I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to school as I had the opportunity to meet with the pupils to discuss their progress in mathematics. I met children from each key stage, including one student from the Focus Provision. This follows on from my previous visits into classrooms and it was reassuring to learn that the children enjoy their learning and can explain and share their work. Their feedback acknowledges the consistency in the learning and how well planned and executed the maths curriculum is at Mellers. I was able to see the progression the children make in time, for example, the development of skills in multiplication from year to year where larger numbers are introduced.

All of the pupils enjoy accessing the challenge questions in class. The children in Year 5 felt that they needed a greater level of challenge, so Miss Dermody will be working with the Year 5 team to ensure that they will have access to more difficult problem solving.

The feedback from staff is consistent in the exercise books and the pupils interpret this well. In all year groups, the children described how they could access help and support if they did not have a clear understanding of the work being covered. All pupils gave good examples which clarified that support strategies are consistent across the school.

Presentation of work is consistently neat and well organised. The pupils use squared books, smaller squares for the older children, very well, setting out their work in a way that helps them to calculate and understand. This was evident in all year groups. The children have pride in their work and take ownership for their learning.

I shared the floor book for the Foundation 2 class and was able to see how the foundations for excellent mathematical learning are laid very early. Children are introduced to methods and systems that they will use further up in school; one such example is the tens frame. All children described how resources helped them to understand key concepts, they are clearly confident to use these resources when problem solving.

Thank you to Miss Dermody, Miss Watts and the wonderful children I was able to meet.