Good morning, my name is Mr Still. I am very pleased to be your son or daughter’s Maths teacher. Your contribution to our class is invaluable and I would like to thank you in advance in anticipation of your support. My aim is to provide pupils, parents and carers, regular class feedback and signpost our future learning here on “Y8z5Maths.” I will also communicate with you through the usual school communication channels as you would expect. May I start by highlighting that the class made a very positive first impression yesterday, though their opinions of maths were heartbreaking lower than I had expected. We will be chipping away at that tough task. Many of the class were prepared for their lesson, however a number of pupils were not. I have asked the pupil’s to be ready to learn and equipped ready for Monday.
Number
We are starting with place values, before moving on to ordering, adding and subtracting negative integers (whole numbers). The type of maths we use to check our bank statements. The pupils will have opportunities to revisit class learning via MyMaths to help build their confidence and reinforce class learning. There will also be directed home learning to prepare for class or to stretch their maths abilities. All opportunities, are recorded in their planners as either as a set homework or as a “task code” which are easily searched on the MyMaths site.
In the coming weeks we will be introducing Times Table Rock Stars to development timetable speed as well as accuracy. The National Numeracy Strategy (UK) suggests that pupils should know multiplication tables as follows:
- 2 and 10
- 2, 10 and 5
- 2, 10, 5 and 4
- 2, 10, 5, 4 and ALL (up to 10)
Practising these multiplication skills is essential, though more importantly, success builds confidence.
Next steps
We will move onto working with multiples, factors and prime numbers. Ordering decimal numbers and rounding are also covered. Finally square numbers are discussed together with square roots. Just in case you want to get ahead of the class… More on those topics as we progress.
If I can help with any questions, please contact me via email kristianstill@thewellingtonacademy.org.uk