During this year we will be having a specific focus on the teaching of multiplication tables within our P3-P7 classes. It is widely accepted by educationalists that children without an instant recall of multiplication tables struggle in Maths at school.

Basic numeracy is a valuable skill and the earlier that children are able to absorb key multiplication facts then the earlier they are more ready to move on to higher functionary maths functions.

It is very frustrating to watch children struggle with an aspect of maths, not because of its complexity, but simply a failure to have grasped multiplication basics. This can often lead to a negative view of mathematics which would have been resolved with greater learning of tables.

Consequently, our focus will be building upon the revision done nightly and weekly at home to produce interesting enjoyable and competitive multiplication activities for each class from P3-P7. Hopefully all our children will enjoy the series of games and challenges which will take place during the course of this year.

The vital aspect of this learning of tables at home is that the memorization needs to be facilitated by concentration, rehearsal and instant recall. Real fluency in times tables demands practice over weeks and months until accuracy is achieved. Recent research suggests that the old factorised way of rote learning or ‘learning off by heart’ is highly effective and enables children to become more confident in class. Also try to make the learning of tables as enjoyable as possible. Encourage and support your child, remove distractions, use some of the internet sites that are on the school website (parents area) and have fun together during this process

Your child’s class teacher will outline the specific tables each class will learn every week.   By the end of the year we would expect that all children will have consolidated their learning to become more able to recall key times tables automatically, which will have a follow on effect on their maths performance in general.

Please note our yearly expectations for children in each year group at the end of the school year (June ’18).