LEARNING times tables is a fast and fun affair at one Poole school, where pupils have been trying out maths “speedboards.”

The Mathexcellence Speedboard were created by Key Stage 2 maths specialist Andrew Findley as a tool to help pupils remember their times tables.

And the results of a trial at Heatherlands Primary School in Parkstone have been startling, with a 110 per cent improvement in the speed with which pupils can recall the multiplications in just three weeks. Over six weeks, the average pupil improvement was 203 per cent.

Mathexcellence Speedboards are A4 sized whiteboards printed with 80 random times tables questions.

Pupils answer the questions against the clock and are awarded gold, silver and bronze certificates for hitting speed of completion targets. The board can then be wiped down ready to try again.

Andrew said: “I’ve been experimenting for years with different learning methods for times tables and, without doubt, these boards are the most effective.”

The importance of learning times tables has been high- lighted by schools inspectorate Ofsted, which said pupils should be able to recite their times tables up to 12 x 12 by the age of nine.

Andrew added: “The benefits of improving times tables are huge – pupils are more comfortable with numbers and as a result their confidence and love of maths improves and so conse-quently their levels of attain-ment.

“Another unexpected benefit has been that for some pupils' confidence in maths has also improved their confidence and attitude in other subjects, especially as they make the life changing association between purposeful practice and achievement.”

Heatherlands headteacher Christian Malone said: “The children are really enthusiastic to use the new maths boards and we’ve seen incredible improvements in the time taken to for them to complete the actual task.

“They’ve learnt the times tables by rote and because they know those number facts they can start to apply them to the broader maths curriculum.”

For more information about the boards, visit mathexcellence.co.uk