Maths

Maths

To encourage the love of learning of maths, cultivating strong mathematical foundations, critical thinking, and a passion for learning. We intend to empower our learners with the skills and confidence needed to excel in mathematics and apply mathematical concepts in real-life situations.

Maths Progression

Books that promote maths! Children love stories; they are used to spark their interest in reading and writing. So, why not use them to spark their interest in mathematics as well? Below are lists of books which promote maths; they have been organised into the different key stages.

End of Year Expectations

Times Tables Rock Stars (TTRS)

TTRS Parent Guide

Times Tables Rockstar - further information

Times Tables Rock Stars is a maths programme that takes all the worry out of learning times tables and has a proven track record of boosting children’s fluency and recall in multiplication and division. Furthermore, it’s fun!

Choose one of the following games:

Single Player

Garage - The Garage is the best place for mastering individual tables as it's highly rewarding (10 coins per correct answer) and very carefully personalises the questions for each player in every game

Studio - The Studio is the place to go to set a Studio Speed and get a Rock Status. The Studio Speed is the average of the player's most recent 10 Studio games (so until they've played 10 times there will be no Studio Speed).

Jamming – A timer-free game, Jamming gives players the choice over the tables they practise and whether to include multiplication, division or both. It's perfect for building up confidence on the tables of your choice, at your own pace.

Soundcheck – When pupils play Soundcheck, they are asked 25 questions, each with a 6-second time limit. The questions are multiplication only and evenly weighted in terms of difficulty each time they play - exactly the same as the Year 4 'Multiplication Tables Check'.

Multiplayer

Rock Arena - The Arena is a multiplayer game where students can compete live against other children in their class.

Rock Festival - The Festival is for those children who are ready to take on other students from all around the world, answering any question up to 12 × 12. Each multiplayer Festival game is one minute long and pupils earn 1 coin per correct answer.

Rockslam – A Rock Slam allows pupils to challenge someone from their class, year group or school (either a pupil or a teacher), setting a time for the challenge to beat.

Times Tables at Elsenham

Our aim at Elsenham is that all pupils, by the end of Year 4, develop fluency and accuracy in all their times tables, as per the National Curriculum. Knowledge, fluency and accuracy of the times tables will mean that our pupils are more confident and efficient at grasping new learning throughout their time at our school.

Order of Teaching

Explicit times table teaching, of approximately 5 minutes per day, will begin in Year 2 (spring term, when the children have been exposed to multiplication and division) and continue to Year 5.

The times tables will be taught in the following order, to ensure that each new times table will build upon the prior knowledge:

1 x tables
2 x tables
5 x tables
10 x tables
3 x tables
4 x tables
8 x tables
6 x tables
9 x tables
7 x tables
11 x tables
12 x tables

What will this look like in the classroom?

Teachers will provide the pupils with a visual array of the times table they are working on and get the pupils to name the facts that the array represents.

From this, the majority of the teaching of tables should be rote learning and chanting, with cold calling questions of multiplication and division facts. Some children will be extended with related fact questions, for example 3 x 40 = 120.

Additionally, teachers may make use of a counting stick, songs or rhymes to help pupils retain the key facts. Pupils should answer in full when asked a question, so if asked ‘what is 3 x 5?’ They should answer ‘3 x 5 is 15’. Or, if asked, ‘what are 5 lots of 3?’ they should be saying '5 lots of 3 is 15’ and so on and so forth.

When approximately 90% of pupils are fluent at one of the times tables, including the division facts, teachers should move onto the next one and set appropriate intervention for anyone who has not yet grasped it.

Teachers should take advantage and show pupils that as they get further through the times tables, there are less to learn - once they reach the 12s for example, the only fresh table to learn is 12 x 12. They should be constantly reminded of inverse operations and division facts.

Lastly, Times Table Rock Stars (TTRS) can also be used for practice.

Supporting with Yr 4 Multiplication Timestables Check

Y4 MTC

Supporting with White Rose:

Supporting White Rose at home The link provides you with free workbooks for Years 1-6, focussing on each block of maths being completed in school. This is a great way to reinforce key learning that is going on in the class. If your child is struggling on a particular topic, you could look at the same topic from earlier in the year or previous years to plug any learning gaps and to make sure your child understands the topic more clearly.

Further home support with White Rose This link provides parents from Reception to Year 6 the opportunity to watch short videos, showing clearly and simply how to complete the types of maths questions that your children will be taught in school.