17 times table? Year 8 thought this sounded tricky and yet by breaking it down, and doing a little practice, they succeeded in learning their 17 times table in under 10 minutes.
This session was part Maths Realising Week - a series of special maths events to highlight the HPL (High Performance Learning) skill of Realising; practising something until you can't get it wrong.
Head of Maths Mrs Langford visited the Pre-Prep next as a mathemagician! During the maths assembly, the children were completely wowed by her magic trick where she guessed the number the children were thinking of ...twice! After all the excitement, it was time to read the story Wibbly Pig has 10 Balloons.
During the week, Years 3 - 8 took on the times table challenge - answering as many times table questions as they could in just three minutes.
The children who answered the most questions correctly in each patrol per year group were selected as representatives in the climax event of the week: a live Times Table Bee in the Friday assembly. It was a great atmosphere as the spectating children roared on their teams, and the competitors were incredibly calm as they did the maths and hit the buzzers!
Mrs Langford commented: "I thought that the Times Table Bee in the Mill Hall was fantastic. I was so thrilled to see all the children completely engaged in the times tables and to see the whole school genuinely supporting their friends and patrols (and working out the calculations themselves in their heads – everyone was properly involved).
"The atmosphere was electric and the children competing were brilliant. It’s a big ask to stand at the front and think on your feet – you really have to have reached automaticity if you are going to do 13 squared without thinking in front of 150 people."
"Lots of people think that all maths is about just learning your tables and number bonds and doing calculations quickly but we know that the only reason to do this is to free up your thinking brain for the proper job of being a mathematician – analysing and problem solving. In lessons, we were able to reinforce these ideas."
