How do primary schools implement Mapper?

Bedrock Mapper is designed to help learners develop their understanding of subject-specific vocabulary across the curriculum and improve their subject knowledge. It equips learners with the words they need to access every subject and get the most out of their classes.

This helpful PDF gives you some more information about how Mapper can be used in different ways.

Using Mapper in primary schools

Mapper can be adopted to meet the specific needs of primary school learners and encourage them to build links across the curriculum. Our current Mapper schools have implemented the platform in a range of ways:

• Lessons which teach the vocabulary that learners need to understand in order to access required reading. This ensures that all learners are approaching in-class texts with a prior understanding, which helps to close the word gap within individual classrooms.
• A focus on a particular subject that is a whole-school area of weakness. For example, a primary school may have an area of weakness in science, in terms of results or a lack of subject leadership. Mapper is a powerful resource for strengthening understanding in these weaker areas.
• Use of Mapper as a pre-register ‘wake-up’ activity at the beginning of the school day. This is easy to set up, and can be used to underpin the learning for that day, contextualising content for the upcoming lessons.
• Uploading vocabulary from the school’s ‘word mats’ or word lists. By adding this content to Mapper, data can be tracked in a way that physical worksheets or classroom displays do not allow.
• Building knowledge of subjects which do not have as much dedicated curriculum time at primary schools. For example, learners can be more prepared with the vocabulary and knowledge of subjects such as geography or IT before they attend secondary school.
• Linking a single topic across different subjects in the curriculum. Bedrock allows the interconnectedness of the primary curriculum to be visible for teachers and learners. For example, the topic, ‘The Roman Empire’ may include the word ‘amphitheatre’ for history, ‘city’ for geography, and ‘clay’ for art.