Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think if you cannot add one half to one quarter you really should not be in teaching

297 replies

mrgrouper · 13/07/2016 13:43

I am starting teacher training in September and so have joined some teacher training Facebook groups. We all have to pass professional skills tests in literacy and numeracy. The tests are pretty easy but there is a mental arithmetic test that a lot of trainees are panicking on. A woman has posted that she is doing the mock test and it claims one half plus one quarter is three quarters and she has no idea how the examiners had worked this out. She is not training to be a maths teacher but surely all teachers should know basic maths. I knew this stuff aged 7.

OP posts:
IceBeing · 13/07/2016 23:20

hmm DD likes to type gibberish into google and see what comes up...last night she got "quaternions"....now THAT was a maths concept I didn't feel able to explain to a 5 yo....at least not when put on the spot!

FasterThanASnakeAndAMongoose · 13/07/2016 23:22

I'm a primary school teacher and I'm sick of the colleges sending us students who are not good enough to go into teaching. I failed one student and the fight her college put up was unbelievable. They wouldn't accept our judgement and really pressured us to reconsider. No way was I backing down.

OP, YANBU. If she cannot understand that basic calculation then she has major gaps in her knowledge. She won't succeed as a primary school teacher, and she could waste a lot of time and money and let down a lot of children while she finds this out.

Angry
FasterThanASnakeAndAMongoose · 13/07/2016 23:26

There's being a bit rusty because you haven't done much maths since 16, and then there's not being able to add 0.5 and 0.25 but thinking you can be a primary school teacher.

Grrr.

Sorry for the rant, long day Grin

ImperialBlether · 13/07/2016 23:30

Hmmmm. I teach Biology and have a Biology degree. In my first year a pupil asked if a shark is a fish or a mammal. I had to look it up at the time (it's a fish). Lots of info is in those little grey cells and it needs refreshing, especially if you're a mature teaching student.

But the example in the OP is comparable to a pupil asking whether a shark is a fish or a vegetable.

RhodaBull · 14/07/2016 08:50

With Maths GCSE supposedly becoming more difficult, hopefully that will weed out a few more people who are not up to the job. (Although who knows what Levels will be deemed a pass/fail.)

For the sake of all children substandard applicants should not get onto teaching courses. It is an important profession, not one which should be ready to accept any old applicant. An infant or junior school teacher has the children at a crucial point in their lives. Children have the right to be taught by a decently-educated person. It's outrageous that children could be led for 30 hours a week by someone who didn't know how to add a half and a quarter.

echt · 14/07/2016 08:56

Fuck me.

I'm and English teacher with shit maths but I had that down in primary. Fifty years ago.

Next!!

echt · 14/07/2016 08:56

I'm an English teacher Blush

Bluewombler2k · 14/07/2016 10:43

Grin echt that made me chuckle

derxa · 14/07/2016 10:54

echt Grin

For balance I have seen quite a few examples of poor spelling in other teachers' marking and I deplore it. The reason that teachers who have a poor grasp of subject matter won't last is that they are scrutinised within an inch of their lives. The children's books are the main Ofsted focus as well.

nicecomfymat · 14/07/2016 17:35

YANBU. She shouldn't be allowed to teach. I'm so bored with all this crap about reflection and learning. Like if you can't count to ten but you know you can't you can still support 30 kids adequately.

(Possibly grumpy due to multiple letters from school this week containing tons of spelling and grammatical errors and dd1 being told she'd got something wrong on a spelling test when the OED seems to suggest she was right...)

Craigie · 14/07/2016 17:44

This is the sort of maths my 8 year old is doing, and any teacher should be at least competent in basic mental arithmetic IMO.

Overshoulderbolderholder · 14/07/2016 18:25

Ok but she has to pass the maths test in order to continue. If her maths is that bad she will not pass and so will not be teaching...,,Seems like she will have to do a shed load of studying...,,
She could be very talented within your chosen subject area but rubbish at maths.. Just saying.

Overshoulderbolderholder · 14/07/2016 18:26

*her not your

FasterThanASnakeAndAMongoose · 14/07/2016 18:29

But she's training to be a primary school teacher. It doesn't matter how shit hot she is in her specialism if she's not also extremely competent across the board.

Overshoulderbolderholder · 14/07/2016 19:19

Yep sorry, missed that... Got to be a good all rounder .. Would be amazed if she can qualify without a decent exam result though. ???

Iloveowls2 · 14/07/2016 19:31

I would explain it as follows: think of half a cake then add quarter a cake then you have a) too many calories for weight watchers b) a DH who has secretly scoffed 1/4 the cake c) 3/4 of a cake or d) a class of 7 year old pupils who are better at maths than the teacher

Mycraneisfixed · 14/07/2016 19:51

Most year 3s could add a half plus a quarter!

DaveGrohlsMrs · 14/07/2016 20:15

I failed maths at school - I am actually hopeless - but even I knew that was three quarters! I hope she's not going to end up teaching my child! 😯

robinia · 14/07/2016 20:19

A primary school teacher will be required to explain simple fractions so there are no two ways about it - if she can't manipulate simple fractions like these then she can't teach in a primary school.
My ds came home once with some maths homework where he'd been required to calculate the interior angles of polygons. His answer of 720 degrees for a hexagon had been marked as incorrect so I went to the teacher to point out that 720 was the correct answer. She swore blind it should be 360. I had to spend nearly 30 minutes going through the theory and practice of calculating interior angles before she would admit she was wrong. It was embarrassing for both of us.

StealthPolarBear · 14/07/2016 20:19

I read that as three year olds and panicked a bit. Clearly need to brush up on my reading!
I asked my 9 yo this morning and after saying 2/6 he said no...no and got it.
Not asked 6yo dd. I suspect if I talk about cake she'll get it.

StealthPolarBear · 14/07/2016 20:20

Robin this should be where common sense comes in. She should know that the angles of a square are 90 and there are four. These are wider angles and there are more of them!!

robinia · 14/07/2016 20:31

Exactly. I had to go through all that and then go through how to work out the size of the angles before multiplying by the number of sides. This same teacher is now joint head of the school .......

StealthPolarBear · 14/07/2016 20:34

I asked dd and she got it straight away and explained it to me using cake.
she then admitted she'd heard me ask ds this morning :) bur said she could picture the cake in her head

sorenofthejnaii · 14/07/2016 20:41

I do get annoyed when people say 'A fraction of people said this / think that' - well, what fraction? Was it a large fraction? A small fraction?

A tiny fraction, a small fraction - that's what you should say.

Rant over.

swelchphr · 14/07/2016 20:53

Yikes! Shock