This drop in session is planned to help you understand more about the new National Y4 Multiplication Tables Check which will take place later in the year. Come along to this informal session to find out how you can help and support your child at home and what we are doing in school to enable your child to be to be well prepared.
What is the Year 4 times tables Test?”
First announced by the Department for Education (DfE) in September 2017, the details of how the times tables test will be laid out was announced on Tuesday 13th November 2018, with a full roll-out taking place in June 2020.
The three Rs still reign supreme in the National Curriculum – Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic. Times tables fall under arithmetic. All primary school-aged children are expected to know their times tables up to 12 x 12 by heart. In fact, they are expected to have mastered their times tables by the end of Year 4.
Until now, there had been no formal measure to judge whether children in England had learnt their times tables or not – with a formal judgement only somewhat made from a child’s Year 6 Maths SATs performance. So, the idea is for the Multiplication Tables Check to be taken towards the end of Year 4 to make sure children are meeting the benchmark of memorising their times tables up to 12 x 12 before moving up to Upper Key Stage 2 (Year 5 and Year 6).
Who will take the times tables test?
The Multiplication Tables Check is only being rolled-out to schools in England.
Children will sit the new times tables test either in June 2019 (if their school has volunteered to the trial) or in June 2020 – meaning it will be mandatory for all children starting Year 4 in September 2019.
Schools have a three-week window in the month of June to have their Year 4 children sit the test, but will be free to choose which day within that three-week period they choose to sit it. All state schools in England, including maintained schools, special schools, academies and free schools will be required to enter their children for the Multiplication Tables Check – the government is due to release further details about access arrangements for children with special educational needs at some point during the 2018/2019 academic year.
What is the test’s format?
The Multiplication Tables Check has been described as “an online, on-screen digital assessment” – meaning the children will take the test on a desktop computer, laptop or tablet (such as an iPad) at school. The DfE are breaking a lot of new ground here – they have never administered computerised tests in primary schools before now. The test will automatically mark each child’s times tables test.
What can you do to help your child in practising their times tables?
- Even though many schools have chosen to streamline their homework policies, times tables (along with home reading) are seen as an area for parents to support their children in their learning.
- We would recommend a number of strategies to support your child in the run-up to and aftermath of the times tables test including:
- Times tables chanting: “6, 12, 18, 24…”;
- Times tables chanting in reverse order: “108, 99, 90, 81…”;
- Using times tables songs, like Schoolhouse Rock’s ‘3 is A Magic Number’;
- Using apps, like the one by ks2timestables.co.uk, Times Tables Rock Stars or Hit the Button
- Using free online games, like those on Maths Frame;
- Asking your child multiplication calculations out of order, like: “What is 4 x 7? What is 9 x 5? What is 6 x 11?”;
- Using pasta pieces or pebbles to show groups of numbers representing times tables, e.g. four groups of three pasta shells to show 3 x 4 = 12;
- Asking your child related short division questions, like “What is 12 divided by 4? What is 55 divided by 11?”;
- Asking your child word problems based on times tables, like: “If five friends have £3 each, how much money do they have in total?”;
- Trying out active ways of learning times tables, like our times tables pavement chalk ideas:
So what does this all mean for you as a parent?
The sooner you can help your child achieve mastery of their multiplication tables, the better!