Numeracy

Our Goals

• To create a numeracy-rich culture where students understand and apply relevant skills in mathematics, whilst also appreciating its function as a lifelong skill that is essential for their bright futures.
• To build students' confidence so they can make connections and transfer skills across the curriculum to build character.
• To ensure that pupils develop and use their mathematical knowledge and skills competently across the curriculum.
• To ensure that teachers can effectively deliver lessons using a range of strategies to support students in learning Mathematics.

We make sure that our students understand and appreciate the importance of numeracy in our daily lives and provide the opportunity for them to:

·         Interpret data, charts and diagrams

·         Process information

·         Solve problems

·         Check answers

·         Understand and explain solutions

·         Make decisions based on logical thinking and reasoning

For Parents and Carers

We at Bishopshalt School firmly believe that parents play a crucial role in their child’s education. Levels of parental engagement are consistently associated with better academic outcomes. Your engagement is vital for the development of your child’s numeracy skills.

• Familiarise yourselves with the Numeracy skills expected of your child and support the learning of your child at home. Please find the overview of the higher tier KS3 Scheme of work here.
• Support and encourage the development of your child’s Numeracy by encouraging them to practise their times tables using TTRockstars and use Kerboodle digital books.
• Use the range of resources available for you to support your child across all key stages on Google classroom. 

See the section below for links which provide access to various external websites with videos to help support you and your child. There are also content and assessment plans and past exam papers, along with other useful documents.

The links below provide access to various external websites with videos to help support you and your child. There are also content and assessment plans and past exam papers, along with other useful documents.

Useful websites to support numeracy are:

https://www.kerboodle.com/

https://ttrockstars.com/

https://vle.mathswatch.co.uk/vle/

https://nrich.maths.org/

https://www.ukmt.org.uk/ 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize

https://www.mathsgenie.co.uk/

https://corbettmaths.com/

We recognise the challenges faced by some students in accessing numeracy in their early years. We aim to address the gaps in their knowledge by reteaching some of the contents from the Key Stage two curriculum. Having small class sizes and focusing on one key area for a longer period of time, enables students to become competent in their numeracy skills. Students learn key skills to retain the knowledge and become fluent in numeracy which supports what they learn in their main classes and boost their confidence.

Maths club offers additional support for students who need it. We provide help with their homework and classwork. Teachers and sixth-form maths mentors provide one-one or small group intervention to address the concerns of students who attend. Our aim is not only to support the students with their everyday maths fluency and understanding, but also to build their confidence in Mathematics.

All students in Key Stage Three have a Times Tables Rock Stars account. Times Tables Rock Stars is a carefully sequenced programme of daily times tables practice. It significantly improves students’ basic multiplication and division skills and enables them to access the Key Stage Three curriculum. Students take part in the weekly Times Tables Rock Stars competition with pride and joy.

There are many reasons why we would encourage your child to read books. Reading daily will open up endless opportunities for your child. Many scientific studies show that reading makes you smarter. It increases blood flow and improves connectivity in the brain.

We recommend some excellent books to explore the world of Mathematics. Please follow this link to access our reading list.

Bishopshalt pupils compete in Junior, Intermediate and Senior Mathematical Challenges, which have over 700 000 entries each year, and are the UK's most popular school competitions. The highest-scoring students take part in follow-on rounds such as the Junior, Grey, Pink and Senior Kangaroos and the Junior, Cayley, Hamilton and Maclaurin Olympiads.  Every year our students compete against the best schools in the UK, and perform well. Many of them go on to take part in follow-on rounds.
 

There are numerous competitions organised locally to enrich the learning of Mathematics and to celebrate the success of pupils in the Hillingdon Borough. These competitions combine mathematical, communication and teamwork skills and offer students another way to express and develop their enjoyment of Mathematics. In 24 Games, Bishopshalt pupils have set a record for winning the competition for the last three years consecutively.
24 Game: Year 7
Hillingdon Maths Challenge: Year 7
Hillingdon Maths Challenge: Year 8

We work closely with our local feeder primary schools to plan the Mathematics curriculum to benefit us all. We invite our feeder schools to the Bishopshalt Mathematical Challenge annually, where activities are designed to encourage pupils to work collaboratively on a range of intriguing mathematical problems. This provides an opportunity for both local primary school pupils and teachers to come together as a community to promote Mathematical thinking and celebrate our children's achievement.