Dot, Dot, Hooray! Diving into Decimals in Year 5

This term in Year 5, we have stepped into the world of decimals and what a journey it has been already!

At first, children were a little unsure. A tiny dot in the middle of a number seemed to cause some very big questions. What does it mean? Why is it there? Is 0.5 the same as 5? These were exactly the kinds of brilliant questions mathematicians ask when they are learning something new.

After just a couple of lessons, everything has started to click.

The key has been making connections. Children quickly realised that decimals are not something completely new and mysterious. They are closely linked to our previous learning on place value and fractions. When we explored tenths and hundredths, lightbulb moments began popping up all around the room. Suddenly 0.1 was not just a number with a dot. It was one tenth. 0.25 was not random at all. It was twenty five hundredths and also one quarter. The links to fractions helped build confidence and understanding.

We have introduced the decimal point and explored how it acts as an important boundary line. To the left we have whole numbers. To the right we now have tenths and hundredths. The children have been brilliant at learning the new columns.

One of the most exciting parts of our learning has been unpicking different decimal numbers. The children have been carefully analysing numbers like 3.47 and explaining the value of each digit. Not just saying the digits but explaining them. The 3 is worth three ones. The 4 is worth four tenths (O.4). The 7 is worth seven hundredths (0.07). Hearing them confidently use mathematical language has been fantastic.

Today’s journaling was EXCELLENT. The pride in presentation, the depth of explanation and the clear reasoning really showed how quickly the children are grasping what can be tricky mathematical concepts. Many pupils used diagrams, place value charts and fraction links to prove their thinking. Some even challenged themselves with their own decimal examples and explained them step by step.

It has been wonderful to see confidence grow so quickly. What started as uncertainty around a tiny decimal point has turned into thoughtful discussion, careful reasoning and real excitement about learning.

Year 5, you are proving that small numbers can lead to very big thinking!

Tom

Y5 Decimals 25/02/26