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Numeracy

Numeracy @ Chilwell PS

At Chilwell Primary School, we aim to develop confident Mathematicians who are able to problem solve, think critically and creatively, make connections between ideas and to explain their mathematical thinking.

We believe the teacher, the classroom environment, lesson design and home/school relationships are the key to developing numerate children that eagerly engage in mathematical thinking and problem solving.

Mathematics and Numeracy: What’s the difference?

Mathematics: Knowledge of Mathematical concepts and procedures.

Numeracy: Is the ability to use mathematical knowledge in a broad range of activities, to apply the conceptual understandings.

When children apply Mathematical and Numerical knowledge they are able to identify a problem to solve and apply their skills to accurately and efficiently solve it.

Numeracy at Chilwell:  The Victorian Curriculum outlines the Mathematical content to be taught. This includes:

 

Number and Algebra

  • Place Value
  • Odd and Even Numbers
  • Counting/Skip Counting
  • Money
  • Fractions and Decimals
  • Patterns
  • Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division
  • Algebra

Measurement and Geometry

  • Length/Area/Volume/Capacity/Mass and Time / Temperature
  • Day and Night
  • Days of Week/Months of the Year
  • Calendars
  • 2D and 3D Shapes
  • Position
  • Maps
  • Angles
  • Flips/Slides and Rotations / Transformations
  • Symmetry

Statistics and Probability

  • Likelihood
  • Collecting and Displaying Data
  • Data analysis
  • Presenting Data

A full overview of the Mathematics Curriculum can be found here

Numeracy is taught for a minimum of five hours each week in all classrooms.

A typical Numeracy Lesson at Chilwell follows the Numeracy Instructional Model displayed below and will include:

Warm Up:

  • Games and puzzle based experiences to tune children into mathematical thinking.
  • Modelled, Shared or Guided Maths may be included.

Learning Intention and Success Criteria:

  • Each lesson has a clear learning intention and success criteria so students understand the skill they will be learning and what success may look like. 

Explicit Teaching:

Teachers introduce the skills and concepts to be explored during the lesson and the task requirements. The Gradual Release of Responsibility model is used to scaffold students learning experiences and provide support.

Quality Task:

Tasks are designed with multiple levels of challenge so that all students can engage with the same or similar tasks. During this part of the learning model children engage in:

  • Independent Numeracy Tasks.
  • Problem solving
  • Exploration and Investigation
  • Recording their learning
  • Using materials to build understandings and explain their thinking
  • Independent and collaborative learning experiences
  • Small Focus Groups with classroom teacher
  • Use of Digital Technology to expand opportunities for understanding concepts and to show their learning.

Reflection of the concepts learnt, strategies and numerical investigations

This time is an opportunity for students to reflect on their learning and determine their success based on the learning intention and success criteria. It is also a time for teachers to ask careful questions of students to determine their level of understanding and clarify any misconceptions that may be present.

    ICT and Numeracy

    At Chilwell Primary School, Information Communication Technology is used to support classroom programs. Each classroom has a bank of computers and iPads. The grade 2 to 6 children are involved in the BringIT2Chilwell initiative.

    The use of devices allows the children and classroom teachers the ability to research mathematical content, to record their mathematics in a variety of ways and visit websites that support learning. The use of devices allows the classroom teacher to provide individual feedback to the children and allows the children to share their maths with home and the broader community if appropriate.

    SeeSaw, Google Drive and Showbie are some of the apps that enable children to present and share understandings, problem solving strategies and achievement.

    At Chilwell Primary School we use Mathletics to support classroom learning. This is funded by the school and children also have access to this program at home. Mathletics allows the teachers to set home and school tasks to suit the learning needs of each student in the classroom in all areas of Numeracy. Live Mathletics is very popular with the children and this section of the program allows the students to develop fluency with number facts.

    Mathletics contains a Mathematics Dictionary allowing students, parent and teachers to research definitions, use a consistent language and understand concepts. It is also used for homework tasks to support classroom learning.

    Click Here to Download the Chilwell Numeracy Instructional Model

    Websites Worth Visiting

    Parent Helpers

    At Chilwell we value the contributions that parent helpers make to our school and classroom programs. In Mathematics classroom helpers can assist by supporting students’ learning, helping children use the correct strategies, encouraging children to use concrete materials, assisting with recording and in many more ways.

    Please see your children’s classroom teacher if you are able to assist as a parent helper in the classroom.

    Louisa Blamires – Learning Specialist (Numeracy)