Mathematics
The heart of our vision at St. Patrick’s Primary School is to nurture a love of learning to enable all students to reach their full potential.
Our Mathematics program, in line with with Victorian Curriculum (VCAA), supports the rationale that:
“Mathematics provides students with access to important mathematical ideas, knowledge and skills that they will draw on in their personal and work lives. The curriculum also provides students, as life-long learners, with the basis on which further study and research in mathematics and applications in many other fields are built.
Number, measurement and geometry, statistics and probability are common aspects of most people’s mathematical experience in everyday personal, study and work situations. Equally important are the essential roles that algebra, functions and relations, logic, mathematical structure and working mathematically play in people’s understanding of the natural and human worlds, and the interaction between them.
The Mathematics curriculum focuses on developing increasingly sophisticated and refined mathematical understanding, fluency, reasoning, modelling and problem-solving. These capabilities enable students to respond to familiar and unfamiliar situations by employing mathematics to make informed decisions and solve problems efficiently.”
(Victorian Curriculum: Mathematics Rational, VCAA)
At St. Patrick’s Primary School we aim to to develop a Growth Mindset and positive attitude towards Mathematics in all of our students and to provide a comprehensive Mathematics program where students will:
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“Develop useful mathematical and numeracy skills for everyday life, work and as active and critical citizens in a technological world
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See connections and apply mathematical concepts, skills and processes to pose and solve problems in mathematics and in other disciplines and contexts
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Acquire specialist knowledge and skills in mathematics that provide for further study in the discipline
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Appreciate mathematics as a discipline – its history, ideas, problems and applications, aesthetics and philosophy.”
Victorian Curriculum (VCAA)
The main reference for teaching Mathematics is the Victorian Curriculum.
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The Curriculum for each level is broken up across the four terms, into Term Planners,
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Term Planners are then used, to plan the weekly content for each classroom.
Learning in Mathematics is led and supported by the Mathematics Leader and the Leadership Team.
Timetabling of Mathematics assessment is determined by the Mathematics leader, and the classroom teacher according to the following requirements:
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PatM testing in completed during the month of November each year, or in March and November for Year One
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Whole term Pre-Assessments are completed during the final week of the prior term, with the exception of Term One (where they are completed in the first 2 weeks).
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Whole term Post-Assessment are completed during the final two weeks of each term
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Anecdotal notes, and checklists are completed and collected throughout the term
Daily Mathematics lessons are differentiated to meet the individual learning needs of all the students in the class. This may be done through the use of open ended tasks, as well as group based tasks and activities. Students may work in a variety of different situations such an individually, in pairs or in groups.
Learning Intentions and Success Criteria are communicated and/or displayed to the students as part of each lesson
One of the tools used to support teaching and learning of Mathematics, is the Mathletics program. Each student in the school has their own individual account, which allows their teacher to set work and monitor progress throughout the year.
Students are expected to use the Mathletics program both at home and at school.
For more information about Mathletics go to their website here