yr 6 maths - what is your child doing?

[angrysquirrel73]

DD is year 6 and described as 'able' by her maths teacher.

They just spent half a term doing long division which she tells me she has done twice before and the teacher tells me they have not done before so I am quite confused.

DD is at a prep school and they have just had an influx of state school pupils and due to the lockdown the state school students are needing to 'catch up' in maths. It seems like the whole class is on a go slow and repeating work they have already done. How are other schools dealing with the need for some pupils to 'catch up'?

The whole class seems to get the same worksheets, homework and tests. How do I know whether the teacher is differentiating the maths work? They only have 1 class so no streaming / sets.

Maths homework last week consisted of 2 questions which took DD a total of 7 minutes..

I'm currently teaching my class to multiply and divide decimals by 10, 100, 1000 etc. They should know this really, but covid.

My Y6 DS is doing BIDMAS.

But I'm not sure how that info relates to your DD?

Gosh reefedsail BIDMAS sounds quite advanced? I take it long division was already covered in year 5?

How do you differentiate the work for children at different levels?

Nets.. that make up 3D shapes. Just done long division. Bus stop method.

BIDMAS is on the Y6 curriculum. It will be being taught in Y6 classrooms up and down the country round about now. I'll be doing it with mine shortly. DS is in a non-selective prep and his class generally seem to be in the same place that able mathematicians in a state school would be.

I've only got 9 children in my class and they are all autistic. They are super good at maths in the main. I teach to the top and then put in intervention for anybody who doesn't get something in a lesson.

My year 6 child is in the second set out of 5. He is a competent mathematician, but lacks confidence.
He has covered long division, working out fractions from percentages using long division and BODMAS so far this term. He’s in a state school.

I'm at a stalemate with my y6s school over maths. The whole class seem to have gone right back to basics and dd is finding it boring. She finishes her worksheet quickly and then has nothing to do but wait silently for the whole class to finish. The school are assuring me that there is extension work available, whilst dd is assuring me there isn't! I don't know what the answer is, but I feel your pain.

Isn’t this what they do with the new curriculum? They repeat a lot of the same topics each year but add more difficulty each time?

My ds is currently revising fractions and have been for the past three weeks. They have SATS question books for homework and just seem to be going over everything they have learnt so far.

doctorhamster this is exactly my experience! Child is telling me one thing and teacher is telling me something else. Apparently she cannot bring her maths exercise book home due to Covid19. Although it's ok to bring your history exercise book home . All very opaque.

I am a year 6 TA. So far since September we have covered. Place value ( includes multiple and divide by 10 100 1000), long multiplication including decimals, adding and subtracting fractions which includes being able find equivalent fractions (lowest common denominator) and simplifying fractions, factors/multiples/prime numbers, negative numbers, square and cube numbers, time including reading and interpreting time tables. Short division moving on this week to long division. I am sure there is more but this is from memory. Most of this is revision and missed learning from year 5.

I would say that's a perfect summary of where Y6 should be @cassgate. Mine are so behind this year.

Long division and fractions at present.

How wonderful your DD is getting the diversity and balance of state school pupils, I'm sure it will benefit her.

Op
My child is in year 6 at a prep

The “influx of state school pupils”

Really? What number are we actually talking about here.

How the spaces drop up?

The reason I pick this up is that I suspect it is hyperbole, which leads me to think that maybe you have a slightly dramatic response to actually very trivial things in reality.

I’m surprised you say no streaming. That was one of the advantages of private. My child very strong at maths and streaming important so he doesn’t get frustrated

Long division was taught across two lessons for me (Y6 teacher). Some children hadn't embedded the method, so we had long division as a daily morning task for all of October, until almost all children were able to correctly calculate every time. They're still dreadfully slow though!

We've also covered bidmas, 4 operations with decimals, 4 operations with fractions (adding fractions was another area which was covered and is now being practised regularly as many aren't secure). We're now converting fractions, decimals and percentages.

There are gaps. We've found the best way to deal with them is the same as ever: teach Y6 curriculum and expect that children will be successful, but have supports in place of required.

I would definitely suggest you explain to the teacher that DD feels she is not progressing (if you haven't already) and ask what you can do about that. Covid and new pupils shouldn't be an excuse. Obviously have sympathy though, it's not easy in schools at the moment.

cassgate it sounds like you have covered alot of ground so far this term!
Grobagsforever I have no issue with the state school students, we also came from a state school in yr3, it's the degree of repetition and that my child is getting frustrated. It's single form so there is no setting and there doesn't seem to be adequate differentiation. During the lockdown the prep school had online lessons and whilst they didn't cover new ground in maths they did alot of revision and consolidation which was good. The state schools where we live were generally poor with little home learning so a large number joined the prep (30 percent) but are struggling hence the speed of the class..
Jroseforever this is the case. DD is frustrated. I first contacted the maths teacher in yr 5 and very little has improved so I fear she has been spinning her wheels. I can teach her at home but then I wonder why I am paying school fees..
Solidaritea thankyou. It sounds like you covered LD in a couple of lessons plus plenty of practice whilst the prep have spent half a term on it. I have tried to be gentle in my communications. I like the teacher and have no issue with them and I can see the strain schools are under. It's just it's been going on for a year now and I'd just like the natter resolved .

Op

Your school doesn’t stream
Either they were not at full capacity or loads of parents have recently pulled their children from the school
You raised an issue last year and nothing has been done

Your school sounds crap.

jroseforever I fear you have summarised the situation succinctly.

We outside of London / SE so none of the schools are full. No one has left the school but it certainly wasn't over subscribed.

Tell your child to put their hand up when they finish the work, every single time, and tell the teacher, and say "I've finished, please can I gave something else to do?"

My DD goes to state school, there is no streaming, but the teacher teaches everyone at once but hands out three levels of maths question and each child knows what level they should attempt. If the child finishescthe hardest questions quickly they ask for A Challenge, which will be a related conceptual or scenario based problem that will require more independent thought. If they complete the first challenge, they ask for a second challenge.

It isnt a brilliant school, but generally the kids arent just waiting for others to finish. That's just asking for trouble!

Errr... my daughter is in year 6 in a North London prep school and the OP’s situation sounds so odd to me. To start with (being a prep school) the school is in full on 11 + prep mode, so in maths they are constantly doing 11+ papers and more often than not 13+ papers. There are sets (3 sets in a small year group to be exact). My daughter is in the middle set, but their maths homework is horrendously long and difficult, which for my daughter isn’t a great thing, but at least I can’t complain she’s not getting stretched. I have never heard of a prep school not pushing able children (especially in year 6!)

From his reports he is just crossing off the days on the calendar until he can go to his more academic secondary school. He is totally bored. Apparently they cannot differentiate the homework. In school you can only do the harder questions once you have finished all the easy ones. Previous years he could just jump to the harder ones. He has been told off for writing too much in his explanations. It is either waffle away or write concisely then twiddling thumbs until the end of the lesson.

I'm a TA in Y6. We have 4 maths sets - three "normal" ones where hopefully most of the children will pass their sats, and then my set, which has a handful of children in it, none of whom would pass their sats even if we just mercilessly drilled them in arithmetic all year (so we're not). The top set is adding and subtracting fractions, the middle set has just started fractions yesterday, the bottom set is finishing up long division, and my set have just finished subtraction. Everyone has done (to an appropriate level for the set) place value, addition, subtraction, and then all the sets except mine have done (or will be doing shortly) multiplication, division and BODMAS.