Exciting news – Sparx Maths!

The Brune Park Mathematics Team are excited to announce that, following weeks of discussion and planning with the team at Sparx Maths, we are ready to begin making use of Sparx Maths Virtual Classroom so students can continue to receive high quality maths lessons remotely.

Sparx Maths Virtual Classroom is a quick-to-learn version of the award-winning technology which we ultimately aim to incorporate into classroom and homework in the future. Designed to be used remotely, it supports teachers in running online lessons with students answering maths problems in real time. Each student has access to explanatory video content, support and feedback.

With Sparx Maths Virtual Classroom, students can:

• Complete their classwork online through an internet-connected device.
• Receive immediate feedback as to whether their answers are correct or incorrect.
• Watch support videos for every question.

Teachers can:

• Build online lessons using a bank of over 2,000 learning objectives.
• Monitor the progress of every student in real time.
• See whether students have joined the lesson, how each student is progressing through the lesson, and who might be struggling.

If a student gets stuck?

• Help guides and walk-through videos have been designed for common queries eg. logging on and accessing tasks.
• Support videos are provided for every question. If a student gets stuck they can use these videos to try to help themselves. 
• Should students require further help, they should contact their teacher via google classroom. 

We plan to launch this program with year 7 and year 8 students and we will introduce a few classes at a time so please keep using Google classroom to find out when it is your turn!  

Here’s a link to a video that will help you to get started… 

https://www.loom.com/share/6d4b9900a73d4beea6db6ed1df2c1e2f

Mathematics – ready for school closure

Our key message through the school closure is to use the opportunity to practice, practice, practice yours maths!

To help you do this we have a dedicated programme for students in KS4 – years 10 and 11:

Key Stage 4

And a dedicated programme for KS3 – years 7, 8 and 9:

Key Stage 3 Maths

Please use Heggarty maths as part of your day to day routine:

Hegarty – home -support-guide

Hegarty parent_checklist

Hegarty student_checklist

Subject overview

Aims

It is the aim of the Mathematics faculty to inspire the next generation to a love of learning Mathematics through a well-structured course, which allows students to master key skills throughout their studies.

Students are encouraged to grow and develop in a safe nurturing environment.

Mathematics is taught to all students from Year 7 to Year 11 and the curriculum covers number, calculations, algebra, shape, space and measures, and data handling.

Students are encouraged to challenge themselves by taking part in enriching activities outside the classroom, for example the UKMT Mathematics Challenge.

KS3 Curriculum Overview (Years 7-9)

In Year 7 and 8 all students follow the Maths Mastery course, which enables a solid foundation to be formed by giving time for skills to be embedded and stretch to be horizontal and age appropriate.

Students are divided into sets in Year 7 after completing a “Getting to know you” module in tutor groups.

Students carry out a pre-test and post-test for each module to track progress and to assess understanding.

In Year 9 students follow a pre-GCSE course by consolidating skills obtained in Year 7 and 8 and to prepare them for the new 9-1 GCSE course.

Year 7 content

• Autumn term 1 – Solve word problems (add and subtract)
• Autumn term 2 – Explain and investigate (multiply and divide)
• Spring term 1 – Geometry
• Spring term 2 – Fractions
• Summer term 1 – Applications of algebra
• Summer term 2 – Percentages and statistics

Year 8 content

• Autumn term 1 – Number
• Autumn term 2 – Algebraic expressions
• Spring term 1 – 2-D geometry
• Spring term 2 – Proportional reasoning
• Summer term 1 – 3-D geometry
• Summer term 2 – Statistics

Year 9 content

• Autumn term 1 – Angles and Measures, Number, Ratio and Rates of Change
• Autumn term 2 – Consolidate & extend Angle, Measures, Number & Ratio and Algebra
• Spring term 1 – Statistics and Probability
• Spring term 2 – Consolidate & extend Algebra, Statistics & Probability and Mensuration
• Summer term 1 – Fractions, Decimals and Percentages and Geometry
• Summer term 2 – Consolidate & extend Mensuration, Fractions, Decimals and Percentages, Sequences, Graphs and Geometry

KS4 Curriculum Overview (Years 10-11)

All students will follow the Edexcel GCSE linear course and will be entered for an examination in Mathematics at the end of Year 11, obtaining a grade from 9-1.  The final examination consists of three papers of 1 ½ hours, one non-calculator and two calculator.

For current Year 10 students, in addition to the Mathematics GCSE, sets 1-4 will study GCSE Statistics.  This is a new examination first examined in 2019 and consists of two calculator papers each of 1 ½ hours.

All students in Year 11 have a lesson period 6 on Wednesday where they will be preparing for examinations by targeting areas identified in PPE examinations.

Useful Information

Students are required to bring their own equipment to every Mathematics lesson. Students are required to have a pen, a pencil, a ruler, a rubber, a protractor, a pair of compasses and a calculator. Equipment is available to purchase through school by obtaining an order form from Mrs Ballard.