head?
- Can I use some equipment or a jotting?
- Do I need to use the written method?