09 Nov 2017
We have seen some exciting changes and excellent results.in the Mathematics Faculty over the past few years. However, we are always looking for further ways to improve what we do.
We have developed a plan for some changes in the coming year that allows more conformity across classes, as well as obtaining the best results for our students. They have been set out below.
- In all year 7-10 classes, for the same pathway will receive the same homework weekly. The students will receive them on the following days and the homework will be due the following week on the same day the next homework is handed out.
- Year 10 Thursday
- Year 9 Tuesday
- Year 8 Friday
- In year 7-10 all reports will also include a working mathematically outcome. The outcome will include communication, techniques and using correct notation. This outcome will be determined by the following components
- Bookwork mark twice a semester
- Effort in lessons
- Homework submitted
- All notes, homework, assessment notifications and resources will be put onto Google Classroom. This is a site the students can access from their portal. Only students in the course/pathway will be included in the site. These resources will be available for all students completing a course, regardless of the class they are in.
One other issue the Mathematics Faculty has identified is the change of the top students from year 8 to year 10. In year 8 the break-up of boys and girls is even in year 8, while there are mainly boys in the top year 11 and 12 Mathematical courses.
A study completed by Sydney University found the students of Mathematics who are the most confident are ranked in the following descending order: Girls in single sex settings; boys in single sexed settings; boys in co-educational settings; lastly girls in coeducational settings. Following this research, we are trialling a top boys and girls class in year 9 this year only for the 5.3 pathway. This will be assessed for success at the end of the year. We will evaluate the progress of this class structure at the end of first semester and we welcome your thoughts on this trial as the term unfolds.
For further information, please contact the school on 4751 2111.
Damien Brown
Head Teacher Mathematics