Learning & Teaching

We are pleased to be continuing our online subscriptions:

• Reading Eggs
• Storybox
• Essential Assessment. Essential Assessment enables access to an online numeracy assessment program, My Numeracy (online maths activities), Sunset Maths (mental maths application).

We are also excited to introduce new subscriptions to:

• Mathletics 
• Mathseeds (access via Reading Eggs)

We will be sending home instructions on how to access these subscriptions along with your child's username and passwords in the next couple of weeks. 

Josy Reeder

Learning and Teaching Leader

Maths at OLA

We love Maths! Here at OLA, the teachers place a high priority on Mathematics and each class participates in five one hour sessions of Mathematics each week. 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.  Last year, our teachers received a number of days of professional learning to develop our understanding of mental and written strategies in Addition and Subtraction, Multiplication and Division and Number Processes. We have mapped these across our curriculum Prep - 6 and are facilitating the explicit teaching of these strategies this year.

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 3-6 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. 

Mathseeds and Mathletics

This year we are excited to be introducing Mathseeds and Mathletics as another online subscription for our students and teachers to utilise. 

Mathseeds

ABC Mathseeds is the award‑winning online maths program for kids aged 3⁠–⁠9. Your child can enjoy fun, interactive and rewarding lessons that teach foundational maths and problem‑solving skills while nurturing an early love of maths.

ABC Mathseeds combines structured one‑on‑one lessons and highly motivational elements that keep children engaged and eager to keep learning and improving their skills.

Mathletics

Mathletics is the world's leading online Maths program. Mathletics aims to transform the way students learn Maths, building their confidence through personalised learning, exciting games and mastery challenges.

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-Grade 2 students in different ways. Rather than assigning an online test, we engage these 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. The Prep students and teachers participated in the intensive program last year, and the Grade 1/2 students and teachers will participate this year. The Prep team are going to continue on with what they learnt last year, while the Grade 1/2 team are excited to explore new ways of teaching and learning in the Junior years.

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. Watch this space for more exciting things to come!

Caitlan Taig

Mathematics Leader