Whether your child struggles with Maths anxiety or you are just wanting to boost their potential for the upcoming 11+ exam, ensuring their foundation and understanding of the core concepts in Maths is essential.
WHY STRONG FOUNDATIONS MATTER
The maths curriculum follows a scaffolded learning approach, meaning that each layer is a foundation for the next more complex layer. If a student struggles with number sense and place value, they will struggle with higher-level Maths such as comparing decimals and fractions, converting units of measure and eventually solving algebraic equations.
THE FIRST STEPS IN THE MATHEMATICAL JOURNEY
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Identify The Core Topics:
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Master Each Topic Through A Cycle Of Learning:
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Understand the concept.
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Practice the concept weekly.
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Apply this concept to more difficult problems.
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Set ‘time goals’ when working through the problems to establish a steady pace.
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Building Mental Maths Techniques:
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Little And Often:
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Even if only 15 minutes a day, establish a routine whereby your child reviews and practices Maths every day.
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Use resources such as to guarantee that you are covering all areas.
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Celebrate Success
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Set goals (for example, meeting time goals, or quick recall goals) so that your child can see their growth and feel a sense of achievement, building their confidence and self-esteem.
CORE MATHS TOPICS TO SECURE FOR THE 11+
- Number and Place Value
- Number sequences (including square and triangular numbers)
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Rounding (to the nearest 10, 100, 1,000, decimal places)
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Types of numbers (prime, even, odd, square, cube)
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Factors, multiples, LCM, HCF
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Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division
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Fractions, Decimals and Percentages
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Simplifying fractions
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Adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing fractions
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Converting between fractions, decimals and percentages **
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Finding a percentage or fraction of an amount
- Measurement
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Conversions of measurement
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Units of time (reading clocks, 24-hour time, elapsed time)
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Weight and capacity
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Money (calculations with pounds/pence, change)
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Area, perimeter (including of compound shapes) and volume (cuboids) **
- Geometry
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2D/3D shape names and proprieties
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Angles (acute, obtuse, reflex and right)
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Calculating missing angles and lengths
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Reflections, lines of symmetry, order of rotational symmetry and translations
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Co-ordinates
- Statistics
- Ratio and Proportion
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Simplifying ratios
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Using ratios to compare quantities
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Solving scaling problems (recipes, maps, etc) **
- Algebra
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Simplifying expressions
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Expanding brackets
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Solving equations
** areas that often cause problems for students, but can be easily practised for security.
HELPING CHILDREN OVERCOME MATHS ANXIETY
According to the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and National Numeracy report, around one in four children (25%) fall behind in Maths before the end of primary school. As parents, we watch this decline with feelings of helplessness and vulnerability. However, today we are surrounded by resources that enable us to support our children and prevent this decline. If working one-on-one with your child causes battles, there are 1:1 tutors and 11+ courses that are available to provide this aid. Not only do we have the tools at our fingertips to develop our children’s mathematical understanding, but we can also simultaneously foster their self-confidence!
The content of this article is general in nature and is not a substitute for thorough research by parents. The arrangements for the 11+ exams vary widely between areas, and there are often changes from year to year. You should consult the official sources of information in your area, such as the grammar school admissions policies, local authority website and/or local 11+ exam testing consortium website. Do not rely on information on third-party websites, as it may be incorrect or out of date.