children using wipe boards

Mathematics

Mathematics is the most widely used subject in the world and at Ballard it is a key part of our curriculum through School and features in many other subjects, including English.

At Ballard we recognise that Mathematics helps our pupils to reason and organise complicated situations or problems into clear, simple and logical steps. In a society such as ours, jobs often demand someone who can take complicated situations and simplify them to a level where everyone can understand.

We also encourage team work in Mathematics with pupils regularly working in pairs or groups to complete complicated tasks.

“Pupils work together effectively and they are given many opportunities for collaborative work particularly in science or maths as in the ‘Fruit Machine’ game which pairs pupils randomly before a mathematical problem-solving task is given.”

ISI Report

“Pupils are not afraid to explore new ideas and apply their skills in other parts of the curriculum such as lines of best fit in science or in English, when a graph was used most originally as a way of communicating the level of tension in ‘An Inspector Calls’ as the play progressed.”

ISI Report

“Maths – is excellent and very supportive.”

Ballard parent

“Mathematics is important for your daily life, no matter what you want to do. It’s true not everything you learn will be needed later but you never know what you’ll want to do, and the more you know and have to build on the better off you’ll be.

Try to look at Mathematics as a game where you start with a few simple rules and see what more complicated rules you can come up with using those simple tools. This will make learning much more enjoyable and less of a chore of memorisation.”

Will Shaylor, Head of Mathematics

Nursery

At Ballard we believe in introducing Mathematics as early as possible and we understand that the way to build our pupils’ skills at this age is to capture their imagination and let them explore and practice.

Opportunities to count and make shapes are all around us: whether it is counting wooden building bricks or parking the correct number of cars on the numbers mat for our garage, we make it as interesting as possible.

Pre-Prep

After Nursery and Kindergarten Ballard pupils feel very comfortable with Mathematics when they join Pre-Prep. We build on this and help stretch the more able, whilst supporting those who find some topics more challenging.

There are lots of exciting approaches to learning Mathematics in Pre-Prep and our pupils look forward to their lessons. Whether it is using the computers and iPads to test their skills or working with whiteboards in front of their peers, our pupils are keen and eager to get involved.

Lower Prep

Ballard views the Mathematics syllabus in terms of a helical model. Topics are introduced at a simple level and are revisited at intervals, always building on and extending previous knowledge.

We use a variety of techniques to repeat and refresh our pupils’ skills so that they feel challenged but happy. We integrate IT into our lessons with popular learning software, which pupils can use at home to extend their learning.

Year-by-year our pupils’ grasp of the subject is both reinforced and enlarged. Whilst the more able pupils are constantly stimulated by more challenging examples, others benefit from regular reinforcement and therefore develop confidence through success. We also use Mathematics in other key subject areas.

Upper Prep

Our teachers use schemes of work designed by the world-renowned Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching.

These resources have been developed with the primary aim of raising the standards of Mathematics teaching and learning in the UK and have many strengths, including fantastic worksheet, text book and interactive web-based resources.

Pupils are also encouraged to take part in the prestigious UK Maths Challenge provided by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust (UKMT).

Senior

Senior pupils at Ballard are given the opportunity to follow GCSE Statistics (from Year 9) as well as the IGCSE Mathematics (Edexcel).

Our more able pupils are encouraged to diversify and add to their armoury of statistical skills for use in other subject areas such as Business, IT and the Sciences (as well as gaining an extra GCSE qualification), whilst other pupils are given more time to focus on their core Maths skills.

Our Senior pupils are also able to take part in the UKMT Maths Challenge and exceptional pupils are invited to study Additional Mathematics GCSE (OCR) which leads into Maths and Further Maths A Level.

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