Year 2 Telling the Time: Quarter Past, Quarter To and Five-Minute Intervals

Primary audience and intent: Parents of children following England's Year 2 mathematics curriculum, including international-school families in Bangkok, looking for practical clock-reading instruction. This is not a Year 5 timetable-interpretation article.

Original illustration brief: A horizontal set of four clearly drawn analogue clocks: 2:15, 4:45, 9:35 and 7:50. Make the short hour hands visibly move between hour numerals; use a different shape or thickness for the minute hand. Below, show a 3:20 → 4:00 → 4:05 timeline. Alt text: “Four analogue clocks and a time-jump number line explaining quarter past, quarter to and elapsed minutes.” Copyright/licensing: Draw original clock faces and number lines; do not reuse publisher worksheets, photographs or third-party clock illustrations.

Why can a child count to 60 but still struggle to read a clock?

An analogue clock uses two counting systems at once. The numbers 1–12 name hours, but the minute hand counts around a circle in groups of five minutes. A child may know that 3 × 5 = 15 yet still think that a minute hand pointing at 3 means “three minutes”.

In England's Year 2 mathematics curriculum, children learn to tell and write the time to five minutes, including quarter past and quarter to the hour. They also learn that there are 60 minutes in an hour and 24 hours in a day. A secure understanding comes from seeing how the hands move, not only from memorising phrases.

Start with the jobs of the two hands

The shorter hour hand shows which hour is in progress. The longer minute hand shows how many minutes have passed since the hour began.

When the minute hand completes one full circle, 60 minutes have passed and the hour hand has moved from one hour number to the next. The hour hand therefore moves gradually, rather than jumping only when the clock reaches an exact hour.

Try moving the hands on a cardboard clock. Set the time to 2:00 and then to 2:30. The hour hand should now be halfway between 2 and 3. If it stays exactly on 2, the model teaches the wrong idea.

Quarter past: one quarter of the hour has passed

A whole clock turn represents 60 minutes. Divide it into four equal parts:

$60\div4=15$ minutes.

At quarter past two, 15 minutes have passed since 2:00. The time is 2:15. The minute hand points to 3, and the hour hand sits a little after 2.

Ask: “If the minute hand is on 3, how many groups of five have passed?” Three groups of five give 15 minutes. This links clock reading to the five-times table.

Quarter to: fifteen minutes until the next hour

At quarter to five, the time is 4:45, not 5:15. The minute hand points to 9 because 45 minutes have passed since 4:00, leaving 15 minutes before 5:00.

The hour hand is nearly at 5, but has not reached it. The word to names the coming hour.

A useful sentence is: “It is 15 minutes to five, so it must still be four-something.” This helps a child avoid writing 5:45.

Count the minute hand in fives

At 9:35, the minute hand points to 7, which means 35 minutes past nine. Because $60-35=25$, we can also say 25 minutes to ten.

Children do not need to switch instantly between “past” and “to”. First make sure they can read the exact digital time. Then practise the alternative spoken form.

Worked example 1: Match words, hands and digits

Question: Draw an analogue clock showing “twenty minutes past six”. Write the digital time.

Twenty minutes means four groups of five, so the minute hand points to 4. The hour hand is a little past 6. The digital time is 6:20.

Check: If the minute hand points to 4 and the child writes 6:04, they have read the printed number rather than counted minutes.

Worked example 2: A time crossing the hour

Question: A reading session begins at 3:20 and ends at 4:05. How long does it last?

Jump from 3:20 to 4:00: 40 minutes. Then jump from 4:00 to 4:05: 5 minutes.

Total: $40+5=\mathbf{45}$ minutes.

Drawing a small number line is more reliable than subtracting the digits as though 3:20 and 4:05 were decimal numbers. There are 60 minutes in an hour, not 100.

Worked example 3: Is there enough time?

Question: A family must leave home at 8:10. At 7:45, a child starts a 20-minute activity. Can they finish before leaving?

From 7:45 to 8:00 is 15 minutes. From 8:00 to 8:10 is another 10 minutes. There are 25 minutes available.

The activity takes 20 minutes, so the child finishes at 8:05, with 5 minutes spare.

This question uses everyday time sense without requiring formal subtraction across hours.

Three mistakes worth watching for

Mistake 1: Treating the number on the clock as the minute count. A minute hand at 8 means 40 minutes, not 8. Count in fives around the circle.

Mistake 2: Leaving the hour hand fixed on the hour. At 4:45, the hour hand should be close to 5. Move both hands when demonstrating.

Mistake 3: Confusing “quarter to” with “quarter past”. At quarter to five, the coming hour is 5 but the digital hour is still 4. Ask whether the named hour has started yet.

A ten-minute home activity using a paper clock

For the first two minutes, practise whole hours and half past. Then move the minute hand to 3, 6, 9 and 12, asking the child to explain how much of the hour has passed. Next, practise five-minute intervals around the face. Finally, make up a familiar schedule: “Snack starts at 4:15 and ends at 4:35. How many minutes is that?”

Use a clock with movable hands, or draw two circles on paper. Let the child be the teacher and correct a deliberately wrong example. Explaining why 4:45 is “quarter to five” often reveals understanding more clearly than a multiple-choice answer.

For children who find this difficult, return to counting in fives and dividing a circle into four equal quarters before adding harder duration questions.

Four original practice questions

1. The minute hand points to 3 and the hour hand is just after 8. Write the time in digits and words.

2. It is quarter to seven. Write the digital time and describe where both hands should be.

3. A clock shows 10:40. How many minutes are left until 11:00?

4. A game begins at 2:35 and ends at 3:10. How long does it last?

Answers with explanations

1. 8:15, quarter past eight. Three groups of five minutes have passed.

2. 6:45. The minute hand points to 9 and the hour hand is between 6 and 7, close to 7.

3. 20 minutes, because $60-40=20$.

4. 35 minutes: 25 minutes from 2:35 to 3:00, then 10 more to 3:10.

When to seek extra help

If a child reads digital times correctly but not analogue clocks, practise hand movement and five-minute counting. If they can read clock faces but struggle with duration, use a time-jump number line. If the words “past” and “to” cause confusion, ask them to state the time in digits before translating it into words.

Parents can learn more from five carefully chosen diagnostic questions than from a long worksheet completed by guessing. The goal is to understand what the child thinks each hand and each number means.

Official curriculum sources (checked 27 October 2026): Department for Education: National curriculum in England — mathematics programmes of study, Year 2 Measurement, and DfE Key Stage 1 mathematics test framework. These original teaching examples are not official test items.

Editorial CTA: Refer to the site's approved primary-maths support or diagnostic page only after checking that the service is offered and the final public link resolves.

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