Mathematics 

Last newsletter I shared a link about The Nature of 21st Century Mathematics.  One of the issues that Keith Devlin touched on was the concept of estimation. 

Our recent mathematics testing showed that our children were not truly accessing the power of estimation.  As a result, we will be focusing on our teaching of estimation.  

There have been some recent estimation failures made by some of Australia’s top mathematicians that highlight the importance of the skill. These include the miscalculation of job keeper which was out by a few place values and the miscalculation of the impact of the coronavirus. 

Jobkeeper to cost $60bn less than originally forecast due to 'reporting error', The Guardian

Coronavirus: Inflated pandemic estimates weaken climate forecasts, The Australian

At St Anthony’s we have been working on estimation across the mathematics strands to assist with developing our mathematical calculation and understanding. From 3 - 6 this is being achieved through Number Talks (also mentioned in the last newsletter) and From P - 6 we have been using Esti Mysteries to assist with developing estimation skills-  

Esti-Mysteries: Estimation Meets Math Mysteries

You may like to look at an Esti mystery as a family.

Lauren Maidment

Maths Leader