Year 4

Year 4 Times Table Tests

All primary school-aged children are expected to know their times tables up to 12 x 12 by heart. In fact, they are expected to have mastered their times tables by the end of Year 4.

Until now, there had been no formal measure to judge whether children in England had learnt their times tables or not – with a formal judgement only somewhat made from a child’s Year 6 Maths SATs performance. So, the idea is for the Multiplication Tables Check to be taken towards the end of Year 4 to make sure children are meeting the benchmark of memorising their times tables up to 12 x 12 before moving up to Upper Key Stage 2 (Year 5 and Year 6).

From the 2019/20 academic year onwards, all state-funded maintained schools and academies (including free schools) in England will be required to administer an online multiplication tables check (MTC) to year 4 pupils.

The national curriculum specifies that pupils should be taught to recall the multiplication tables up to and including 12 × 12 by the end of year 4.

The purpose of the MTC is to determine whether pupils can recall their times tables fluently, which is essential for future success in mathematics. It will help schools to identify pupils who have not yet mastered their times tables, so that additional support can be provided.

Schools will have a 3-week window to administer the MTC. Teachers will have the flexibility to administer the check to individual pupils, small groups or a whole class at the same time.

In  2021, schools can choose to administer the MTC to year 4 pupils, between Monday 7 June and Friday 25 June

Multiplication tables check: information video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhAJMJUsAac

What is the test’s format?

The Multiplication Tables Check has been described as “an online, on-screen digital assessment" – meaning the children will take the test on a desktop computer, laptop or tablet (such as an iPad) at school. The D for E are breaking a lot of new ground here – they have never administered computerised tests in primary schools before now. A further bonus for teachers and markers alike – the programme that the test runs on will automatically mark each child’s times tables test.

The times tables test will be timed, with the entire assessment lasting approximately 5 minutes in total. The children will be set a handful of practice questions to begin with – mostly from the one times table. Following the practice questions, the test itself will comprise of 25 questions, all formatted, for example, as 2 x 5 = with the child required to input the product or result, which in the example we’ve provided would mean inputting the answer 10.

 

Children will be given six seconds to answer each of the questions, with a three second blank gap between each question.

 

The questions will be randomly selected by the testing programme from 121 different options, ranging from 2 x 2 = up to 12 x 12. The test’s software has been programmed to show children more questions from the 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 times tables, as these are trickier times tables focused on more in Years 3 and 4. (The 2s, 5s and 10s are more of a focus in Years 1 and 2.)

How will the Year 4 times tables test scores be reported?

Each child’s result will be passed on to their school, and the Department for Education will create a report on overall results across all schools in England to measure whether national times tables results improve over the coming years.

It is understood that most schools will not tell children their results or that parents will be informed either (but the DfE have yet to issue any advice to date).

 What if my child does badly in their multiplication tables check?

No child will fail the times tables test as no pass mark has been set. It is also important to note that all children will be tested on is their times tables knowledge – with no problem solving skills being assessed and not even a single division question being asked!

 

What can you do to help your child in practising their times tables?

We would recommend a number of strategies to support your child in the run-up to and after the times tables test including:

• Times tables chanting: “6, 12, 18, 24…”;
• Times tables chanting in reverse order: “108, 99, 90, 81…”;
• Using times tables songs
• Using Times Table Rock Stars
• Using free online games, like Times Table Rockstars 
• Asking your child multiplication calculations out of order, like: “What is 4 x 7? What is 9 x 5? What is 6 x 11?”;
• Using pasta pieces or pebbles to show groups of numbers representing times tables, e.g. four groups of three pasta shells to show 3 x 4 = 12

IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR YEAR 4 PARENTS/CARERS

Dear parent/carer,

We are delighted to invite you to our parent workshop to provide an understanding of the Multiplication Tables Check (MTC). The workshop will be held on Thursday 5^th March at 9:00 am.  This workshop will be held in your child’s class. The purpose of this workshop is to provide you with more information about the MTC and the links to games and other activities to support your child's preparation for the test.

The MTC is focused on the fluent recall of multiplication facts. This is included in the national curriculum (2014) statutory programme of study for mathematics at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. The national curriculum states, ‘By the end of year 4, pupils should have memorised their multiplication tables up to and including the 12 multiplication table and show precision and fluency in their work’.

Please come along to ensure you have all the information you need about the MTC and strategies to help your child prepare.

Thank you for your support.

 

Miss N Punia

Year 4 Team Leader

Welcome to Year 4!

 

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