Students at Kettering Science Academy are being reminded about the importance of learning their times tables as part of a school numeracy drive.
Staff members are being asked to encourage all students to visit a special times table website to aid individuals to learn and brush up on their time tables outside of their regular mathematics lessons.
The website students are being asked to visit, on a regular basis, is called Time Tables Rock Stars https://ttrockstars.com and is accessible for students using their My Maths login password.
Mathematics teacher at KSA, Mr Stephen Ready is the lead staff member for the numeracy drive and he introduced the benefits of the website to staff at the beginning of this week.
Mr Ready said: “The main rationale is that multiplication and division are the foundations for a solid numeracy and are key to succeeding in Mathematics.
“So much of the Mathematics curriculum is dependent on students knowing their tables and the quicker they are at recalling their tables the more efficient they will be. This of course will be the case in other subjects such as Science. Students who are not confident need constant and rigorous practise in order to get themselves up to scratch.”
He added: “The website is good since it has a fun and competitive edge to it. It also measures the average time it takes for students to answer questions. It remembers what questions students either got wrong or were slow at answering. It will then target these weak areas until students are capable.
“For the students who are comfortable with their tables, this is a chance for them to get their average times as low as they can. It is possible for students to gain an average time of less than one second per question! I have presented this to all staff so that everyone is aware of it and will encourage their students to use it regularly.”
There will be numeracy based tasks introduced in form time for students to attempt, some of which may involve using the website.
It will also be used in Maths lessons for many groups but students are being encouraged to take advantage of the website as often as possible outside of their Maths lessons.
There will be rewards in assemblies for students to celebrate success, as well as a "Red Carpet Week" in June for times tables competitions.
Mr Ready added: “It is a fantastic resource that addresses a weak area for many students and I am sure this will be of enormous benefit.”
If parents require any further assistance please contact Stephen Ready at sready@ketteringscienceacademy.org