Mathematics
2024 Numeracy Week
Vermont Primary School will be celebrating Numeracy Week from Monday the 9th of September to Thursday 13th of September. The aim of Numeracy week is to stimulate curiosity and connect mathematics to everyday situations.
Wear a Number Day
Monday, September 9th is "Wear a Number Day.” Students are asked to come to school dressed in any t-shirt, top or jumper that has a number noticeably on it.
Parent Maths Night
We are excited to be holding a Parent Maths Night on Thursday, September 19 in the Stadium from 6.30pm-7.30pm.
Our guest speaker is Michael Minas. Michael is an award-winning Mathematics consultant who has worked in numerous schools in recent years. His organisation, LoveMaths, offers a number of services to schools including classroom modelling and teacher professional development, and its website has dozens of games and activities for teachers and families to assist students in their Maths education. Michael has worked in many schools and with teachers throughout Victoria, including at Vermont Primary's Curriculum Day earlier this year.
Michael's theme for the night is "How Parents Can Best Support Their Child to Become Successful Mathematicians." We will explore the importance of flexible and creative thinking in Mathematics, and ways to keep learning Maths at home fun and engaging.
Please use the link below to indicate your attendance at the Parent Maths Night. Please note that this session is aimed at parents.
The Maths Show
Tuesday, September 10th is “The Maths Show” incursion for Foundation, Grade 1 and Grade 2 students. The Maths Show is a highly interactive live stage performance full of mathematical history, puzzles, magic and fun. During the show, students will be astounded at the amazing power of numbers to control the mind, predict the future, reveal secrets and much, much more. As part of the performance, students will meet famous mathematicians from ancient Babylon and Greece, Pioneers of Algebra, Famous Women of Maths, Champions of Chance and Data, as well as Experts in Shape and Space.
Maths Escape Room
Wednesday and Thursday, September 11th and 12th is “The Escape Room” incursion for Grade 3, 4, 5 and 6 students. The excitement and mystery of an escape room is combined with the power and wonder of mathematics. Students will be challenged to use their maths reasoning and problem-solving skills in a fun filled maths adventure! In teams of four they will need to solve a series of maths challenges as they try to escape from the room. The challenges involve solving puzzles, finding hidden clues, breaking codes, opening locked boxes, reading maps and more.
Each year level will also be doing Numeracy based activities throughout the week:
- Foundation, Grade 1 and Grade 2 students will be exploring how Mathematics is an open creative and visual subject. They will make connections between decomposing larger shapes into smaller shapes or composing smaller shapes to make larger shapes. Students will be looking at ‘square count’ and ‘triangle count’ puzzles, where they can find shapes hidden inside shapes.
- The Year 3 students will be exploring problem solving strategies, numeration and spatial sense using concrete materials. They will be presented with real world problems where they will need to work on investigating the problems in small groups, decide which problem-solving strategies to apply and then with the help of concentre materials find the solutions.
- The Year 4 students will be going on a Scavenger Hunt to find the lost treasure. They will strengthen their numeracy skills through solving fun and interactive puzzles while fostering teamwork.
- Year 5 and 6 students will be exploring Rod Fractions using Cuisenaire Rods. Cuisenaire Rods give students opportunities to express one quantity as a fraction of another (in this case lengths). There is no need to know the quantitative value of the rods' lengths, which means students can focus on comparisons and the relationship between the lengths.
Whole School Activity
As we have seen, Mrs Mann has the most wonderous collection of Nike Air Jordans. Super stylish and functional, she has shoes with a variety of designs including every colour imaginable. During Numeracy Week, all Levels across the school will be having fun exploring and investigating mathematical concepts from Mrs Mann’s collection including budgeting, fractions, percentages, decimals, addition, multiplication, graphing, length, width and mass, mean, median and mode. The possibilities are endless!!!
