KLA - Mathematics Report

What an amazing year we have had in Mathematics at Mater Dei!

Each year, Mater Dei enters into the Australian Mathematics Competition run by the Australian Mathematics Trust. This year 109 students from Year 7 to Year 11 sat for the competition. From these students, 5 were awarded a Distinction, 35 students gained a Credit and 41 students showed Proficiency. This means that almost 75% of the students who entered the competition were awarded a certificate of Proficiency of higher! Congratulations to our major award winners, Distinction awardees: Brandon Ellis (Year 8), Ashleigh Smith (Year 10), Rogan Nicholson (Year 7) Benjamin Locke (Year 7) and Timothy Goldthorpe (Year 7). Special mention must also go to Timothy as he also received the College’s Prudence Award. This award is given to one student in every school who answered the most consecutive question correct. Timothy answered 15 questions in row with no mistakes! Congratulations to all the students who participated this year.

This term many of our Year 7-10s submitted their last assignment for the year and the quality was outstanding. Our Year 7 students created board games that would help them revise the many topics they have covered during the year. Their creativity was amazing – as you can see in some of these photos.

Year 8 explored the properties of 2-dimensional shapes both in class and at home. They firstly used a given template in class and worked together with their peers and teachers. Students were then able to create their own version. Their final presentations of their creations and questions were of very high quality.

Our Year 9 and 10 classes used skills that they have been learning about in class and applied them to real life situations. For example, Trigonometry: finding how far the Leaning Tower of Pisa leans over the ground, how tall our Mater Dei flag pole is and making sure ramps are designed so that Australian Standards are met. Statistics and Data: being able to read, interpret and analyse data given in a range of ways in order to draw conclusions.

Our Year 11 students have all begun the HSC course and it has been great to see so many of them utilising the Wednesday afternoon Maths tutorials. Their first HSC assessment will be completed later this term for every level of Mathematics study – good luck!

And finally, a big CONGRATULATIONS to our graduating class of 2014! Your high school Mathematics journeys have ended. We look forward to finding out your HSC results in the near future. May all the effort you put in pay off!

Miss Kate Nolan

Mathematics KLA Leader