Numeracy at Canadian Lead PS

At Canadian Lead Primary school there is shared vision and goals for Numeracy teaching and learning. Numeracy teaching is purposeful with teachers at Canadian Lead providing opportunities that assist students to make connections, applying their mathematical knowledge to the world around them.

As mathematics learners in our school, students develop efficient mental and written strategies to solve problems. They are assisted to explain their mathematical thinking, being reflective in nature about their own learning, both verbally and in written form. Setting their numeracy goals regularly through student conferencing helps students to monitor their own progress and feel a sense of achievement. Students are encouraged to extend their thinking while teachers foster openness, dialogue, mathematical reasoning and trust through authentic tasks related to students’ development.

Teachers at Canadian Lead create personalised programs for students by assessing their strengths and needs and then establishing programs to extend students’ capabilities.  A range of data is used including the Mathematics Online Interview, Naplan, PAT maths, Essential Assessments, On Demand Testing and Scaffolding Numeracy in the Middle Years. Teachers engage in moderation each term using Victorian Curriculum student work samples to ensure consistent judgement aligned to current curriculum.

Learning intentions, success criteria and reflection are built into lessons, thus ensuring that teachers are building on numeracy knowledge that students already possess and targeting teaching to the needs of our students as individuals. Our focus includes a ‘non-negotiable’ uninterrupted daily block of time dedicated to numeracy whilst teachers also provide students with additional opportunities for numeracy integrated into other curriculum areas including Investigations in P-2 and by engaging in Education Research Projects in years 3-6.

Canadian Lead Primary School has been working alongside Literacy and Numeracy consultant Andrea Hillbrick. We have been working together on the implementation of Mathematicians Notebook. Mathematicians Notebook is a blank scrapbook where students can showcase their best maths work. They can also use this book to store strategies and reminders of key concepts. This book will be used to not only display their best Maths learning but it will also be used as a reminder and own personal dictionary for Maths. Students are extremely engaged and excited about their Notebooks.

CLPS will be implementing Mathematicians Notebook from Grades F- 6 in all classes in 2019. All teachers and students will have their own Notebook that will carry throughout the years. The notebook will be an essential learning tool in Mathematics at Canadian Lead Primary School and I am very excited to help lead the whole school implementation n 2019.

QuickSmart Intervention

QuickSmart aims to improve the numeracy and literacy development of students who are experiencing learning problems or delays and, hence, not achieving their academic potential.

The QuickSmart program is a responsive small-group intervention that aims to develop fluent (Quick) and efficient (Smart) strategy use. QuickSmart uses research-based instructional strategies to support the learning of persistently low-achieving middle school students so that they are more actively and successfully engaged in inclusive classroom settings.

Primary Maths & Science Specialists

Recently our school was fortunate enough to be selected to be involved in a huge government initiative, known as the Primary Maths and Science Specialist program (PMSS). Since 2010, Mathematics and Science Specialist Initiatives have been trialled, tested and refined in Victorian government primary schools with proven impact. This program has been designed to increase student engagement and achievement in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

So what does this mean for our school?

Two staff have recently undertaken twenty days of professional learning in areas of Mathematics and Science. From this training these teachers will be working with other teachers and students to build and extend numeracy and science at CLPS.

EMU- Extending Mathematical Understanding

EMU, Extending Mathematical Understanding is an accelerated intervention program with a philosophy that all children have the right to learn successfully, are given response time and are also given several opportunities to engage in high quality mathematics activities that are designed to meet their particular learning needs. This program is enhanced by adapting a whole school approach to learning and teaching mathematics.

The EMU program approach responds to the fact that not all children thrive when learning mathematics at school. These children benefit from being identified as early as possible (grades 1 and 2) and are offered an alternative approach that gives them a mathematical boost. The EMU program assists students who are vulnerable in the area of number particularly. Three students are identified as priority students. They will then attend EMU intervention for half an hour over five days a week, sessions then run over a 12 week period, however it is extremely important to add that EMU is not a stand alone program, but it builds on and is coordinated with classroom mathematical programs and with lots of communication with classroom teachers to ensure similar approaches and teaching happens in the classroom environment as well. I feel with our whole school Instructional Model we are already well on the way to ensuring a seamless approach to teaching at CLPS across the whole school.