Curriculum 2014 – Teaching fractions at KS1

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With the arrival of the 2014 primary maths curriculum, children will be introduced to basic fractions such as ½ and ¼ at the age of five – a subject currently left until pupils are aged seven to 11.

But is this such a change? Many schools already do that – but if you don’t teach fractions at this level, it’s worth familiarising yourself with the work of your colleagues higher up the school.

Children meet the concepts of ‘half’ and ‘quarter’ frequently in many different situations outside the classroom in their daily lives so engaging them in a discussion about halves and quarters will give you a sense of their level of understanding. For example, in the context of time children will hear ‘half-past’, ‘quarter-past’ and ‘quarter-to’. In the kitchen you will see measuring scales and kettles that have divisions of half pints as well as showing the amount of water as a decimal of a litre. In the supermarket children will see half-price offers.