Yr 5 Maths - How much per week?

[WoodRose]

I have been a bit concerned about DS's maths this year. His class (state school) is only having one or two math lessons per week. I thought primary schools were supposed to have maths and literacy lessons every day, or is that just infants?

I am hoping to speak to his teachers about my concerns but thought I would sound out mners first. I don't want to barge in with my size 3s if one or two maths lessons per week is normal practice! So mners, how much maths does your yr 5 DC do each week?

An hour a day, sometimes longer if we get carried away!

There should be at least 5 hrs a week. Our school do one 1hr long lesson a day and a 30mins wake up maths session every day, but 1 lesson a day is a must

I'm having similar issues with my dc's year 5 class. One maths lesson and one tables test last week, two lessons and a tables test this week.

Ok. So it seems as if I am not being a "neurotic" parent.

Isla DS doesn't even have times tables tests this year. Apparently, the school has decided they are counter-productive. Instead, teachers are supposed to post in the classroom window the weekly timetable to be done at home with parents. DS's class has had the 9x table posted in his classroom window since the first week of December!

At my DC's school it is 1 hour a morning and then an extra hour on a Wed afternoon

They are probably teaching maths as part of other subjects instead of as a separate subject. That's very common.

Last year DD1 did 7 maths lessons a week, times tables tests weekly, one lot of maths homework a week - she gets much the same now even in the runup to SATS, practice tests once a week and same homework as last year. I think it's fine, in fact I could do without the homework altogether, but the teaching is important.

I'd hope that maths was being taught in isolation much of the time. There is a cross curricular approach with many subjects now, but maths needs to be taught discretely IMO. I'm a year 5 teacher and my children have maths every day for around an hour. We do a general mental maths test once a week and children practice tables at home. Occasionally I link maths in with other subjects in a problem solving way, but that wouldn't work on a daily basis.

Indigo I wish that were the case. However, they seem to spend a great deal of time designing chocolate bar wrappers, olympics logo, etc. For example, their Friday schedule is PE and music in the morning, reading with Reception and golden time in the afternoon. Tuesday is Pe and literacy in the morning and art in the afternoon. Wednesday is literacy, science, French and more art. Maths is limited to Monday and Thursdays, but doesn't happen if there is a school trip, special events day (e.g.. World Book Day, visiting speakers, etc).

The real question is not how much maths is your child doing, but is he making sufficient progress? If he is then I don't really think it is a problem.

Oakmaiden To be honest, I don't know if he is progressing because the school refuses to give any indications of levels to parents apart from SAT results at the end of years 2 & 6. My gut instinct tells me that he isn't really progressing. I do extra work with him at home because it has become fairly obvious that his times tables, for example, were slipping. Fraction work which he could do easily at the end of year 4 now requires a bit more thought,etc. However, I do worry that his work at home is merely stopping him from slipping backwards rather than progressing forwards.

An hour a day, plus as much as they can get away with during other parts of the curriculum.

their Friday schedule is PE and music in the morning, reading with Reception and golden time in the afternoon. Tuesday is Pe and literacy in the morning and art in the afternoon. Wednesday is literacy, science, French and more art. Maths is limited to Monday and Thursdays, but doesn't happen if there is a school trip, special events day (e.g.. World Book Day, visiting speakers, etc).

Blimey. I am shocked! And suspicious of schools who don't divulge levels when asked.

Blimey. I am shocked! And suspicious of schools who don't divulge levels when asked.

I totally agree. I'd make an appointment to speak to the teacher/head to discuss this. Occasionally we will miss a lesson during the week if we have a packed timetable with extra curricular stuff going on like trips, speakers etc but I'll try and do some quick mental maths with them.

What are the SATS results in Year 6 like; also what is the school's value added like?

I can't obtain recent Sats results as my dc's school has opted out.
woodrose My dc was tested on the 2x table today

Is it a state school? Some state schools boycotted in 2010, but they can't opt out, it's a legal requirement.

Feenie I have always found it odd that the school refuses to give out levels, but put it down to the fact that I was educated overseas and am not at all au fait with the British education system. The school argues that it doesn't want parents becoming competitive about DCs' levels.

DS's school is in an affluent, leafy suburb with lots of educated, middle class, supportive parents. It is Ofsted "outstanding" and seems to use this as a defence against any attempt by parents to scratch beneath the surface. Those brave souls who do, are dismissed as "precious" and "pushy". The school does very well in its year 6 SATS which it uses as a vindication of its approach. However, what it refuses to admit is that its excellent results are in no small part due to the widespread prevalence of tutoring from year 4 onwards.

So, the question for me is where do I go from here? Do I do as others do and ramp up the tutoring or do I risk being castigated as "the problem pushy parent" and question the teachers at parents evening?

our school doesn't give out sats scores either

'parent's get too focused on a scoring system they don't fully understand' apparently!

however the math's they do in year 5 is fantastic
they have an hour a day, plus 'big maths' on thursdays and 'mental maths' on fridays
all of KS2 have maths at the same time so the groups are very fluid so they can move into the years above or below as required

they also have maths club on tuesday lunch time where they learn how to gamble

Dd's school do 1 hour a day, an extra 1 hour on Tuesday and twenty minutes a day doing number bonds/tables/mental maths depending on age and stage. Pretty much like literacy 1 hour a day, an extra hour on Friday and twenty minutes phonics every day.

Just had a look on the QCDA website which says that whilst there is no statutory time allocated to subjects in Key Stage 2, DfES recommends 4.25 - 5 hours per week for maths and 55 minutes per week for Art and Design. Think DS's school has misread the guidelines! There is a scary parent governor in DS's class, so may have a quiet word with her over coffee...

Yes it is recommended roughly 50mins-1hr a day.

Another Yr5 parent here. dd2's school 'sets' for maths each day for an hour.