Mathematics

At Banyule Primary School(BPS), we believe it is important to develop mathematics learners who encompass our learning values; Curious Creatures, Effort Generators, Mistake Makers and Feedback Seekers. Our teachers develop comprehensive and consistent programs across the school that link learning to the real world, provide opportunities for open ended tasks and allow learners to show their understanding in multiple ways. They refer to the Victorian Curriculum to plan for differentiated

learning to ensure lessons are relevant and meaningful.

Maths classes at BPS follow a consistent 'Workshop Model.' This structure involves a whole class number talk, lesson opening with explicit instruction from the teacher, worktime (where students work independently, in collaborative groupings or with a teacher group) and reflection time at the end of the lesson.

Teachers use a range of strategies to ensure the learning needs of all students are catered for. This includes fluid, flexible groupings of mixed or like ability, a range of games, activities and investigations that use a variety of resources, physical and virtual manipulatives.

Challenging Maths Tasks

Each week, students at BPS engage in a Challenging Maths Task. Challenging Maths Tasks move away from direct teacher instruction and enable students to connect ideas together for themselves and determine their own strategies for solving problems, rather than following instructions they have been given by the teacher.

Learning is enhanced when students work on mathematical problems that they don’t yet know how to solve. Learners are offered open ended problems to investigate and explore. They are required to engage in dialogue and discussion, make choices, interpret, formulate, model and investigate. They need to explain their thinking and justify the strategies they used.

Through enabling and extending prompts, all students are able to participate and succeed at their level. Reflection time allows students to share their solutions, ideas and strategies to highlight the important mathematical ideas and learning intention.

Number Talks

At BPS we start off every Maths lesson with a Number Talk. Number talks allow students to mentally solve problems and then talk about their strategies and share their thinking. They provide great opportunities for students to see that maths problems can be solved in many different ways. Number talks help students to become confident mathematical thinkers who are more willing to persevere when solving complex problems.

How can you support learning at home?

As your child’s first teacher, you play an important role in helping develop their numeracy skills from an early age. Numeracy skills give children an important start to their learning and development. They also help prepare them for daily life at all ages.

Please visit the following website to discover the many ways you can support your child’s maths learning at home: https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/maths/Pages/maths-and-numeracy-at-home.aspx