Mathematics

Mathematics lessons:

  • are focused on connecting concepts with real-world problems.

  • use hands-on materials and technology to help students to manipulate, experiment and visualise concepts and verify their solutions.

  • encourage students to work collaboratively on tasks to jointly achieve a solution by contributing ideas, trying things out and responding to suggestions of others.

  • include pre-testing to check for prior knowledge before a new concept is introduced. This allows us to provide enrichment across different strands and beyond the curriculum.

  • teach the systematic development of problem-solving strategies. Lessons focus on the method used to solve problems and the problem-solving process.

  • are student-centred and develop metacognition by encouraging students to monitor, evaluate and communicate mathematical thinking.

  • encourage participation in competitions such as Maths Olympiad, Maths Games and ICAS.

example - space investigation


Concepts: Mass, Financial Literacy, Length, Area, Two-Dimensional Space & Whole Number

Students who demonstrated mastery in some of the above concepts were asked to choose from various open-ended investigations to explore individually or with a partner. These are designed to link to real world mathematics, expand breadth of knowledge and engage students in a deep understanding of concepts.

  1. What is the size of Earth? What is the size of the sun? How many times can the Earth fit inside the sun?

  2. How much does a space suit weigh? Does the weight of a space suit change in space? How many oranges would weigh the same amount as a space suit?

  3. If it costs $12 million USD to create a space suit, how much has been spent over time on clothing, based on how many people have visited space?

  4. Draw the planets of the solar system on their angled tilt. Include the degrees of the angle in your drawing. Include the correct size, length apart and colour.

  5. The sun has several layers. Draw a perfect circle to represent these layers. How thick is each layer?

  6. Extension: Record the distance of each planet from the sun in standard form, word form and expanded form.

Student Reflections

In what area do you feel that you have made your biggest improvement?

  • "My favourite subject in school is maths as I'm the best at that out of my skills. I also really liked learning about things like Pythagoras' Theorem as well as the volume of cones, cylinders and spheres. However, I also really liked quizzes in Kahoot! and learning new things in those as well."

  • "I think that I made my biggest improvements in maths as I know how to do many problems and equations that I didn't know before."

  • "Maths, for sure. I hadn't been able to learn much during my time in mainstream so when I was bombarded with hundreds of math concepts and formulas, I learned so many things."

  • I think that I have improved most in the area of maths. Although I was top of the class at my old school, I still secretly struggled in some areas of maths in the extension group. Here, I reflected on where I need to improve and have done so."