Percentages - Percentages of an amount (focus on 50, 25, 10 and 1 percent only) - Planning

In the Year 6 curriculum, a lesson is dedicated to understanding percentages of amounts, with a specific focus on 50%, 25%, 10%, and 1%. The lesson begins with a recap of prior knowledge, employing fractional equivalences to aid the calculation of percentages. For instance, students are taught that 50% is equivalent to 1/2, meaning to find 50% of a number, one simply divides by 2. This concept is further explored with equivalent fractions for 25% (1/4), 10% (1/10), and 1% (1/100), where the denominator indicates the division required to find the respective percentage of an amount. Students engage in partner discussions to solidify their understanding and apply this knowledge in practical examples.

Further activities include using bar models, which visually represent the amounts to be calculated, assisting children in dividing the whole into the correct number of parts to find the desired percentage. These activities help students develop their division skills and mental strategies for calculating percentages. Group work and independent activities with differentiated worksheets cater to various learning levels, from those working towards fluency to those achieving greater depth. Students are encouraged to reflect on the skills learned, such as bar modelling and division, and to identify areas that may have been challenging. The lesson aims to ensure that students understand the process of finding simple percentages of amounts and can apply their knowledge to solve practical problems.