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How to do subtraction in school in England

9 replies

LaFlotte · 20/08/2012 15:13

Hi - please can you let me know how children in primary schools in England are taught subtraction?

I remember the borrowing method but think this may have changed?

Thanks for your help.

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trinity0097 · 21/08/2012 10:16

You need to find out from the specific school as not all schools use the same methods, or have differing expectations of when certain techniques are taught.

LaFlotte · 21/08/2012 18:34

Hi There,
Thanks for your replies. I think you are right and I shouldn't try to practise a method in the hols in case it's the wrong one. Who knew there was so much variation!!

Thanks,

LF

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trinity0097 · 21/08/2012 20:13

If you want to help a child with Maths in the meantime, work on learning times table facts, and related division facts (so knowing that 3 x 4 = 4 as well as 12 /4 = 3 and 12/3 = 4).

Also involve them with Maths on an everyday basis, so measuring out food, estimating the cost of items, working out change, counting certain objects etc...

mrz · 21/08/2012 20:15

LaFlotte how old is your child?

LaFlotte · 21/08/2012 21:32

She is 9 and going into year 5.

She's had such a long holiday due to moving that I was going to do a little bit of fun revision before the new term starts but I don't want to do more harm than good!

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juniper904 · 21/08/2012 23:47

Ask the school for a copy of their calculation policy. They should have one.

In my school, we either count backwards or count on. I can't be certain what they do further up the school, but I have a feeling we don't do column subtraction at all. We do column addition, but not subtraction.

sazzler61 · 22/08/2012 11:18

Ditto- you definitely need the school's calculation policy as schools approach it differently.

We are now consolidating our calculation policy as there were just so many methods for each calculation type add/subtraction/divide etc).

There tend to be two ways of thinking;

1- teach chn a variety of methods so they can choose which works best for them.

2- select one main written method as a school (maybe one in kS1 then a second more developed method in ks2) and stick with it!!

I am totally with number 2. Having moved from a school who used method 2, to a school using method 1, I can confirm that teaching so many different approaches just confuses children!! Of course if a child does not get the chosen method, take them aside in a small group to learn a different approach, but there's no reason to spend a huge amount of time teaching the whole class 4 ways to reach the same outcome. This time can be spent on applying the method to problem solving, which is what the chn are really assessed on.

SO when you get the calculations policy, if there is more than one approach to subtraction, I'd look at it with your child, see which one they find most comfortable, and go with it!

juniper904 · 22/08/2012 14:02

In year 3, we teach finding the difference on a number line as the first method, then jumping back later in the year.

Up until last year, year 4 learnt a very complicated and daft method which was nearly columns. They would put the numbers into columns, then underneath would add onto the smaller number in jumps, aiming for the nearest ten, then hundred etc until they reached the target number. It was the same information as our number line method, but in columns. Very confusing. Thankfully we scrapped it.

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