Mathematics

St Norbert College: A 'Maths Active School'

The St Norbert College Mathematics Department are very happy to announce that St Norbert College is officially considered a “Maths Active School” by the Mathematical Association of Western Australia (MAWA) and we have been assessed at the Silver Level.

The Maths Active School program allows schools to demonstrate that the school is actively extending their students and teachers beyond the normal mathematics classroom. Schools who have achieved this are given recognition through this scheme which is recognised by the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers and is in operation in three different States at the moment.

In order to acquire such recognition, St Norbert College had to tick many boxes which we are proud to say is a culmination of the fantastic teamwork of all of our Mathematics teachers over the past few years.  A huge thank you to each and every one - Mrs Miranda, Ms Teo, Mrs Walker, Mr O’Gradaigh, Mr Nuske, Mr Lyons-Nash, Mrs Tersigni, Mrs Mark, Ms Lim and myself Mrs Murphy. What have we been up to?

• We have seen the introduction of after-school and before-school workshops in Problem Solving, Fundamentals of Mathematics, Advanced Algebra and Calculus.
• Our participation in many competitions such as the Have Sum Fun Face to Face, Online Have Sum Fun and Computational and Algorithmic Thinking.
• Access for students to the Australian Mathematics Competition – we have shown great improvement over the years in our number of Certificates of Distinction and High Distinction.
• The Mathematics Olympiad run weekly after school where our Year 7 and 8 students get the opportunity to actively participate in problem-solving against students in other schools.
• World of Maths Incursion for our Year 7s – an immersion into the art of problem-solving.
• Charlie Watson’s Incursions have helped our students and teachers upskill and improve their ClassPad skills.
• The Trip to Space Camp (A collaboration of Mathematics and Science) has had an enormous impact on our students and teachers opening up aspirations that had been bubbling under the surface. Students now dare to think “big” and reach for the stars.
• Our Annual Mathematics Bootcamp during Term 4 for Year 6 students has been a huge success with more than 100 students participating each year. This has been a marvellous way of including the community and collaborating with our local primary schools to close the gap and ease the transition of our Year 6 students into high school.
• The 2016 LEAD award for Excellence in Mathematics for St Norbert College was another accolade that enabled us to show the wonderful work that we do.

I have to thank Mrs Miranda for all of her work in putting the “Maths Active” application together. It was a tumultuous task gathering all the evidence and data for the process. Her hard work and persistence paid off. Our College website will display the following well-earned logo:

Mrs B Murphy (Head of Learning Area - Mathematics)