Learning & Teaching

Building Mathematical Fluency with XtraMath

At St Joseph’s, we are continually exploring evidence-informed practices that strengthen students’ mathematical understanding and build confidence in their learning.

This year, we have been trialling XtraMath, a digital program designed to help students develop fluency with basic number facts. Through short, regular practice sessions, students work towards recalling addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts with increasing accuracy and automaticity.

Rather than immediately introducing the program across the school, we began by trialling XtraMath with a selected group of students. This allowed us to monitor their engagement, analyse their progress over time and evaluate the impact of regular practice on their mathematical fluency. By examining student growth and reflecting on the data, we have been able to make informed decisions about the program’s suitability for our learners and its potential to support teaching and learning more broadly.

Following this trial and analysis, we are rolling out XtraMath as a Tier 1 practice for students in Years 1-6. This means that regular opportunities to practise and strengthen number fact fluency has become part of our whole-school approach to mathematics.

Developing automatic recall of number facts helps reduce the cognitive effort required when solving mathematical problems, allowing students to devote more attention to reasoning, problem-solving and applying their knowledge to increasingly complex concepts.

Our approach reflects an ongoing commitment to using student data to inform decision-making, evaluating the impact of our practices and implementing strategies that support growth for all learners.