Pupils take GCSES but still can’t tell the time
sir – As an exam invigilator in secondary schools, I am regularly asked to read the time to candidates from analogue clocks (“Pupils unable to tell the time on analogue clocks”, report, April 27).
I do, however, wonder what hope there is for students in their GCSES if they haven’t mastered the skills needed to work out the time by looking at two hands on a dial. Chris Price
London N2
sir – Rather than get rid of clocks with hands, wouldn’t it be cheaper and easier for schools to teach children how to read them? Cynthia Harrod-eagles Northwood, Middlesex
sir – As a maths teacher, I have found that learning to tell the time by an analogue clock is simplified by the pupil looking at the small hand (hour hand) only at first and saying where it is. So if it approaching three, say it is nearly three, or if it is a little past seven, say it is just after seven.
Once the confidence is there for telling the time in this way, then the minute hand can be added.
I have used this method so often, with all abilities and it transformed their lives. Some teenagers have even gone out and bought analogue watches and worn them with pride. William Smith
Chesham, Buckinghamshire
sir – If it is not too late, why not give Big Ben’s clock a digital face to help the young and future generations? Edward Pryce,
Plymouth, Devon