Learning aids, a curriculum printout, a list of school rules – is there anything missing from your classroom walls this term? Whether your class has already learned how to tell the time or this is a topic you will be exploring this year, having a clock in a classroom should be a top priority for all teachers and learning support staff.
Having a classroom clock available for pupils to use helps them do more than just track the minutes left of a lesson, so let’s take a look at the 5 reasons why you should always have an EasyRead clock in your classroom.
Support the curriculum
Being able to tell the time is a fundamental skill that all UK primary school children must learn. As well as being a core topic included in the curriculum, this vital life skill is often a childs’ first introduction to the concept of time, which they must have a good understanding of before they can begin learning to read a clock themselves.
The large numbers and clear design of our clocks are intended to be seen from anywhere in the room, giving pupils a visual aid that they can familiarise themselves with before they start learning to tell the time, and then practise with as they learn. All our designs also include our simple teaching system that makes it easy for children to read the time in 3 easy steps, making it a great introduction to the time-teaching elements of the school curriculum.
Everyday practice
Once children understand the passage of time and how it is divided between hours, minutes and seconds, these new skills become useful in many other areas of life. From understanding the importance of being on time to taking responsibility for your own schedule, ongoing practice helps students to develop their understanding of time in a real-life context.
So, having a clock that all pupils have access to is a great way to encourage continued practice throughout the school day. Whether your pupils use the clock to work out how much longer is left in a lesson or to observe the passage of time across the school day, they will come to understand that time is not just a topic that they learn in school but also an important part of everyday life.
Structured learning
Without a clock in a classroom the only way that a pupil can know what time it is is to ask their teacher – and we all know how much young children love to ask questions.
So, rather than having to answer non-stop questions about what time it is or how long is left in a lesson, simply add one of our EasyRead classroom clocks to your classroom and see how well it minimises these interruptions. This will also make it easier to implement a structured routine that pupils are expected to follow, as well as setting them timed tasks and letting them track the time that they have left.
This will also help pupils stay focused on a particular task and stop them from continually wanting to know what time it is, and the ability to track their own progress and finish work within a set time frame becomes increasingly important as they grow. So, keep lessons on track and encourage their development with our range of classroom wall clocks.
Support with maths
Clocks are often one of the very first experiences that children have with numbers, making them a great introduction to maths. Our clocks contain the numbers 1 through to 30, or 1 to 60 if you opt for our 12/24 Hour clock, which familiarises children with these numbers and helps them to identify their connection to each other as time progresses.
Having a clock in a classroom helps children to apply this knowledge, as they can then go on to quickly understand the basics of addition and subtraction by counting how many minutes are left in a lesson, or how long they have already spent on a task. Our clocks are also an excellent introduction to fractions as each clock face is clearly divided into half hours and into the 60 minutes in every hour, and you can find out more about how our clocks support maths learning here.
So, whatever mathematical concepts are on your list for this term, start laying the foundations for them now with our clocks.
Pair with resources
Finally, having an EasyRead teaching clock in a classroom is most effective when it is paired with our range of classroom resources. Alongside our clocks we also supply TwinTime Cards to reinforce your pupils’ learning through fun activities, and playground clocks to encourage continued practice outside of the classroom.
Our TwinTime Cards are the perfect resource for practising the time with an entire class, as each pupil is responsible for reading the time displayed on the teaching clock and writing it down on their card. This hands-on approach means that every pupil is able to enjoy this practical activity with the whole class without being put on the spot to answer a question, and just like our clocks they can be used for addition, subtraction, and fractions, as well as learning multiples of 5s and 10s.
Our cards are available in packs of 10 or as part of our complete Classroom Sets, which also include a classroom clock and a Teacher Card for demonstration.
Our full range of classroom resources
So, don’t leave it any later in the new term to invest in a clock for your classroom by heading to our website and exploring our full range today.
As the new term gets underway, we have been taking a look at some of the teachers who have been making good use of our time teaching clocks and classroom resources. All of our products are designed to support teachers with practical, specialist resources, and encourage children to enhance their learning with engaging activities and accessible resources. But don’t just take our word for it: join us as we shine the spotlight on our full range of classroom clocks and resources.
“Telling the time is a fundamental skill, and it’s so important to get the teaching of time right (..) I can’t wait to teach time, so I can use some of the great resources provided by EasyReadTimeTeacher. I can’t wait to have a time monitor, so that the children can all have a turn wearing the watch. I think they will love using it to tell the time.”
@ misscsclassroom92
“The children found it so helpful to learn about which half of the clock shows past and quarter, including all the different intervals, because it is colour-coded! They also have these really cool children’s watches, which have the exact same face as the teaching clock, so I will definitely be putting this up in my classroom!”
@ nrashid_x
“@easyreadtimeteacher has got you sorted with their incredible telling the time bundle. (..) I love how bright and colourful these products are and know they will be a super addition to our time teaching. I know they will especially love wearing the watch! For those working in older year groups, the breakdown of minutes is so helpful as it’s so visual for the learner.
@ missbeyfs
“Telling the time is obviously such a key foundational maths skill, but also one that is really tricky. But thanks to Easy Read Time Teachers’ range of products it has become so much easier. I wish I had discovered these products when I was teaching time a few months ago but I will definitely be using them next time around. Nevertheless, I’m hoping that this clock will now stop my class from asking what time it is and how long until lunchtime!”
@ missknightect
“Easy Read Time Teacher has this amazing wall clock which I just absolutely love: it splits up the concept of time really simply and it’s a great visual for children to use. And I just love the student teaching aid that they can write on with whiteboard pens. I love the durability of this and it’s great for working through problems with children one-to-one.”
@ missvanbeck
Our Classroom Resources
Making a real difference has always been our key aim here at Easy Read Time Teacher, and we are delighted to see that our time-teaching products are supporting learning in schools across the country. If you are searching for high-quality time teaching clocks, then explore our full range today and find the perfect resources for your class.
As we approach the end of another school year, it’s traditionally a time for teachers to think about the resources they will need ready for the start of the new academic year. If you’re a primary school teacher or headteacher then anything that can help children with maths skills should come as a welcome addition to your classrooms.
You may have read about our time teaching classroom clocks and resources recently as our products were featured in an article in Teachwire. This article explained the benefits of placing clocks in prominent positions around school to help children put their day into context – such as knowing how long it is until lunchtime and when they will be going home. A time teaching classroom clock is the perfect aid to help children learn to tell the time and gain confidence in their new found skill.
You may also have seen a review of our EasyRead Time Teacher classroom set in the Teach Primary Magazine. This review acknowledged the difficulties children can have in interpreting clocks, and summarised that our classroom set delivers a simple and effective way to help children learn to tell the time, thanks to the fact it:
- Breaks time telling into simple steps
- Uses thoughtfully designed and easy to use resources
- Effortlessly addresses possible areas of confusion
Our time teaching classroom set, which includes one classroom clock, teacher clock card and student practice cards, comes in two sizes and starts from just £85. The teacher and student cards are perfect for teaching lessons about time, as they enable teachers to set a time and ask children to replicate it on their own cards, with space for them to also write in the analogue or digital time.
The key benefits of our classroom sets are:
- Easy to handle clock face on student and teacher cards with moveable hands that stay where you want them.
- Sturdy student cards that are difficult to bend or break.
- Wipeable and santisable clock face on student and teacher cards.
- Colourful, easy to read wall clock
If you are looking to take a straightforward approach with your time teaching lessons from September, or would like a time teaching clock to display on your wall, please get in touch with the team at EasyRead today to talk about our attractive and logical classroom resources and how they can support learning in your school.
Last year, you may remember we launched a limited-edition Welsh language time teaching clock. Well, our initial supplies dwindled incredibly quickly and due to popular demand, we can now confirm that we have more clocks back in stock!
Before we look at the clocks themselves, let’s remind ourselves why embracing the Welsh language is so important.
There have been a number of items in the news recently about the Welsh language, including:
- The Welsh government is hoping there will be 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050
- The number of children going to Welsh language schools (Welsh Medium schools) has more than doubled in the last 30 years
- Welsh is a compulsory language for pupils across Wales in Key Stages 1, 2, 3 and 4
- The BBC recently launched a second welsh language radio channel
- Welsh was officially allowed to be used as the language of a debate at the Houses of Parliament, during a meeting of the Welsh Grand Committee recently
So, it seems Welsh is a language on the up, and with government initiatives to encourage more speakers and many pupils in Wales being taught in Welsh, there is a need for resources that will fit in with Welsh time teaching lessons.
Our Welsh classroom clocks feature our simple, 3-step time teaching system and are ideal for the classroom wall as they are silent – so no ticking to distract your students!
We developed our time teaching method back in 1992, and we still believe it the best way to teach children to tell the time, no matter what language they are learning in. Our clocks are designed to be bright and engaging to make children want to interact and learn.
Orders can be placed online, so please click here to view our Welsh language time teaching clocks or call us on 01684 566832 for more information.
