Mathematics
At Goodrich we teach Mathematics every day and achieve very high standards. Progress in the school is outstanding.
We have written a new, innovative curriculum with Nigel Bufton, the ex-HMI in charge of mathematics in England. The key six concepts for each year group have been identified which form the irreducible core of mathematical knowledge that will enable pupils to make accelerated and sustained progress.
Each year builds on the previous year’s concepts and this curriculum, along with better teaching, has led to us being in the top 250 schools in the country (out of 25,000) for progress in mathematics in 2013/4 and 2015/16. The more able children have also attained very high standards with 14% at level 6.
As well as developing speaking and listening in mathematics, our new curriculum has a good balance of calculating, solving problems, reasoning about numbers and applying knowledge.
We aim to provide children with a mathematical education that is taught in an enjoyable and practical way. We use ‘real life’ experiences so that children are encouraged and challenged to understand the importance of applying maths skills to solve problems.
Children at Goodrich are given lots of opportunities to discuss their methods and encouraged to use the appropriate mathematical language. Mental mathematics is an integral part of every lesson. Practice, speed of recall, rehearsal and reasoning are essential if children are to become confident and skilful with numbers.
The teaching of mathematics in our school is outstanding because we have drawn on nationally acknowledged experts who have come into school to work alongside teachers, to model lessons and to develop teaching and learning. Many other schools now use teaching resources which we have developed here.
Numeracy websites
Mathzone has a wealth of games and activities organised by curriculum area, i.e. shape and space.
The BBC numeracy site has lots of games and an excellent revision unit for KS2 Bitesize Maths.
Percy Parker is a web-based package to which the school subscribes that supports the learning of times tables. you may download the package via our licensed link by clicking here.
Mathematics Curriculum Overview
Our new curriculum is too lengthy and detailed to conveniently reproduce here, but we have distilled its essential content into a very simple document in order that parents and children can see the key objectives for each year group.
If you are interested to find out more about the school's Mathematics curriculum, contact Sarah Whiskey, Mathematics Postholder, via the school office (details below).
Telling the Time
Does your child struggle to tell the time?
Telling the time can be a tricky concept and in the age of smart phones, fitbits and tablets, it’s no wonder children are more familiar with using a digital clock to tell the time than an analogue one.
At Goodrich we have noticed an increasing number of pupils that are unable to work out the time on an analogue clock and the 24hour clock. We believe all children should learn to tell the time traditionally. It’s incredibly important. It teaches them numbers, order and how the world works.
Telling the time for children is something they find particularly difficult. For the most part this arises from the need to concentrate on two sets of different ideas at the same time. Put simply, when you’re a child, learning to tell the time puts a real strain on your working memory.
This focuses on teaching telling the time using analogue clocks. Reading digital time is part of the National Curriculum but is introduced later on in Key Stage 2 (Year 4). Digital clocks have also become considerably more commonplace in recent years, so children will likely already have had some exposure to them whereas analogue clocks will be unfamiliar.
As part of the National Curriculum, your child will be learning how to tell the time at Primary School –below are details of the objectives set for each Primary year…
Year 1 (ages 5-6): Pupils are taught to:
Tell the time to the hour and half past the hour and draw the hands on a clock face to show these times.
Year 2 (ages 6-7): Pupils are taught to:
Tell and write the time to five minutes, including quarter past/to the hour and draw the hands on a clock face to show these times.
Know the number of minutes in an hour and the number of hours in a day.
Year 3 (ages 7-8): Pupils are taught to:
Tell and write the time from an analogue clock, including using Roman numerals from I to XII, and 12-hour and 24-hour clocks.
Estimate and read time with increasing accuracy to the nearest minute; record and compare time in terms of seconds, minutes and hours; use vocabulary such as o’clock, a.m./p.m., morning, afternoon, noon and midnight.
Year 4 (ages 8-9): Pupils are taught to:
Read, write and convert time between analogue and digital 12- and 24-hour clocks.
What can you do to help?
Equipped with this knowledge, you can now provide fun opportunities for your child to practise their new skills at home:
1. Remember, telling the time can be tricky to grasp – take it one step at a time.
2. Begin by introducing the general concept of time into your everyday conversations.
3. Start practising with an analogue clock-face and incorporate telling the time into everyday activities.
4. Counting is essential for time-telling – the more comfortable a child is with counting from 1 to 60 and the 5 times table, the easier telling the time will become.
Ultimately every child learns differently and at a different speed, try different activities and techniques – just keep it fun and rewarding. Reinforce concepts of time during your everyday routines and they will be confident in no time!
Click below to take you to a downloadable make-a-clock template…
How to teach your kids to tell the time:
One option is to sit down with a watch or clock to go through time-telling, you could also try to find online resources that make things a little easier.
Time Monsters is a good website using animations, which separates out teaching kids in three stages: 1) hands on the clock; 2) to and past; and 3) numbers on the clock
BBC Bitesize has an interactive site on how to tell the time, full of animations and videos appealing to kids.
Oxford Owl also has online resources for parents to help kids learn the time, such as a ‘telling the time’ activity sheet and ‘create your own clock’. They also have tips online for parents, including drawing attention to time day-to-day (mention the time at different points in the day such as “It’s 5 o’clock, time for tea”) and also to make sure your child is confident with numbers and counting from 1-60.
