The TimeZing Revolution

Teaching Maths in FE

I have been teaching Maths to 16-19 year olds and adults for the last 16 years. It has mainly been in FE Colleges to students who did not achieve a grade C in their Maths GCSE. They have been required to study Maths and English as separate subjects attached to their vocational courses. it has also been necessary for many of them to carry on with their maths in order to go on to university; the same applies to English. Students who do not get a D in GCSE English and Maths are required to work towards a Functional Skills qualification in both these subjects. Those who achieve a D must retake their GCSE.

The OECD Study

The Government has responded to the low level of Numeracy and Literacy in this country by setting these new benchmarks of achievement for students. Students on Apprenticeships must also achieve a minimum standard of Maths and English (As well as ICT). This makes sense as these skills are essential in almost every work place.

Back in 2013 the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) reported that out of 24 nations, young adults in England (aged 16-24) ranked 22nd for literacy and 21st for numeracy. Almost a quarter of the UK’s population had such basic levels of numeracy that they could manage only one-step tasks in arithmetic, sorting numbers or reading graphs.

Curriculum changes in 2014

Clearly we have a big problem on our hands. Almost immediately the government took action to try and deal with this. Michael Gove jumped write in and quickly decided to raise the bar and adjust the demands of the National Curriculum. Children would now need to know their times tables up to and including twelve by the age of 9!!

There sorted!!!

Are times tables important?

Of course this has not gone down too well in general. Further pressure on children, more tests….and times tables are boring!! To learn…. and who wants to teach something that students find boring?

Times tables are important. Many students get stuck at this point. They don’t like them, don’t learn them… and then hate maths. So many students I have taught over the years have not progressed past plus and minus by the time they arrive in Further Education. They then have 2, 3 or 4 years to pass a level 2 in Functional Skills or get a C in GCSE in order to get to university.

The resolution

So in an effort to try to remedy the problem at an earlier stage I challenged myself to make timezing fun. If a child can learn their times tables they would be able to understand division, once understanding factors they could move onto fractions… and so on. I wanted to unblock them. Get them over that times tables wall so that they can move on.

Learning and teaching times tables needs to be fun. Through our TimeZing games and resources we hope that we can provide schools, teachers and parents with the tools they need to support their students and children in their learning of these basic, yet essential, mathematical concepts.

It’s true that children don’t need to know their tables by rote to succeed at Maths. We’ve all heard the example of the Cambridge undergraduate reading Mathematics who has never been able to recite their times tables. Well, he or she is the exception. Learning times tables, even if children stumble through them and still have gaps that can be bridged with counting on fingers etc., will lead to greater achievement.

TimeZing is colourful and fun

Children must not reject them, but be happy to work with them.
TimeZing is all about colour and fun. With our ever expanding range of games and resources we cater for different learning styles and allow for all levels to play together, as a class, smaller groups or individually.

Videos

Take a look at our videos and see how to play the games and use the resources. We have kits for schools and classrooms, or you can purchase individual products from our shop.

Welcome to the TimeZing Revolution

We really hope you join the TimeZing revolution and our mission to make timestables fun to learn and fun to teach. Maybe you’ll enjoy it so much you might be enjoying playing the TimeZing card game at home as a family.

We would love to hear how you find our products. Please let us know!