Brilliant Bonds is a weekly assessment for children in Key Stage 1 (Year 1 and 2) that allows them to practice and demonstrate their knowledge of number bonds. This means that they should know which numbers add and subtract to make a given number. It is important that children internalise these number facts as quick recall of number bonds will support them to access and apply addition and subtraction in larger numbers in their future school career and beyond. There are 30 levels in Brilliant Bonds and each level tests a new bond, plus the bonds they have previously learnt. To ensure quick recall, children have three minutes to complete the questions and they must get all the answers correct to progress to the next level. The children will receive a certificate for every level that they complete.

To support their development of bonds and understanding of number, in addition to daily maths lessons, we teach Mastering Number sessions in KS1. These lessons have been developed by the Maths Hub and NCETM (National Centre for the Excellence in Teaching Mathematics) and aim to grow children’s knowledge of number, including number bonds. To further support their understanding, when a child passes a level, a home learning poster will be sent home alongside the certificate. These are for adults at home to support their child to learn the new bond, ready for their next Brilliant Bonds session. There is no expectation for anything to be returned to school. The home learning posters have visual representations of the bond the child is learning, so that they can discuss and deepen their understanding at home, as well as ideas for how to use the poster. The representations used on the posters are ones that we use regularly in maths lessons and the children will be familiar with this. If you would like more information on these, please see the explanation document below.