Telling the time
Maths · Key Stage 1 · The School
Two hands, two jobs
The SHORT hand points to the hour. The LONG hand counts the minutes. The long hand travels all the way round in one hour while the short hand crawls from one number to the next. Watch a clock for a whole minute — the long hand moves, the short hand barely does. Two speeds, two jobs.
The four positions to learn first
Long hand straight up (12): o'clock. Straight down (6): half past. Pointing right (3): quarter past. Pointing left (9): quarter to — and be careful, at quarter to the hour has NEARLY arrived, so 8:45 is "quarter to nine", not eight. That single trap catches nearly everyone at first.
How long do things take?
Brushing your teeth: about 2 minutes. Break time: about 15 minutes. A night's sleep: about 10 hours. Estimating duration is a separate skill from reading a clock, and it makes the clock mean something. Time three activities today and put them in order — shortest first.
The long hand points left, at the 9. The short hand is between the 2 and the 3. Long hand at 9 means QUARTER TO. Quarter to WHAT? Not two — the short hand has left the 2 and is heading for the 3, and quarter to always names the hour it is heading TOWARDS. So it is quarter to three: 2:45. This is the position people get wrong most, and the rule is simple: for quarter to, read the hour the short hand is moving toward.