Greg Chantler has been a Rock Hero of ours for some time! He has been on our Entourage Programme for two years and he is now the Trust Maths Lead at St Christopher's Multi-Academy Trust. He sat down to chat with us about their Top of the Rocks competition, and how to keep schools and pupils engaged in Times Tables Rock Stars.
WHAT ARE 'TOP OF THE ROCKS' COMPETITIONS?
Top of the Rocks is a game mode that allows schools to compete against other local schools, or schools in the same trust, federation, or district. Consider it a big old battle!
Once the competition has started, pupils simply answer as many questions correctly as they can before it ends, in any game mode. You can restrict the competition hours, so no early morning risers, or late night fanatics! For example, the competition was set to run from 8am to 6pm, only correct answers given during these hours will count towards the competition.
GETTING THE BALL ROLLING...
The Top of the Rocks competition served as an excellent incentive for schools and pupils to continue to engage with TTRS, and in turn boost progress with the learning of times tables. As well as this, it helped to raise the profile of learning times tables.
It was easy to set up! First I contacted schools to gauge interest. Once I got the keen responses, I set up the competition to run for a fortnight.
I then promoted the competition via maths leads in each school, as well as in the trust newsletter. The launch poster was sent to schools to share around each school and teachers were encouraged to make their pupils aware of the tournament in advance of it starting.
IMPACT
Everyday I checked the different leaderboards that were available for pupil data, class data, and school data. At the end, certificates were awarded to the winning school by our CEO, Jo Evans.
Our teachers have fedback that the competition has really raised the profile of TT Rock Stars, as well as giving times tables learning a boost!
With almost 2 million correct answers and 1432 pupils involved, it has definitely improved engagement within schools.
See below for how to download certificates.
"As CEO of a large and geographically dispersed primary Trust, developing the sense of being part of something bigger with children is a challenge. TT Rock Stars was an easy win as no travel costs or really much organisational work needed to be done to set this in motion. Visiting schools just before the event closed, I was hearing pupils talk about classes in other schools and I can see that it has the potential to build belonging, so I am very excited!"
Jo EvansCEO, St Christopher’s MAT"The use of TT Rock Stars and a Trust-wide competition helped raise the profile of fluency in mental recall and importantly also helped children in the Trust feel part of something bigger and begin to make connections with other schools and classes, albeit virtually, through a bit of healthy competition. It has increased teachers use and understanding of TT Rock Stars as an assessment and teaching tool and has really helped to motivate children. There was a bit of healthy competition too between the heads as to which school would end up at the top of the leaderboard!"
