Category: Maths news

A great deal is expected of children by the end of Year 2 and we have some great maths worksheets to help them on their way.

It all begins with counting on in steps of one. When children are really confident with this and have mastered reading 2-digit numbers they move on to counting on and back in steps of 10. Other activities included, are completing missing numbers on a number square, estimating on a number line and recognising halves of shapes and numbers.

Go to our year 2 Counting and Number worksheets

Two studies recently published in the Science Journal would suggest that a couple of ‘old fashioned’ methods of learning are more effective than many of those used today.

Firstly, a study from the University of Stavanger suggests that writing things down rather than by typing helps with learning. Our brains receive more feedback from muscles and fingertips when writing rather than touching a keyboard. Also, it takes more mental effort and time and this is thought to help ‘imprint’ memories. I must admit to always thinking that recording on paper was a good way to learn and spent much of my time when revising for exams writing down what I knew. This would suggest that writing answers in maths is better done in a maths book, or worksheet than just keying in answers on a keyboard.

The second piece of research, from Purdue University, Indiana, says that reciting facts shortly after learning them is better than many newer educational methods such as mind mapping. Constant informal testing and reciting helps to reconstruct knowledge, both for short term and long term memory.

A very happy new year to everyone. The new year will begin with a real mathematical twist as 2011 is a Prime Number. (Remember a prime number has just two multiples, itself and 1). Whilst there are an infinite number of prime numbers they are not easy to find. The last prime year was 2003 and the next will be 2017.

There is quite a lot of time in 2011, although the older you are the quicker it seems to pass by! The total time from 01-01-2011 to 01-012012 is 8,760 hours.
This is equivalent to 525,600 minutes.
You can also convert 365 days to 31,536,000 seconds.

We can also look forward to some spectacular dates this year such as 11th November 2011 which will be 11.11.11, but more of that as we go through the year. We can start with the first second of the first minute of the first hour of the first day of the first month of the new year, which will be:

1.1.1.1.1.11 (127 is 1111111 in binary)

As for the Chinese Calendar, 2011 will be the Year of the Rabbit: According to the Chinese this will be a placid year, very much welcomed and needed after the ferocious year of the Tiger.

I knew that it wouldn’t be long before the present government wanted to stamp its authority on education by bringing in new reforms, and here they come!

One of the main targets is discipline and they hope that by encouraging school uniforms, house systems and prefects that a back to basics approach will improve disciple. They seem to be ignoring that a vast number of schools already have these in place!

Perhaps more importantly, heads will have the final say on expulsions, stopping independent appeals by panels which often go against the school’s wishes. However, there is a twist in that the school must find alternative education for these expelled pupils and their performance in tests will still be included in the original school’s league tables.

The White Paper also announced plans to encourage servicemen leaving the forces to re-train as teachers under a “Troops to Teachers” programme, saying that troops had a lot to offer. I imagine adults from many other walks of life have just as much to offer, if not more, but perhaps I am biased as I still remember a couple of my Grammar School teachers who were retrained after the war, and good teachers they were not!

Gove has also given himself more power over schools; through the Academies Act he can order any school to be converted to one of his academies.

There were also hints that the curriculum might be freed up from the constraints of the National Curriculum, with only core subjects being mandatory.

There is plenty more, but much of it seems to be ‘hot air’ which will make little difference to the average school. No doubt the significance of the White Paper will become clearer over the next few weeks.

Katharine Birbalsingh has certainly caused a stir in Education circles with her views on what is the best way to help children succeed. She states that the education system is broken, because it keeps poor children poor by making excuses for them.

She believes that certain values are important, including being responsible for yourself and not allowing children to excuse away bad behaviour. Children should be held to account for what they do, so that they can be responsible for themselves.

She sees failure as an important part of the learning process and argues that because we don’t want children to fail we keep making excuses for them. She also believes that exclusions are not helpful as it gives children yet another excuse for failure.

Children should feel responsible for their own results, not the teachers. Until we get children to feel this responsibility then schools will continue to fail. This is a very different viewpoint than that held in many schools, and a very challenging one. Where does this responsibility come from? Certainly the home for most children and it is very difficult for schools to change attitudes without the backing of the home.