Important update from TheSchoolRun
For the past 13 years, TheSchoolRun has been run by a small team of mums working from home, dedicated to providing quality educational resources to primary school parents. Unfortunately, rising supplier costs and falling revenue have made it impossible for us to continue operating, and we’ve had to make the difficult decision to close. The good news: We’ve arranged for another educational provider to take over many of our resources. These will be hosted on a new portal, where the content will be updated and expanded to support your child’s learning.
What this means for subscribers:
- Your subscription is still active, and for now, you can keep using the website as normal — just log in with your usual details to access all our articles and resources*.
- In a few months, all resources will move to the new portal. You’ll continue to have access there until your subscription ends. We’ll send you full details nearer the time.
- As a thank you for your support, we’ll also be sending you 16 primary school eBooks (worth £108.84) to download and keep.
A few changes to be aware of:
- The Learning Journey weekly email has ended, but your child’s plan will still be updated on your dashboard each Monday. Just log in to see the recommended worksheets.
- The 11+ weekly emails have now ended. We sent you all the remaining emails in the series at the end of March — please check your inbox (and spam folder) if you haven’t seen them. You can also follow the full programme here: 11+ Learning Journey.
If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected]. Thank you for being part of our journey it’s been a privilege to support your family’s learning.
*If you need to reset your password, it will still work as usual. Please check your spam folder if the reset email doesn’t appear in your inbox.
What is a reflex angle?
What is a reflex angle?
A reflex angle is an angle that is greater than 180 degrees but less than 360 degrees. Using an analogue clock can be a really effective visual strategy to help explain this to your child. Ask them to look at a clock face: if you start at 12 and move clockwise all the way to 6, you've just made a half-circle. This is 180 degrees and forms a straight line. Now, if you keep going past 6 and stop somewhere before getting back to 12, you've made a reflex angle!
Here is an example of a reflex angle:
To help explain a reflex angle, it can be useful to compare it to the other angles taught at primary school. These are:
When do children learn about reflex angles?
Reflex angles are typically introduced in Key Stage 2, usually towards the end of Year 5 and into Year 6. At this stage, children are learning to identify different types of angles (acute, obtuse, right, straight, and reflex) and to estimate, measure, draw and compare angles.
How can I help my child with reflex angles?
Geometry concepts can be fun to practise with your child and there are lots of ways to help them recognise and draw different angles. Here are a few ways you could help at home:
- Use a clock: As mentioned above, a clock is a great tool for understanding angles. You can talk about how moving from one number to another creates different angles. For example, moving from 12 to 6 forms a straight angle (180 degrees), but if you keep going to 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 you're forming a reflex angle.
- Draw angles: Get some paper and a protractor. Draw different types of angles and ask your child to identify which ones are reflex angles. You can also ask them to draw their own reflex angles.
- Play angle detective: Look for reflex angles in everyday objects around the house or outside. The corner of a book partially opened, a door that's ajar, or the hands on a clock can all form reflex angles.
- Use digital tools: There are many online games and interactive tools that can help your child practise identifying and working with reflex angles. These can make learning about angles fun and engaging.
Why are reflex angles important?
Geometry is a fundamental area of mathematics that your child will explore throughout their primary education. It's all about shapes, angles, lines, and the space around us.
It is important to stress to your child that learning key geometry skills and facts not only helps them to understand the world around them but also helps with skills such as measurement, algebra and also spatial reasoning skills.
Identifying and using different angles is a vital part of the maths curriculum especially as children work their way through Year 6. There is often a question in the SATs papers, and it is vital that children are able to spot the difference between these angles. It is also important to remind children that reflex angles are more than just a maths concept – they're a part of the world around us, from the hands on a clock to the opening of a door, reflex angles are everywhere once you start looking for them!
