Understanding Fractions:
Year 3
Fractions don’t need to be complicated.
In Year 3, children build on their early work with halves, quarters and eighths, and extend this to thirds and fifths. They begin using fractional notation and learn to represent and compare fractions on number lines.
This Quick Win gives parents clear, confidence‑building ways to support those ideas at home — without worksheets, prep, or special materials.
Across two short videos, you’ll get the background you need to understand what your child is learning in class, what they’re ready for, and what may be too much too soon. You’ll then see simple, everyday activities that help your child explore the relative size of fractional pieces and connect these hands‑on experiences to the written fractions they see.
Perfect for busy parents who want maths support to feel natural, achievable and aligned with what teachers are building in class.
Why this Quick Win matters
Fractions can feel abstract for children - and confusing for parents who want to help but aren’t sure how to explain things in a way that matches what’s happening in class. Year 3 is a turning point: children move from “sharing things into equal parts” to formally representing fractions, comparing them, and placing them on number lines. That shift can be tricky without the right support.
This Quick Win bridges that gap.
When parents feel confident, children feel supported. And when home and school are aligned, maths learning becomes smoother, stronger and far less stressful.
What's Included:
Parent videos: short, friendly walkthroughs showing exactly how to explore the Year 3 concepts at home, using everyday objects.
PDF summary: key ideas, language prompts, and simple activities.
It’s designed to give you clarity, confidence, and a practical way to support your child’s learning at home.
A small step that makes a big difference
When parents feel confident supporting fractions, children feel confident learning them.
This Quick Win makes that support simple, achieveable, and genuinely helpful.
Start here: a short overview of the big ideas in Year 3 fractions
Your video includes simple activities you can use at home.
See the full fraction journey
Year 3 is the start of real fraction sense - noticing, exploring and manipulating everyday objects
to understand the size of fractional pieces and how they relate to written fractions.
If you’d like to see how this idea grew from Kindergarten, and how it grows through Stage 2 and Stage 3,
you can explore the full Fractions progression here.
It shows every building block your child will meet across primary school, in one simple place.
Keep Building Your Child’s Confidence
You can keep strengthening their number sense with other powerful ideas.
Browse the full collection of Quick Wins: Quick Wins Hub
Or if you prefer to see everything in one place: All Downloads
