Mathematics
Mathematics at Quarry Hill Primary School focuses on improving students’ problem solving, reasoning, fluency and understanding.
‘At QHPS we have challenging and dynamic lessons to create a strong foundation that builds across the primary school journey. At QHPS we believe that maths is everywhere and for everyone.’
Across the week mathematics includes a daily one hour numeracy block which includes an emphasis on the use of continuous monitoring assessment of students. The classroom program takes into account stages of mathematical growth and reflects teachers planning and selection of appropriate contexts and activities. At Quarry Hill Primary School, we have a clear scope and sequence for teaching age related skills and concepts.
Developing the ‘Big Ideas’ in Number
The Early Years program encourages students to develop a strong understanding of number and how to apply this knowledge to solve problems. While the ability to count is important, children need to know much more before they are ready to use numbers flexibly, with understanding (Siemon, 2007).
The ‘big ideas’ approach to Number is broken into four different ideas; Trusting the Count, Place Value, Multiplicative Thinking and Partitioning.
At Quarry Hill Primary School, we have been working on developing a greater understanding of how these ‘big ideas’ can help students to work more effectively with number. During the Foundation year, children develop their ability to ‘trust the count’ through a range of different hands-on activities. The use of powerful teaching approaches, together with grouping strategies, ensures that the needs of all learners are met.
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