Mathematics is an essential area of learning in our curriculum. It is vitally important that our students develop mathematical skills in order to function effectively in society. Becoming confident and competent with mathematics will enable our students at Croydon Hills to be able to reason, solve problems, demonstrate understandings and see the relevance of mathematics in everyday life.
The mathematics program at Croydon Hills allows all students to have genuine access to high quality learning in mathematics. The program will build on students’ interests and experiences, allowing students to make meaningful connections to real life situations and enable them to see a purpose for all concepts and skills being taught. Students will be encouraged to analyse, compare, explain, reason, justify, estimate and synthesise mathematical problems, which will assist them in developing the ability to choose the most effective approach to solving problems.
At Croydon Hills, we have developed a strong whole-school approach based around Professional Development from mathematics expert Rob Vingerhoets. We have a commitment to the teaching and learning of problem solving strategies. Mathematical concepts and skills are explicitly taught, practiced, and then opened for students to explore and discover. Students are supported, challenged and extended through ‘real life’ open-ended problems that have multiple solutions, allowing students to draw upon the knowledge and skills explicitly taught to them. This approach increases student engagement and enjoyment in mathematics, assisting us in developing positive growth mindsets towards learning in mathematics.
Croydon Hills will deliver a sequential, inter-connected mathematics program based on the outcomes from the Victorian Curriculum. Mathematics as a subject is organised into three content strands, along with four embedded proficiency strands.
The content strands are:
These strands describe the concepts being taught and learnt, and provide the basis for our mathematics curriculum.
The proficiency strands are:
The proficiencies describe how the concepts are explored and skills are developed - the thinking and the doing.
Through learning mathematics at Croydon Hills, students will:
The importance of home:
At home, as parents you can have a huge impact on your child’s mindset towards mathematics and the relationship between the school and home is crucial. A great volume of research has found that the role of parents in the development of a child’s attitude and beliefs towards mathematics is highly significant (see references below). As teachers, we regularly hear stories from students along the lines of “My parents weren’t any good at maths, so neither am I”, or “I can’t do this, but my parents say maths isn’t important”.
It is important that at home, you model positivity, fun and enjoyment in mathematics. Students coming to school with a positive outlook towards maths and bringing effort and an open mind to the classroom makes a huge difference to their learning. Simply having a willingness to try, a willingness to make mistakes and learn from them, and a willingness to be involved and explore mathematical concepts relies heavily on parental attitudes and beliefs at home. Regardless of your own perceived mathematical ability, modelling a positive attitude to children from a young age and working with the school in supporting a love for learning is vital in building the foundations for students to become independent, lifelong learners, problem solvers and critical thinkers in mathematics.
At Croydon Hills, we strongly value the link between the school and home and appreciate the support you, as parents, provide for your students’ education and development in mathematics.
Numeracy at Home: Involving Parents in Mathematics Education
Investigating Parental Attitudes and Beliefs in Mathematics Education
The Role of Parents and Teachers in the Development of Gender-Related Math Attitudes
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