In Year 4, your child will take the Multiplication Tables Check (MTC). We look into what this means and how you can help your children with their times tables.
As part of the MTC, Year 4 children are expected to know their times tables up to 12 x 12.
The reason for the check is to determine whether year 4 pupils can fluently recall their multiplication tables. In other words, children are expected to be able to rapidly recall times tables with accuracy without having to work them out using other methods. In 2017, the then education secretary Justine Greening said, ‘A good primary education lays the foundations for success at secondary school and beyond. This year’s (2017) Key Stage 2 results showed our curriculum reforms are starting to raise standards and it is vital we have an assessment system that supports that.’
The test is taken in the summer term of Year 4 in June, and is compulsory for all English state schools and academies. The test is a short (no longer than 5 minutes) test taken on the computer through an online testing programme. Children have 25 questions and have 6 seconds to respond to each question. It is in the format 3 x 2 = ?. There is no division questions or problem solving questions. There is a specific focus on the trickiest times tables: the 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 times tables.
There is no pass mark and no child can ‘fail’ the test, but the individual results will be given to schools and parents/carers and the results will be used for teachers to ascertain which children need further support.
How can you help with your child’s times tables?
Times Tables Poster
Download our helpful times tables poster to stick up on your fridge or wall so that you constantly look at it and memorise those numbers!
Speed Grids
Download our blank times tables grid and get your child to fill in the grid. This is a good way to see which times tables they are unsure about and which they need to practise more. Pick out the tricky ones that they always forget and keep testing them on those specific ones.
Practise, Practise, Practise
Anytime you have a spare minute. It could be on the bus on the way to school, in the car, at the breakfast table, in the bath, keep testing your child so they could recite them in their sleep if they needed to. It’s also useful to practise the corresponding division facts as this will really test how well they know them. BUT ensure you keep it enjoyable and light-hearted or you risk your child rebelling and feeling like a failure if they don’t get them right. It shouldn’t be incessant testing, but try to make it a regular thing, that way they will see it as normal rather than constant drilling of times tables.
Rewards!
Whether it be a chart or a small treat once they have mastered a times table, rewards can be a great way of encouraging your child to keep going. Always give positive praise even if they’ve got most of the questions wrong: ‘That was a really tricky one, don’t worry! You’ll get there!’ Positive encouragement can prevent them burning out.
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