Building Mathematical Understanding for Life
At Pender’s Grove Primary School, our Mathematics program provides students with access to essential mathematical ideas, knowledge, and skills that they will use throughout their lives. Mathematics equips students to become confident problem-solvers, critical thinkers, and informed citizens capable of making well-reasoned decisions in both personal and professional contexts.
Why Mathematics Matters
Mathematics is a discipline that has evolved across societies and cultures over thousands of years—and continues to grow through the integration of digital technologies. These tools allow students to explore, model, and invent with mathematics in powerful new ways. While its usefulness for problem-solving is well known, mathematics also plays a critical role in driving cultural, social, economic, and technological advancements.
Exploring Key Areas of Mathematics
The mathematics curriculum includes everyday elements like:
– Number
– Measurement and Geometry
– Statistics and Probability
It also includes foundational concepts such as:
– Algebra
– Functions and Relations
– Mathematical Logic and Structure
These areas develop students’ ability to make sense of the world, from managing data in Geography to interpreting timelines in History or extracting numerical meaning in English texts.
Our Teaching Approach
The Mathematics curriculum at Pender’s Grove focuses on five core proficiencies:
– Understanding
– Fluency
– Reasoning
– Modelling
– Problem-solving
These enable students to confidently apply mathematics in familiar and unfamiliar situations, making decisions based on logic, evidence, and efficiency.
Mathematics Across the Curriculum
We actively demonstrate how mathematics connects with other disciplines. For example:
– In Science: understanding margins of error to improve data confidence
– In Geography: using statistics to study human and environmental trends
– In History: visualising and analysing timelines of historical events
– In English: interpreting quantitative, logical and spatial information in texts
Curriculum Goals: Victorian Mathematics Curriculum
Our program aligns with the Victorian Curriculum and aims to ensure students:
– Develop useful mathematical and numeracy skills for everyday life and work
– Apply mathematical concepts to solve problems in real-world and cross-disciplinary contexts
– Acquire specialist knowledge that supports further study
– Appreciate mathematics as a discipline with a rich history, deep ideas, and broad applications
School-wide Mathematics Practice
Teachers deliver a well-rounded mathematics program for 4–5 hours per week using a range of engaging resources. Instruction is tailored to meet the needs of all learners, with ongoing reflection and professional development to continuously enhance practice.
DET Primary Maths Specialist Program
In 2023–24, all staff at Pender’s Grove are participating in the Department of Education’s Primary Maths Specialist (PMS) Program. This two-year initiative empowers schools to improve maths teaching and learning through a team-based model.
Key aspects of the PMS Program include:
– Deepening individual specialists’ knowledge of core mathematical concepts and pedagogies
– Supporting peer development through collaboration and mentoring
– Driving measurable improvements in mathematics across the whole school
At Pender’s Grove, we’re committed to fostering mathematical confidence, curiosity, and capability in every student.
