I'm sure we've all said this before, perhaps at the end of a lesson on fractions, or percentages, or ratio, or algebra, or word problems, or arithmetic, or...the list goes on. It's clear to anyone who has been teaching for anything more than a week or so that a secure knowledge of times tables facts is one of the most important things a child can have to support them in their mathematical understanding. Yet how much time do we actually spend teaching times tables facts, especially as children get older? Of course, times tables knowledge begins with the concept of repeated addi... (Read More)

When we started making our times tables resources, we had no idea just how many lessons, games and activities we'd end up creating. By the time we were done, we had just under 150 learning activities, ready and waiting to support children in developing their times tables knowledge. This presented a unique challenge though - directing children to the most appropriate activity, helping them get to their learning quickly. In fact, this desire to get students learning quickly has always been a core aim for Studyzone.tv: it's why we have our QR code login system; it's why every less... (Read More)

Is there a link between questions answered on Studyzone and mental maths scores? I love statistics. I'm always poring over gap analysis spreadsheets, average marks and percentage increases. Recently I was struck by the massive improvement that a boy in year 6 had made in his mental maths scores; a key area in the forthcoming Key Stage 2 SATs tests. I decided to dig a little deeper to see what I could find. It was immediately apparent that he had really got stuck in to Studyzone games. He'd gone from answering a handful of questions each week, to hundreds. Could this have played a p... (Read More)

Every year I run an after school mental maths club for children in year 6. It started off as part of our intervention in the lead up to SATs and proved to be really successful. As a result, we've done it every year since. Although this year we've got a smaller group than usual, in the past we've had between 20 and 30 children staying behind after school for an hour to practice mental maths. So how have we managed to keep them there? I'd say there are three main reasons: make it fun, keep it fast paced and of course, include sweets! Here are some top tips if you're thin... (Read More)

I try and use every single minute of every single day. Recently I have been having a real push on times tables, but it can be difficult to justify giving time to this in maths lessons, especially when different children are learning very different times tables. I have found a slot that works well though; the time it takes me to take the register in the morning. This allows plenty of time for children to consolidate their understanding and revise new tables. With just 5 weeks to go before Christmas, I have decided to launch a 5 minute challenge to my children:   How many times ta... (Read More)