NUMERACY

Our mathematics curriculum incorporates learning across the five dimensions of:

• Number
• Space
• Measurement, chance and data
• Structure
• Working mathematically

NUMBER

This dimension focuses on the development of students’ understanding of counting and order. Counting extends through to the concept of positive and negative whole numbers. The concept of place value underpins the principal operations for computation, including addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Number facts and processes may be carried out mentally, through hand written algorithms or using calculators, spreadsheets or other numeric processes for calculation.

SPACE

This dimension focuses on developing students’ understanding of shape and location. These are connected through the representation of two and three dimensional objects. Students learn about key spatial concepts including edges, surfaces and faces, boundaries, connectedness, symmetry, congruence and similarity.

The principal operations for computation with space include identification and representation, construction and transformation by hand using drawing instruments and also the use of geometric technology.

MEASUREMENT, CHANCE & DATA

This dimension focuses on developing students’ understanding of units, measure and chance and likelihood and inference. Measurement is based on the notion of informal, formal and standard units. Students learn important common measures relating to money, length, mass, time and temperature, and probability. Other measures include area, volume and capacity and weight. The major operations for computation with measurement include the use of formula for evaluating measures, the estimation of measures using comparison with prior knowledge and experience and spatial and numerical computations.

STRUCTURE

This dimension focuses on developing students’ understanding of logic, functions and algebra. This is fundamental to the concise and precise nature of mathematics. Key elements of mathematical structure include the commutative, associative and distributive properties.

WORKING MATHEMATICALLY

This dimension focuses on developing the students’ sense of mathematical inquiry including posing problems and problem solving, modelling and investigation. It involves students in the reasoning of mathematics, the use of mathematical language and the mathematical processes of conjecture, formulation, solutions and communication.