Our KS2 children use Times Tables Rockstars. In either paper form (which we use in school) or online (which the children can access at both home and school), Times Tables Rock Stars is a carefully sequenced programme of times tables practice.

This format has very successfully boosted times tables recall speed for hundreds of thousands of pupils over the last 8 years in over 14,000 schools - both primary and secondary - worldwide.Our children love Times Tables Rockstars and each week during assembly, we celebrate the achievements of our pupils. Rockstars T-Shirts, wristbands, pencils and pens are handed out to those children who have the most improved accuracy or the most improved time and classes battle it out to have the most log-ins during the week. 

We enjoy taking part in national competitions and battles and we also have year group and class battles in school too! Our goal is to become a rock hero and enter the hall of fame!

Why is it so important to learn your times tables? 

Learning times tables is really important. After all, they’re the building blocks of maths, and with your multiplications mastered, you can access ratio, algebra, converting between different measures, and calculate area. Look in the primary maths curriculum and a lot of it is underpinned with times tables. 

Here are just some of the ways in which memorising tables can benefit your child.

• Learning one makes it easier to learn others - By starting with smaller tables and building up, children will learn number rules which will make learning other tables much easier. For example, once you know your 2 times table, you can learn your 4 times table simply by doubling the answers! 
• They help with mental arithmetic - Memorising times tables makes it far quicker and easier for children to work out maths problems in their heads. Moving beyond using their fingers to work out answers, they’ll gradually be able to use their knowledge to quickly solve any multiplication questions.By memorising their times tables, children will also become more accustomed to using their head to visualise answers. This will help them to solve questions involving multiplication, addition, subtraction and division in their head. 
• They help children understand other concepts - Beyond memorising times tables, learning and understanding how they work can do wonders for building children’s knowledge of important mathematical concepts. These include fractions, percentages and even shape. For example, using visual representations of times tables (such as counters) can help children to visualise the role of sequences, addition and fractions. As they become more confident with their times tables, they’ll begin to use this knowledge by spotting number relationships between each table. For example, they’ll realise to work out any answers for the 4 times table, they simply need to halve the equivalent answer for the 8 times table!
• They can be used in real life - Knowing their times tables isn’t just useful for weekly multiplication tests – they also come in handy outside of the classroom! How much would it cost to buy three comics which cost £2 each? Simply calculate 3 x 2! Or how many chocolates are there in total if my four friends have five each? Work out 4 x 5! The possibilities are endless.
• They increase confidence! - Perhaps most importantly, memorising their tables will give your child confidence in their own skills.