Jonathan Moorhouse is a Year 6 teacher, Assessment Lead and Deputy Head at St Saviour CE Primary School in Bolton, Greater Manchester in the North of England.
About the school
St Saviour CE Primary School is a mixed, Church of England school with 210 pupils from semi-rural backgrounds. Our goal was to boost overall attainment levels across the school in maths however our barrier to that was that pupils were unmotivated and disengaged in maths learning.
Why did you choose Sumdog?
We chose to implement Sumdog in the school as we believed it was the best fit for the needs of our pupils. Offering a wide range of curriculum-aligned
topics as well as a kid-friendly interface, the platform complimented the pupils’ everyday maths learning. With a straightforward set-up on both the teacher and pupils’ side, I was able to begin setting targeted work for my class and quickly identify gaps in their learning.
Boosting maths fluency in the classroom
Sumdog is used from Year 1-6 during weekly IT sessions in the school's computer room to help compliment classroom learning of maths topics. Our teachers value the way Sumdog is able to link to the individual abilities of pupils and allow them to work at their own level.
The assessment feature of Sumdog is a great way to capture the working levels of my pupils without having to do a formal sit-down test. With the premium subscription, I can design my own assessments based on what skills my class are currently focusing on or choose from the bank of ready-made assessments already on Sumdog.
As we follow the White Rose Maths scheme of learning at St Saviour CE, we also make use of Sumdog's White Rose Maths-aligned assessment on a half termly basis to gauge where our pupils are at.
"The assessment feature of Sumdog is a great way to capture the working levels of my pupils without having to do a formal sit-down test."
What impact has Sumdog had?
I've been an avid user of Sumdog since 2010 and have seen that regular use of the platform makes a huge difference in maths fluency. Similarly, the adaptive personalised practice is great for building confidence in children who are struggling in class and encourages more of a can-do attitude towards maths.
One of the most valuable aspects of using Sumdog is keeping pupils engaged in learning over school holidays. Alongside setting targeted practice for my class, I will always enter my pupils in Sumdog's regional and national online maths contests. Not only doeas this prove to be highly motivating and rewarding for the pupils, but means that once they return to school for the new term they are able to hit the ground running with maths learning.
