Ballfield Lane

Ballfield Lane
Darton
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S75 5EF
Tel: 01226 382568
Fax: 01226 382350
Email: mail@dartoncollege.co.uk
Web: www.dartoncollege.co.uk
Principal
Kate Davies BSc, MEd.

ST/BS
14th May 2015
Dear Parent/Carer
Thank you for your support this year so far with encouraging your child with homework and revision. We were aware that this was an area of
concern and have begun to address this. To support you and your child further, here is an update of what lies ahead for your child in maths and
what they can be doing to improve their chances of success. This half term, we have done a diagnostic online assessment of your childs current
level of skill in the number curriculum. This has informed staff of areas of strength and weakness to inform us of the next stage of planning. The
final assessment for the year will take place after half term and preparation for this is taking place in lessons now. This assessment will be a full
SATs paper and will take place over two days. Much of the content has been covered over the year and also revisits topics that learners have
done at KS2. On a whole SATs paper, there will inevitably be some topics on the paper that your child has not covered yet and we do not want
this to cause worry. They should focus on the topics (see below) that they have covered and this will be enough to ensure success at the
appropriate level.
All, (up to level 5) should include:

Basic operations, (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division)

Rounding up and down
Basic operations involving fractions and decimals
Highest common factors and lowest common multiples
Percentages
Time: reading timetables and performing simple calculations involving time
Calculations involving money
Reading information from simple graphs and charts
Simple algebra
Simple probability
Simple shape questions

Up to Level 6 should also include:

Ratio
Simple formulae
Intermediate probability
Intermediate shape

Up to level 7 should also include:

Intermediate reading of graphs and data involving calculations to find solutions

Problem solving skills for all the above.

As before, we are recommending mymaths as a very useful resource for your child to practice and they should spend AT LEAST 45 minutes per
week, although some learners may need more time if they feel they are struggling in a particular area. The password for mymaths is:
Darton/hexagon
If you child is using a tablet, the Penguin Academy App will enable access to mymaths. If you do not have access to the internet at home,
learners are always welcome to use our ICT facilities before school, lunch or after school. Please encourage your child to work hard in maths; lack
of practise can lead to skills being lost very quickly. Could we also remind parents that learners should have their own calculator. We have a few
available in school for occasional loan, but learners should have their own for their convenience in school, to help them with homework and to
ensure that they are familiar with the layout and functions of a calculator as they progress through the school. If you or your child feel that extra
support is needed to prepare for these assessments, (E.g. paper resources, extra help, extra information about what to revise) please contact
your childs teacher who will be happy to help. If you have any broader issues regarding maths, then please contact me and I will do what I can.
Yours sincerely

Miss S Twigg
Associate SLT

Registered Charity no. 1062490