Arithmetic Smart Strategies - EYFS, KS1 and KS2

Written specifically to ensure children are able to secure 40 / 40 in their KS2 SATs arithmetic task, the Smart Strategies is a seven-year arithmetic methods programme.

The emphasis is on progression over a long period of time, rather than Year 6 teachers feeling the need to ‘fire fight’ in children’s final year of primary education.

We start with the most simplistic concepts such as one more / less and build through to calculating percentages, converting measures and converting fractions and whole numbers.

The Smart Strategies also features a robust knowledge organiser section in the back of the booklet, which can be used daily as a reference library for children maths lessons.

Each ‘Smart Strategy’ is a method, which is linked to a specific arithmetic skill. There’s a ‘tell me’ section, where the method is given, then a ‘show me’ section, which includes an example of the method being successfully used, and finally a ‘suggested resources’ section for Wave 2 and 3 intervention practitioners’ guidance.

The Smart Strategies are proven to work, with 71% of Year 6 pupils in my 2023 cohort achieving ARE in mathematics compared to 25% of the same children reaching ARE in their 2019, KS1 assessments.

They work best if they are issued to individual children and kept in trays, as well as being published on school websites.

The Smart Strategies come with a long-term plan suggestion, but really any of them can be covered at any point in the year by any cohort as need suits.

Each chapter / phase is accompanied by a Powerpoint slide show with target questions linked to specific strategies, which will reduce teacher workload and allow colleagues to focus on specific strategies in short, meaningful sessions to support the wider maths curriculum.