Learning times table facts can have a huge impact on a child's ability in many areas of the maths curriculum. When the new curriculum was introduced in 2014, the government set out the following expectations for times table knowledge:

• By the end of Year 2, children should know by heart all multiplication and division facts for their 10, 5 and 2 times tables (up to 12 x 10, 12 x 5 and 12 x 2).

• By the end of Year 3, they should also know by heart all multiplication and division facts for their 3, 4 and 8 times tables.

• By the end of Year 4, children should know the multiplicationa nd division facts for all times tables up to 12 x 12

Times Table Targets

At Edgewood Primary School, we teach times tables in the following order: 10, 5, 2, 3, 4, 8, 11, 6, 9, 7 and finally 12. Each times table has a bronze, silver and gold target which children need to achieve before moving on to the next times table. The bronze target asks children to count on and back up to the 12th multiple so, for example, a child working on the bronze target for the 10 times table will need to count in tens from zero up to 120 and back. To achieve the silver target, a child needs to know by heart all multipliation facts for the times table they are working on. To complete the gold target, children must know by heart all multiplication and division facts for the times table they are working on. The full list of times table targets can be seen by clicking on the link in the 'Documents' section on this page.

Times Table Tests

Each week, your child will be given a times table test related to the target they are currently working on. For the silver and gold targets, this takes the form of a speed grid. There is a link to an example speed grid in the 'Documents' section. Children are given 5 minutes to complete their grid where they need to answer 36 questions. For the silver target, they are all multiplications but the gold target grids have a mixture of multiplication and division questions. If a child completes the grid in 2 minutes 30 seconds or less and they have made no more than 2 mistakes, they have achieved their target and can move on to the next one. 

How you can help at home

The best way for children to learn times tables is through regular practice. Times table facts need to be learnt so that they can quickly give the correct answer without needing to count up. There are some excellent games that your child can play on the internet which are good fun and encourage your child to keep coming back  to improve their scores. We would particularly recommend the following websites:

http://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

http://www.transum.org/Tables/Times_Tables.asp

We would encourage your child to practise speed grids at home so please feel free to print off the sample copy by clicking on the link in the documents section.