Learning and Teaching

The month of May will see the start of some exciting Maths competitions at St. Mary’s. All of the Year 3 and Year 4 students will take part in the Maths Explorer competition and approximately 35 Year 5 & Year 6 students will participate in the Maths Olympiad competition. In addition, the Year 2 students will be taking part in Maths Quest developed by APSMO which will run across Term 2 and 3.

The Maths Olympiad is an annual contest that has been offered by Australasian Problem Solving Mathematical Olympiads Inc (APSMO) since 1987 and is designed specifically for high achieving students. Unlike many other maths competitions, the Olympiads consist of four separate contests held approximately six weeks apart between May and September. The overall aim of the Olympiads is to encourage students to develop important mathematical problem solving skills in an enjoyable environment. The Olympiads are designed to be challenging, however, even though students are competing against other members of their class and teams from other schools, they are primarily competing against themselves and trying to improve their skills over the course of the year.

The Maths Explorer competition allows the children to develop the foundations of mathematical problem solving in an enjoyable, non-threatening environment as they work collaboratively to solve 5 problems in each of the 4 competitions. 

The Maths Quest is an innovative teaching and learning program that introduces problem solving concepts. This year’s topics are Logical Reasoning and Using Diagrams. Each unit is comprised of a series of activities that are both interactive and fun, and encourages students to work together and learn from each other. I’m excited to begin working with the children on these competitions and seeing them develop their skills and gain confidence in their ability to tackle challenging maths problems. Good luck everyone!

Nicola Toney (Mathematics Leader F – 6)