Maths
Our Vision and Approach in Maths
The Maths department at Buile Hill Academy aims to shape confident mathematicians who relish the challenge of maths. We support students to become independent, reflective thinkers, whose skills not only liberate them in maths but also empower them to engage effectively across the curriculum. We build deep understanding, confidence and competence in mathematics. As well as being fluent mathematicians, we want students to be able to reason and to solve problems.
What our students will learn
Our ambitious and connected curriculum is sequenced to cover the following topics throughout the academic year:
• Number
• Algebra
• Ratio, proportion and rates of change
• Geometry and measures
• Probability
• Statistics
The curriculum places great emphasis on mathematical language and questioning so students can discuss the mathematics they are doing, and so support them to take ideas further. The breakdown of topics covered across the year groups is detailed in the grid below. Please note this is subject to change as we adapt our curriculum to meet the needs of our students.
How you can support your child’s learning in Mathematics:
• Students will have a knowledge organiser for each of their schemes of learning. Students can use these to test themselves on the content throughout the term.
• Question your child on what they have learnt in lesson and help them to practice their times tables regularly.
• The students’ homework will be set on Hegarty Maths once a week. Please encourage them to watch the supporting videos and to make notes before attempting the homework questions.
• Have a growth mindset - Avoid saying things like:like “I can’t do maths” or “I didn’t like maths at school” – your child may start to think like this themselves. Point out the maths in everyday life. Include your child in activities involving numbers and measuring such as shopping, cooking and travelling. You could talk about the amount of money you have when you go shopping, how much the items cost and how much you have left after you have paid the bill. When baking, encourage your child to read the recipe and measure out the ingredients accurately, and when you are travelling, discuss location and direction.
Websites you can visit:
• Maths homework is set on a website called Hegarty Maths. This is an amazing website that gives video support for every question student’s attempt, to make sure that homework can be completed independently. It also comes with some fantastic revision features to support students in doing some independent revision. It covers the whole curriculum with over 600 videos and 40,000 bespoke questions.
• This homework can be completed on any device with an internet connection. They will need to write notes on the video and all their working out, so they will need some paper to do this. Logging in is easy - simply choose the school name, and then use their name and date of birth to log in. If your child is struggling to log in, please let their maths teacher know so they can check they are logging in with the correct details.
• We would like to encourage you to log in with your child to see what they are doing. You can watch the videos with them to see what methods they should be using, and you can view all of their past scores to see which areas they are struggling on. https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/
• White Rose have produced short ‘home learning’ videos for each lesson. These show clearly and simply how to help your child to complete their class activities successfully. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/z6vg9j6
• BBC Bitesize has a range of easy to follow lessons and videos to further support learning, revision and homework. The information has been written by subject teachers and covers a broad range of topics. https://classroom.thenational.academy/subjects-by-key-stage
• Oak National Academy provides free video lessons, slides and worksheets to support students to keep learning. We recommend using Oak's resources to help your child recap, revise or catch up on any lost learning from school.
Books you can purchase:
To master revision we suggest purchasing both a Revision Guides and a Revision Workbooks. This way the students will get plenty of exam-style worked examples and support to help them to understand key concepts before being applying this knowledge to practice questions. Remember that Maths is a tiered subject, so please check before you buy if it is the higher or foundation tier set of books that are required.
Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Mathematics Foundation Tier Revision Guide
Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Mathematics Foundation Tier Revision Workbook
Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Mathematics Higher Tier Revision Guide
Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Mathematics Higher Tier Revision Workbook