Why Use Arithmetic Hub?

Arithmetic Hub is such a helpful tool because it provides a wide range of maths support, through the diversity of its questions and the progression that they follow during primary school. All calculations questions on Arithmetic Hub are made to consider the learning of students right throughout school and provide methods and skills that will be used far beyond the primary classroom. The retrieval practice is spaced and designed to allow learners to access prior knowledge, not simply what they have been learning in today’s maths lesson.

Take, for example a fraction of an amount question. This is a topic covered once a year in years 3, 4, 5 and 6. There may also be some revision of this in these years, so it’s safe to say most learners would probably practice answering a fraction of an amount question 10 times between years 3 and 6. However, this method is also being remembered alongside all of the other methods that are being learned over those 4 years of maths lessons, meaning those 10 opportunities to practice might not always be enough. Additionally, it may be the case that that student can correctly answer any fraction of an amount question when it has been the focus of the lesson, as they have listened carefully and applied the knowledge they have learned, but in 3 weeks time would that still be the case? Or what about 3 months? SATs papers are designed to test students on all of the mathematical knowledge they have gained throughout their time in school, so it is likely that the questions that come up will be from topics covered months or even years previously.

Now consider that this learner is using calculations daily in their school. The daily calculations questions selected by their teacher may not always have a fraction of an amount question in them, however, if calculations are being randomly selected, the chances of having one of these types of calculations is around 1 in 3. This then means that this student is having around 250 opportunities to practice that method from years 3 to 6. Not only that, the level of challenge of these questions are increasing as they move through school, meaning these types of questions go from something like this in year 3: 1/3 of 18 =, to something like this in year 6: A book has 600 pages. I read 5/12 on Monday, and 1/6 on Tuesday. How many pages are left? Now this learner is able to use that fluent, arithmetic skill to also practice their reasoning and problem solving, whilst also having the opportunity to practice more whenever they need to and watch an example teaching video to support them whenever they need it.

However, daily calculations lessons are not the only place where Arithmetic Hub is useful. Let us also consider some other situations.

Practice at home:

As a teacher I was often asked by parents and carers is there any more that they can be doing with their child at home. The answer was almost always the same – support your child with any homework that has been set, practice any times tables and let me know if there are any specific topics that they are struggling with so we can do some extra practice. Now, whilst this sort of support is incredibly helpful, it was hard to be specific. Plus, as a year 6 teacher, a lot of the children I taught were often already secure in their understanding of times tables.

Arithmetic Hub provides a solution to this. By providing a wide range of questions from all across the maths curriculum, students can practice up to 15 different topics in one set of calculations. These sets of calculations are customisable to a user’s needs and can be generated in less than a minute. The names of each of these topics are signposted alongside each question and answer, allowing the learner to identify areas where they are confident with a method and any areas that they may require more support. This support can then be found on the website through the use of teaching videos to explain methods and targeted question sets that allow children to practice a specific type of question or skill multiple times, often in different contexts.

Parental support and engagement with homework:

Another thing that can be a barrier to learning with maths is a parent or carer’s lack of confidence in their own ability, or them being unsure of how to support their child with a specific method. It is incredibly common to hear, as a teacher, “maths was never something I was good at,” or “I know how to do it, but just not in the way my child has been taught.”

What Arithmetic Hub offers is a bespoke teaching video, exploring a method used to answer each of the types of questions available in sets of calculations. Whilst these aren’t the only methods to answer these questions, and may be delivered better by other teachers, they are still a great way to help support both learners and their parents and carers to explore a method either independently or together.

Each teaching video has a method section, broken down into small steps, that explains the key aspects of answering that specific type of question and some worked examples of what answering a question in that topic would look like. Each video is delivered by a teacher with 8 years experience of teaching year 6 maths in a school rated outstanding by ofsted for teaching and learning. Finding the appropriate video for each question topic is also easy, simply identify a topic you want to explore further in your set of calculations using the name in brackets at the side of the question and search for that topic name on the teaching videos tab of the website. Finally, each of the teaching video pages has a written version of the key points of the method, an example of what the written method would look like in a maths book and more examples of each question type explored in the video available to download and practice.

Student teachers or teachers new to a year group:

The teaching videos on Arithmetic Hub can also be a great source of CPD for teachers too. Often when working with teachers that are inexperienced, either with a year group or just because they are new to the profession, it may be the case that a teacher is teaching something that they have never taught before or seen taught. They may have a secure understanding of the method and how to do it themselves or in other classes, but may not have the experience of delivering that method to the year group they are in, or what a fluency question on this topic might look like, or what answering one of these questions would look like in a student’s book.

The teaching videos on Arithmetic Hub can be a useful tool for overcoming this issue. Each video focuses on a specific topic and provides a range of age appropriate questions for that topic, typically to practice the fluent skill. The key points of the method are then clearly displayed on a board and discussed, before each video goes into a number of worked examples showing how the method works and what it would look like, both on a teacher’s board and in a child’s book. The written method for each of these topics is then easy to find on the teaching video page, alongside an example of what a learner’s book might look like. Finally, more examples of each question discussed in the video are available to download in a PDF format to support fluency and give learners a chance to fully practice each method.

Learners who have been absent for key topics:

Another potential barrier to learning, which Arithmetic Hub can help solve, is students who have been absent for key topics. Say, for instance, a learner in year 6 has been ill and missed the entire topic on long division. This could have a huge impact on their mathematical understanding throughout their school lives, not just in year 6. However, finding an opportunity to teach such a long and complex method to one learner whilst also continuing to teach the rest of the class the rest of the curriculum is incredibly challenging.

Where Arithmetic Hub can help is by providing targeted support on that specific area. The learner, either at home or in school, could have the opportunity to watch the teaching video on long division and fully explore the method. The video would aim to teach them how to answer long division questions through talking them through the method and some worked examples, in a similar way to how their teacher would have taught it in the classroom. Arithmetic Hub would also show them how to set the method up in their books in the same way as the worked example and provide multiple example questions and answers to targeted questions on that method, removing any gaps in knowledge as a result of being absent.

Increasing learner's independence and confidence with mathematics:

Finally, one of the most important aspects of what Arithmetic Hub aims to provide is to increase learner's independence and confidence with maths. By practicing a wide range of known methods regularly, learners become confident in answering a range of questions, including ones they may not have been taught in months or even years. As a result of regular exposure to these methods, learners become used to retrieving prior knowledge and using that to answer questions and solve problems, knowing that any new method learned may come up when answering calculations at any point.