Primrose Kitten
Maths in KS2 covers a broad range of topics designed to solidify students' understanding and prepare them for the more advanced concepts they will encounter in secondary school.
A personal note from Jen: We have written a free revision guide to help students and parents keep track of everything they need to know and ensure that nothing is missed. This guide can be downloaded and printed out (or used digitally) so topics can be ticked off.
Understanding Large Numbers: Students should be able to read, write, order, and compare numbers up to 10,000,000 and understand the value of each digit.
Negative Numbers: This includes working with negative numbers in various contexts, such as temperature and elevation, and performing calculations that cross zero.
Fluency in Arithmetic: Mastery of the four operations is crucial. Students should be able to perform mental calculations and use formal written methods for large numbers.
Order of Operations: Understanding and applying BIDMAS/BODMAS (Brackets, Orders (i.e., powers and roots), Division and Multiplication, Addition and Subtraction) is essential for solving complex problems.
Equivalent Fractions: Simplifying fractions, finding common denominators, and comparing and ordering fractions.
Operations with Fractions: Adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions and mixed numbers.
Decimals and Percentages: Converting between fractions, decimals, and percentages and solving problems involving percentage changes and comparisons.
Understanding Ratios: Students learn to use ratio language and notation, simplify ratios, and solve problems involving proportional relationships.
Proportional Reasoning: Applying knowledge to solve problems e.g. in recipes, scale drawings, and maps.
Introduction to Algebra: Using simple formulae, expressing missing number problems algebraically, and finding pairs of numbers that satisfy equations.
Sequences: Recognising and creating number sequences involving fractions and decimals.
MeasurementUnits of Measure: Converting between different units of measure (e.g., length, mass, volume) using appropriate tools and instruments.
Perimeter, Area, and Volume: Calculate the perimeter and area of various shapes, including triangles and parallelograms, and find the volume of cubes and cuboids.
Properties of Shapes: Identifying and describing properties of 2D and 3D shapes, including types of angles and the relationships between them, circles, their radius, diameter and circumference.
Position and Direction: Plotting points on the coordinate plane, interpreting graphs, and understanding translations, and reflections.
StatisticsData Handling: Collecting, organising, and interpreting data using bar charts, pictograms line graphs, pie charts, and tables.
Key Skills
Problem-Solving
Applying Mathematics: Using mathematical concepts to solve real-life problems and unfamiliar situations.
Reasoning: Developing logical arguments and reasoning skills to explain solutions and justify answers.
Fluency
Efficient Calculation: Performing calculations quickly and accurately mentally and using formal written methods.
Recall of Facts: Having a solid grasp of number facts, such as multiplication tables and key number bonds, to support more complex calculations.
Conceptual Understanding
Depth of Knowledge: Ensuring a deep understanding of mathematical concepts rather than just procedural knowledge. This involves understanding why methods work and being able to explain reasoning.
Communication
Mathematical Language: Using appropriate mathematical vocabulary to discuss and explain mathematical ideas clearly.
Representation: Using diagrams, charts, and models to represent mathematical ideas and solve problems.
Reflection and Self-Assessment
Reviewing Work: Encouraging students to check their work for errors and understand mistakes as part of the learning process.
Setting Goals: Helping students set personal goals for improvement and develop strategies to achieve them.
A personal note from Jen: If your child can recall facts about times tables quickly, this will help them with tests and exams way into the future. Times tables facts are just something they need to remember (not practise like long division), and it will make SATs and even GCSEs much easier for students. When I was teaching GCSE maths, this was a core skill that the students with the best grades could do easily. Students did time tables tests in Y4 here; you can use that to help inform them of their child's ability and what they need to work on in upper KS2.
