Mathematics

Straight into it!

It has been so wonderful to see our classes jump straight into Mathematics in 2022! 

The teachers place a high priority on Mathematics and each class participates in five one hour sessions of Mathematics each week. The structure of these lessons is a tuning in activity, whole class instruction and active learning, whether that be in small groups or with learning partners. Students are encouraged to understand the ‘why’ behind strategies and skills. Rather than rote memorising, we develop students' knowledge about Mathematical concepts to assist them in remembering and retaining information for future use. Students are taught a bank of different strategies and encouraged to use the strategy that works best for them and work towards using the one that is the most efficient.  

Essential Assessment

OLA invests in the Mathematics component of Essential Assessment. 

What is Essential Assessment?

• A best practice Numeracy whole school improvement model aligned to the Australian Curriculum, Victorian Curriculum.
• It supports teachers in the formative and summative assessment process aligning to each school’s teaching and learning program through structured diagnostic assessment and differentiated curriculum.
• Support data driven teaching and instructional leadership by providing curriculum aligned data to plan and monitor growth.
• It differentiates to the needs of each student through providing ongoing personalised assessment and curriculum to grow their knowledge from current understandings.
• A trusted assessment and curriculum partner to over 2000 satisfied schools around Australia!

Each student Grade 1-6 will undertake three pre-assessments in the coming weeks to gauge their prior knowledge in the three strands of Mathematics: Number & Algebra, Measurement & Geometry, and Statistics and Probability. 

Teachers will work with this data to teach students at their point of need. This will help us design units of work that follow a progression of learning relevant to each class, and group students into small targeted groups or pairs to build on skills and knowledge. 

There is also a student component of this subscription which allows children to work through online activities targeted to their point of need. Log in details will be shared with students in the coming weeks. 

Progressive Achievement Tests

All students in Grade 1-6 participated in Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT) last November. Progressive Achievement is the idea that all learners can be supported to demonstrate progress, regardless of starting point.

Teachers will work with this data, in conjunction with their Essential Assessment data to further inform learning in the classrooms. 

Early Number and Algebra Program

We assess Mathematics knowledge of Prep students in different ways. Rather than assigning an online test - a BIG challenge for our new students - we engage the Prep students in Mathematics interviews to gain an insight into their knowledge. 

The Mathematics interview tool we are using is part of the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) Early Number and Algebra Program. Early Number and Algebra (ENA) is designed to support Mathematics leaders and teachers in developing a detailed and nuanced understanding of how children learn Mathematics in the early years of schooling. The program aims to further enhance knowledge of the Victorian Curriculum in the Number and Algebra strand, progressions of learning and assessment practises and pedagogical approaches, in order to plan and implement learning cycles for students at their point of need.

OLA is one of a small number of schools across Melbourne who has been selected to participate in this program. This builds on the wonderful professional learning we had in 2021 ‘MACS Direct School Support’ where we had Mathematics experts come in and help our teachers to plan and develop rich units of work. 

The ENA program is a wonderful professional learning opportunity for our Prep teachers, and in effect all staff Prep - Grade 6, and will greatly benefit the learning and development of our students.

The focus for Term 1 ENA Program is Quantifying Number:

• Forward & Backward Number Word Sequences
• Numeral Identification
• Quantifying items (counting, recognising, reading and interpreting numbers)

Watch this space for more exciting things to come!

Caitlan Taig

Mathematics Leader