Rationale
Learning
mathematics creates opportunities for and enriches the lives of all
Australians. The Australian Curriculum: Mathematics provides students with essential
mathematical skills and knowledge in Number and Algebra, Measurement and
Geometry, and Statistics and Probability. It develops the numeracy capabilities
that all students need in their personal, work and civic life, and provides the
fundamentals on which mathematical specialties and professional applications of
mathematics are built.
At Wellington Point State School,
mathematics is an integral and highly valued component of the curriculum.
Students identify and explore mathematics concepts and skills through active
investigation and problem-solving. They understand that mathematics can help
them to make meaning of their world and to participate fully in real-world
situations that involve mathematics.
When
learning about mathematics, students recognise that there are particular ways
of working with concepts in mathematics. Students also recognise that there are
particular facts and procedures required for knowing and understanding in
mathematics. Students and teachers value mathematics as a way of investigating,
thinking, reasoning and relating to real-life situations.
Skills
needed for mathematics include mental computation and deep understandings of
how numbers work. They also require meta-cognitive/higher order skills such as
reflection, analysis, estimation, justification, synthesis and communication
skills. These skills are needed to describe each of these in appropriate
language and format, and are developed through the meaningful embedding of the
proficiency strands (understanding, fluency, Problem-solving and reasoning).
The
Australian Curriculum: Mathematics ensures that the links between the various
components of mathematics, as well as the relationship between mathematics and
other disciplines, are made clear. Mathematics is composed of multiple but
interrelated and interdependent concepts and systems which students apply
beyond the mathematics classroom. In science, for example, understanding
sources of error and their impact on the confidence of conclusions is vital, as
is the use of mathematical models in other disciplines. In geography,
interpretation of data underpins the study of human populations and their
physical environments; in history, students need to be able to imagine
timelines and time frames to reconcile related events; and in English, deriving
quantitative and spatial information is an important aspect of making meaning
of texts.
The
curriculum anticipates that schools will ensure all students benefit from
access to the power of mathematical reasoning and learn to apply their
mathematical understanding creatively and efficiently. The mathematics
curriculum provides students with carefully paced, in-depth study of critical
skills and concepts. It encourages teachers to help students become
self-motivated, confident learners through inquiry and active participation in
challenging and engaging experiences.
Content structure
The
Australian Curriculum: Mathematics is organised around the interaction of three
content strands and four proficiency strands.
The
content strands are Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, and
Statistics and Probability. They describe what is to be taught and learnt.
The proficiency strands are Understanding, Fluency, Problem Solving, and
Reasoning. They describe how content is explored or developed, that is, the
thinking and doing of mathematics. They provide the language to build in the
developmental aspects of the learning of mathematics and have been incorporated
into the content descriptions of the three content strands described above.
This approach has been adopted to ensure students’ proficiency in mathematical
skills develops throughout the curriculum and becomes increasingly
sophisticated over the years of schooling.