At St Therese we provide opportunities for students to become engaged in rich and authentic learning experiences that respect and suit their stage of development and are within the context of real-life situations.
These learning opportunities encourage the children to develop and use efficient strategies to solve problems. They are designed to challenge the existing skills of each individual student and promote the need to analyse and reason when solving problems and to apply these skills to new and challenging Mathematical concepts.
We believe that it is of great importance to have students articulate their thinking, not just their answers, in all areas throughout the school. We encourage opportunities for reflective practice within these learning experiences. Formal assessment occurs at different times throughout the year throughout all levels.
Numeracy at St. Therese is based upon the Victorian Curriculum which focuses on the strands of Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability. The proficiencies of Understanding, Fluency, Problem Solving and Reasoning are fundamental to learning mathematics and working mathematically and are applied across all three strands.
The Mathematics Assessment Interview (MAI) is conducted with all children from Foundation to Year 2, and with some children from Years 3-6. PAT Maths (an online tool) Assessment takes place twice per year with all students from Grades 1-6. Naplan assessment also occurs each year for Year 3 and 5 students.
Informal/ongoing assessment is incorporated in weekly mathematics sessions which provides valuable information in the planning and future learning of all students throughout the year.
As a school, we believe that powerful learning occurs in mathematics when student reflections are shared with peers and relevant questions are asked to challenge thinking. It is of great importance to have students articulate their thinking, not just their answers. In all areas throughout the school, we encourage opportunities for reflective practice within these learning experiences. We strive to promote the enjoyment and wonderment that working in mathematics can provide.
Learning sessions have learning intentions and success criteria embedded within them. Students are able to showcase their learning at our 3 Way Learning Conversations. 3 Way Learning Conversations is an opportunity for teachers to share mathematical data with parents about their child. Mathematical comments can be found on each student's individual Google Sheet.