Y6 maths support

[MammaGnomes]

I've always always always said that SATS don't matter and that it's a reflection of the school not the child, backed up I must add by my DD yr6 teacher at the beginning of term chat.

However, she's come home tonight with 16/40 on her MA assessment. She HATES TTRS so more practice there isn't the answer. Any suggestions for additional support we can do at home? Is a tutor OTT?

At her first choice high school they set for maths and science based off SATS and are mixed ability for everything else.
She's very bright academically in other areas, reaching greater depths last year for reading, writing, French & humanities. I'm worried that if her maths doesn't improve she'll end up in bottom sets which won't be a true reflection of her levels.

She's always struggled with maths and I feel guilty now for not supporting her with it earlier.

Primary schools in my area always have transition handovers with secondary schools - big and small. The time is usually in our PPA or after school. We also fill in detailed transition forms. It’s a lot of work but very important for a successful move for many children. Definitely not a private school.

No transition meetings in my city- who has the time for that? For those who say that their LA doesn’t set until Y8: so the Y7 teachers are supposed to teach in in mixed ability groups and differentiate for those who are ‘working towards’ together with those at ‘greater depth’? Do they have HL/TAs to take different groups within a class so that some are going over the basics while others are starting the secondary curriculum? Secondary schools here have slashed these posts as there is no money.

It is also disingenuous to put forward the idea that a child who has not grasped the basics in primary school is somehow going to be up to speed by the end of Y7 without targetted intervention. If they don’t know their tables, they will struggle with multiplication. If they can’t do multiplication, they won’t be able to do division. If they can’t do division, they won’t be able to understand fractions, decimals & percentages, ratio, etc. If they can’t do any of these things, they will struggle to begin to access the secondary curriculum and with a low start on the flight path will likely struggle to achieve a pass at GCSE. They need a 4 in maths and English to do anything post-16.

I retired this year after 18 years working in primary schools and as a private tutor up to Y12, specialising in increasing attainment in maths and English and supporting those with dyslexia and / or dyscalculia. I have had great success in helping low-achieving primary school children to not only pass their SATS but also gain scholarships at top independent schools. I have supported those with maths difficulties at secondary level to achieve level 4 at GCSE (from a level 2 6 months earlier), and enabled many young people to get out of the foundation group into higher so that they have more options post-16.

But hey, what do I know. Believe that SATs, in particular maths, don’t matter if you like. Good luck.

Sats do matter. Many school stream them based on sats.
They will be fed up expectations based on sats.
For 5 years. They do matter. Get them to try hard.

Get a tutor. They are invaluable. Boost her confidence so much. She may go from 16/40 to 25 out of 40 with just a few sessions. O

How incredibly insulting to primary schools. Are you actually basing that on anything?

I'm a teacher (Y5/6). It sounds like she needs her confidence in maths building up. Regardless of SATs, she'll be doing maths for a long time so if she can enjoy it that would be great. I definitely don't think TTRS works for everyone, and Hit the Button is a good shout from a pp.

If you go for a tutor, make sure it's one who builds her onfidence and makes maths fun.

How has she learnt times tables?

Because I learnt by reciting. "One two is two..." If someone says seven eights, my mind has said fifty six before it's engaged. In year 3 we chanted one times table every day first thing, and by the end I think all the form could do it from memory from 2-10.

My dc weren't taught like that. The emphasis, in some ways rightly, was on understanding. It meant that perhaps that helped them visualise it, but I realised it took far longer for them to both learn them and to work them out an individual one.
If I couldn't remember 4x8 I'd have in my head said "one four is four, two fours are eight... etc" whereas they didn't have the foundations to do it from that, they'd have been working out the maths. (So 4 add 4 is 8, add another four, now how many have I added now...)

For a child who doesn't enjoy maths but has a reasonable memory, it is a way of them having the answers quickly.

So my dc learnt them in different ways.
Dd1 enjoyed number squares. So she used to ask for us to do one for her (you mix up the numbers so they're in different orders.
Dd2 computer games all the way
Ds leant the reciting way because dd1 and dd2 used to sing them in the car!

Thanks @Mumwithbaggage all school have ever said to us is that she needs to gain confidence in maths but then have never really given us any advice on how to do that?

She really doesn't like TTRS they are on it everyday at school and it's part of her weekly homework but just doesn't seem to be helping

I'm not sure how old your children are, but by the end of Y4 children should have pretty much instant recall of multiplication tables up to 12x12. In the official Multiplication Tables check (online, 6 secs per question) around a quarter of children nationally score full marks. There will obviously be plenty of others who make a typo or make one or two mistakes. Schools now do an awful lot of reciting like previous generations did but this has only been since COVID.

Instant recall is wonderful but it's not the be all and end all and children can still succeed at maths without it.

@MammaGnomes if you have any specific questions on areas I might be able to offer suggestions do please DM me - I've done fair bit of tutoring, and with so many children confidence is key.