Numeracy at William de Ferrers School

"Numeracy forms a key part of daily life for students at William De Ferrers School."

At William de Ferrers, we value numeracy as a fundamental key to success for our students; confident numerate learners make for confident, capable problem-solvers. We recognise that the curriculum across all subjects continues to require strong numerical and analytical skills, both in mathematical reasoning and real-world application. To succeed across all subjects, our pupils need to be able to read, calculate, estimate, and apply mathematical concepts effectively to analyse and solve problems.

Celebrating a Culture of Numeracy

Here, numeracy is not only valued but actively celebrated throughout our school community.

Staff Role Models: Teachers across subject areas highlight everyday mathematical applications to help spark curious conversations and demonstrate how numeracy underpins everyday life.
Problem of the Month: The maths department shares exciting mathematical challenges and puzzles for students, encouraging problem-solving and critical thinking skills beyond the standard curriculum.
Real-World Maths: We engage pupils and build enthusiasm for real world maths problems and applications including the inclusion of STEM subjects and clubs.
Targeted Support and Resources: Identified Students have structured access to dedicated numeracy sessions, tailored learning tools, and practice resources to build confidence and fluency at their own pace and to help to develop and improve foundational maths skills and knowledge..

Numeracy at Home: Sparx Maths

To build regular mathematical habits and consolidate classroom learning, students are set weekly Sparx Maths homework. This platform provides personalised practice tailored to each student's level, helping them develop mathematical fluency, retain core facts, and strengthen problem-solving stamina.

Targeted Numeracy Support: Catch Up Numeracy

We are committed to ensuring no student is left behind in their mathematical development. Grounded in academic research, Catch Up Numeracy is a structured, one-to-one intervention designed for learners who find numeracy challenging and aim to develop their foundation maths skills to make the curriculum more accessible.

How Catch Up Numeracy Works

15-Minute Individual Sessions: Delivered twice a week by trained teaching assistants, teachers, or mentors to provide effective, targeted support.
10 Key Components Addressed: The intervention targets essential numerical foundations including counting verbally, counting objects, reading & writing numbers, fraction/translation, hundreds tens & ones, estimation, remembered facts, derived facts, ordinal numbers, and word problems.

Core Principles of Our Numeracy Strategy

Principle	School Application
Assessments for Learning	Trained staff conduct diagnostic assessments to identify a learner's specific profile of need across core components, setting precise targets and starting points.
Personalised Learning Support	Individualised activities within a positive, supportive framework enable pupils to build success step-by-step.
Ongoing Monitoring	Progress booklets and regular standardised testing ensure pupil achievements are closely tracked and celebrated.

Impact: Catch Up Numeracy helps struggling learners achieve up to double their normal rate of progress in foundational maths skills and knowledge, significantly boosting confidence, behaviour, and engagement across the whole school curriculum.