Our approach to teaching mathematics is informed by Jo Boaler’s Mindset Mathematics (https://www.youcubed.org/) in focusing on the big ideas of maths. We use a balance of explicit direct instruction and problem solving to engage students in challenging mathematics. Our Year 4 and 5 students use 'Struggly' (https://www.struggly.com/) to solve complex problems.
We use the Back to Front Maths (https://www.backtofrontmaths.com.au/) approach to address student misconceptions and build conceptual understanding through complex, unfamiliar problems. Students learn new concepts through the use of concrete manipulatives initially, moving to pictorial models and finally to the use of abstract symbols to represent their understanding. We use the Bar Model and drawings to represent concepts pictorially to support students’ understanding.
We draw upon Dr Paul Swan’s resources to engage students in simple activities and games to support students’ conceptual understanding. Every classroom has a maths trolley containing hands-on resources to use in lessons.
We use Mathletics and Numero to consolidate students’ learning and to build home-school connections.