Curriculum - Numeracy

The Numeracy Block consists of structured components which are designed to increase the students' knowledge and skills in Maths. The components of the Numeracy Block include:

·         warm up

·         whole class explicit teaching

·         group/individual work

·         reflection

Students at NTPPS participate in a minimum of five hours of Maths lessons per week in the areas of number and algebra; measurement and geometry and chance and data.  Every classroom has access to a range of Maths resources to promote hands-on learning, including Maths games created by Dr Paul Swan.  All senior classrooms also have Numero tubs and every student enrolled has access to Mathletics which is an online maths resource full of games and curriculum-based activities in line with the Western Australian curriculum.  This year we are continuing to promote more of a problem-solving focus in all classrooms to try and foster independence, challenge and perseverance.  We have also adopted a whole-school Maths program called Stepping Stones.  Stepping Stones is an award-winning program developed by Maths specialists in line with the Australian curriculum and adapted for the West Australian curriculum.  The program covers Foundation (Pre-Primary) to Year 6 and is designed to be followed in module sequence, as each module and later modules follows the cycle of introduce, reinforce and revisit.  Assessment, differentiation and ongoing practise are built into the program, along with access to a wide bank of online ICT resources designed to support teachers and engage students further.

Regular formal and informal assessments assist teachers in providing quality Mathematical lessons.  These support and extend the individual needs of students.  We have recently assessed our students with PAT Maths which is an online standardised test, enabling us to get an even more focused snapshot of our students’ understanding and areas for development.  We are also using A-E indicators in line with the curriculum to help to set goals with students which is part of the school’s promotion of visible learning.

Some of the ways that you can help your child with increasing their mathematical understanding outside of school is by promoting the recall of their basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts.  Also, get them involved with ‘real life’ mathematical concepts.  For example:

·         Dominoes and dice games – count and match the dots

·         Search and find – using directions and prepositional language to guide children somewhere

·         Treasure/scavenger hunts with a list of things to find around the house,

           e.g. 3 pegs, 5 red blocks, 1 shell

·         When baking, ask them to estimate quantities then measure

·         Estimate and time how long it takes to do chores

·         Reading calendars/timetables/TV programmes. Ask what is the elapsed time?

·         When travelling, calculate how many kilometres the journey is in total/how many kilometres are left after each stop/how long the journey will take in total

 

 

 

Creating an unfair game during a unit of work on chance and data

 

 

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