Numeracy Update

Using Prior Knowledge to Solve Problems

In Years 5 & 6, we focus on three elements when acquiring new Mathematical knowledge: concept, skill, apply.

'Concept' refers to understanding what the area is all about.  A basic example is understanding that division is about breaking a set amount into equal groups.  'Skill' is all about developing strategies that help solve problems in that area, such as knowing how to solve 345 divided into 5.  Once these areas have been consolidated children then move into the 'apply' phase.  From there they use their newly acquired knowledge to solve practical and real life problems.

Each week the children participate in a whole level STEM challenge where they can apply their skills and conceptual understanding to solve problems.  These challenges range from creative, hands on tasks to those that require the development of inquiry questions and line of investigation.

In Term One, some of the areas that we have covered are place value, problems with addition and subtraction, using grids and Cartesian Planes to plot and find locations and coordinates, displaying and interpreting data, positive and negative integers (whole numbers) and exploring the order of operations.