Why is the Maths National Curriculum changing?

August 8, 2014

The way Maths is being taught in our schools is changing. The new curriculum is being implemented in the new 2014 Academic Year. It is designed to give children a much greater understanding, ability and confidence with numbers from an earlier age. Essentially, the new curriculum is more traditional in its approach and to some

The way Maths is being taught in our schools is changing. The new curriculum is being implemented in the new 2014 Academic Year. It is designed to give children a much greater understanding, ability and confidence with numbers from an earlier age. Essentially, the new curriculum is more traditional in its approach and to some extent reflects how Maths used to be taught in schools.

The approach is more systematic and organised. Children will be taught number skills, leading to algorithms in the four rules of number, and their times tables; then decimals, fractions, percentages and ratios. It is a more structured approach and children will have to demonstrate they can perform certain mathematical tasks at specific points along the way. This will be reinforced with plenty of practice in problem solving and the application of mathematical technique.

We are strong advocates of the changes to the Maths National Curriculum, as we have always used this more traditional ‘how-to’ approach, both at our Tuition Centre and within all the ‘How-to’ Workbooks we have developed. Using these methods, we have seen consistent success when children sit their entrance exams for Grammar and Independent schools and achieve high scores in their SAT’s tests.