The Mathematics faculty at Farrer has decided to include a Reference Sheet for all test based assessment tasks in years 7-10. We are trying to encourage students to prepare summaries of their work in Mathematics as they progress through their study. This will be marked and the mark will contribute to the student’s overall assessment.

The process of assembling resource sheets is being explicitly taught in class, however they are individual documents. Reference sheets should reflect the individual’s understanding of concepts.

The rationale behind this is as follows:

• The students will have reference sheets provided in HSC exams. These are pre-prepared, unlike the junior sheets that we are using, however students need to be used to using a reference sheet.
• Many university courses in a number of different areas of study require the use of similar reference sheets.
• The process of preparation of a reference sheet is essentially the same as doing a summary, which we consider to be a vital component of study skills in mathematics.
• Students who keep their reference sheets will end up with a bank of summaries to use in future years.
• For students who find tests stressful, it is hoped that there will be a reduction in the perceived pressure in assessment tasks.
• Assessment tasks in Mathematics at Farrer will hopefully, (in time), move away from ‘recall’ questions towards more higher order questions as students become more adept at preparing and using reference sheets.
• The reference sheets can be used after a test to focus reflection on how the student’s preparation for the test could have been improved. Hopefully this will lead to increases in individual study skills.

• Encourage your son to keep track of things they learn or do as they go along. This will be reinforced in class. Most classes are being supplied with a bundle of blank pages that they can use to record the facts and procedures they are dealing with in a topic. This can then be used to prepare the single A4 sheet to be taken into the test.
• Encourage your son to keep their Reference Sheet and Tests together. As a suggestion, a display folder or a folder with document sleeves in it would be a good start.
• As the reference sheets should be created progressively throughout a topic, encourage your son to show you or his Prep Tutor where he is up to in the preparation of the sheets in a topic.