November 2022: More able mathematicians in Year 2 and Year 6 shared their experiences.

Year 2

Why do you like maths?

It's sometimes easy and sometimes hard. 

I love numbers. I remember in Year 1 when I got the furthest. It made me feel good. I like challenges because you can learn new things.

I'm good at remembering what to do but sometimes I get confused.

We get the same sheets for work but our challenges are different.

My favourite lesson was the Place Value quiz - it took a lot of thinking to get it right.

Can you explain your mistakes?

Sometimes it's easier. It depends. The pictures help a lot and I can use Dienes too if I get stuck.

Year 6

Why do you like maths?

I enjoy word problems rather than arithmetic because it makes you think more and you have to extract the right information. Sometimes the question can catch you out so you have to watch out for that. They can give you information you don't need.

I like the extra challenge sheets. When we work together we sometimes get different answers so we have to go through it again. It can take a while. We sometimes have different ideas abut what to do.

Can you explain your mistakes?

I feel I need to get it right all the time and not make mistakes. Sometimes I want to finish first and I've learnt to take my time and check things over. Now I always check because one small mistakes in one part of the problem can make the whole calculation incorrect.

Sometimes there are multiple answers and I might muddle up my numbers. I need better presentation so I don't make mistakes.

12th October 2022: Today we had the pleasure of talking to the Year 2s about their maths learning. They were keen to talk about their learning today. 

What did you enjoy about today's lesson?

I like numbers and counting.

I love maths and quizes.

I really like maths a lot. I'm good at it.

What did you learn today?

We were taking away and finding less than.

We had really big numbers like 91-1

How easy was the lesson today?

Sometimes easy. Sometimes hard. It was in the middle.

What do you do if you get stuck?

I look at it again and sometimes I get it.

The teachers tell you what to do.

I can ask a friend.

I can use the big purple plastic things (Dienes!)

How do you know if you've done well in the lesson?

The teachers mark it. They tell you how you did.

What do you need to do next to get even better?

Use bigger numbers - even over a hundred.

We asked some of our children to comment on their Maths lesson today (20.9.21).  Here's what they told us:

Did you enjoy today's lesson? 

Year 1 - Yes. I love maths. It helps me with counting.

Year 2 - Yes. It was fun. We learn a lot. We like learning. It fills your brain with cleverness.

Year 3 - Yes. It was fun.

Year 4 - Yes

Year 5 - Yes. I like maths. It calms me down and makes me feel positive.

Year 6 - Yes. It makes me think. I like tricky problems. It makes me think harder.

What did you learn that was new today? 

Year 1 - we were counting 'How many things'. we were counting to 10.

Year 2 -  we were splitting numbers to see how many 10s and how many 1s. We had whole part models for 2 digit numbers.

Year 3 - We were counting in 50s. 

Year 4 -  It was an end of unit check.

Year 5 - We looked at partitioning big numbers in different ways.

Year 6 - We learnt different ways of multiplying a 4 digit number. We were exploring different methods.

How hard was todays lesson on a scale of 1-10?

Year 1 - 1 easy

Year 2 - 2 some of it was hard.

Year 3 - it was about 5. 

Year 4 - About 6.

Year 5 - Maybe 5

Year 6 - 5 or 6 - it was a bit of a challenge. Some of the new methods were trickier.

How do the adults in the lesson help you to learn?  

Year 1 - they use things to show us

Year 2 - they help you see mistakes.

Year 3 - If we get stuck, a teacher will help us. We have Magic Maths sometimes to help us if we're really stuck.

Year 4 - Teachers explain what we did wrong. 

Year 5 - Teachers help us work it out. We have Keep Up Maths after lunch if we need extra practice.

Year 6 - The teachers give us hints or clues to solve the problems.

Have you been successful today and how do you know?  

Year 1 - Yes. I checked. I knew I'd drawn 8 circles and it be 7 circles. I made a mistake but I think I could get it right.

Year 2 - yes - I understand it.

Year 3 - Yes - It's much quicker to count in 50s.

Year 4 - The end of unit check helps us to remember what have done.

Year 5 - Yes. I feel like I fully understand. I felt positive.

Year 6 - Yes - I understood it more by the end. We get feedback in the lesson which helps.

What do you think you need to learn next? 

Year 1 - count much bigger numbers. Maybe up to 100.

Year 2 - Harder things like bigger numbers up to 100.

Year 3 - maybe counting in bigger numbers.

Year 5 - Maybe partition with decimals.

Year 6 - Perhaps focus on one method and build it up with bigger numbers.

In Spring 2019, the children began to use their own journals in maths lessons. When talking to the children in KS2, they responded positively to the use of maths journals.

• Y4: I like it because, I don’t have to mess about with white boards
• Y4: It helps us to remember what we’ve done in the lesson
• Y5: It’s really handy; when we do independent work and we’re stuck, we can look in the journals for clues to help us
• Y5: The journal helps me. When I’m in trouble, I can find something that I’ve written that will help me.
• Y5: You’ve got more space than on whiteboards.