At EBS, careers education is a central part of school life. We provide independent, impartial guidance to help students of all ages explore their strengths and passions, and to plan for their future.
From Years 7 – 9 the focus is on career exploration, and students do this through our online platform Unifrog, which helps to identify skills and career interests. We also work with employers, training providers and local colleges to offer real-world experiences. All students complete work experience from Year 10 and meet with our independent Careers Advisor.
Mathematics is a creative and highly inter-connected discipline that has been developed over centuries, providing the solution to some of history’s most intriguing problems. It is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment.
Our maths curriculum intends for students to achieve a deep, secure and long-term understanding of the subject that creates mathematical tools for life. Our teaching is planned to close gaps in students’ knowledge and address misconceptions in students’ understanding. Our students will be successful in applying maths to solve problems in a range of contexts. The Key Stage 3 (KS3) national curriculum for mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately. To be able to reason mathematically using correct mathematical language and to solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and nonroutine problems.
At EBS, our Maths Department embraces the principles and practices of NCETM’s Teaching for Mastery approach: We have high expectations of success for all students and encourage students to work hard. Our planning is based on small steps of learning that are grasped securely by students before moving on. Students are provided with scaffolding and support where appropriate and challenge is provided by exploring topics in greater depth.
In Year 7 we focus on eight distinct units to ensure depth of knowledge. Worked examples, guided practice, checking for understanding questions and exercises are designed using the principles of variation and intelligent practice, enable students to develop procedural fluency while supporting conceptual understanding. Our scheme of work is based on the guidance provided by the DfE, where we have unpicked each unit to ensure it provides the foundations and essential knowledge to build on KS2 and ensure secure fundamentals pre-requisite for GCSE content.
