The aim of the Mathematics curriculum is for students to;
- be confident, creative users and communicators of mathematics, able to investigate, represent and interpret situations in their personal and work lives and as active citizens
- develop an increasingly sophisticated understanding of mathematical concepts and fluency with mathematical processes, and be able to pose and solve problems and reason in Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability
- recognise connections between the areas of mathematics and other disciplines and appreciate mathematics as an accessible, enjoyable discipline to study, and an important aspect of lifelong learning.
At Our Lady of Dolours the students develop the ability to think creatively, critically and deeply about all Mathematical concepts through the EPMC (Encouraging Persistence, Maintaining Challenge) style of teaching developed by Emeritus Professor Peter Sullivan (Monash University). Through real-life, contextualized problem solving children are encouraged to independently persist and be resilient when faced with challenges.
At Our Lady of Dolours, we have implemented the Extending Mathematical Understanding (EMU) framework. EMU is a research-based approach developed by Dr Ann Gervasoni of the Australian Catholic University that aims to improve the quality of learning, teaching, assessment, and intervention in mathematics. Rather than simply teaching children the procedures of maths, EMU helps students to develop efficient problem solving strategies and gain a conceptual understanding of mathematics.
At the beginning of each year, every student participates in a Mathematical Assessment Interview (MAI) with their teacher. The MAI provides information about each child’s use of strategies and conceptual understanding that is often difficult to elicit through more traditional methods of assessment. The MAI provides the teacher with a starting point to meet the learning needs of all students.
