Welcome to all returning students and families and a warm welcome also to our new Year 7 students and families.

2022 brings the arrival of a new permanent Mathematics teacher to our faculty. We would like to welcome Mr Lim to GRC Hurstville Campus. Mr Lim comes to us with 22 years experience in teaching Mathematics in the southwest of Sydney. He has vast experience in teaching Years 7-12 so he will undoubtedly provide our students with great learning opportunities that will also have their senior pathways in mind.

In many classrooms it can be difficult for one teacher to cater to the specific learning needs of each student in class. As a result, not every student has experienced the same success in mathematics, with many students finding it stressful, too difficult, or not challenging enough. Our teaching team is working very hard to change that by changing the way we deliver the Mathematics curriculum in Years 7 & 8. This will be a staged implementation that will expand year after year, following our pilot of this program with Year 7 at the end of 2021.

We’re moving away from the traditional teaching and learning approach where each student learns the same topic at the same time. 

So, what will those changes look like? 

We’ll be building on their fundamentals as learners and how they approach discovering and exploring new mathematical concepts. There are a few things that will happen differently in the classroom:

• Class-wide rich learning tasks that aim to get your child excited and engaged in problem solving using the mathematics skills they’ve developed, alongside their friends.
• Tailored mini-lessons for smaller groups of students. Teachers can hone in on specific mathematical topics with smaller groups of students who will benefit most from that lesson.
• Your son will receive mathematics that they’re ready for. Each student will have their own maths program tailored to what they’re ready to work on next while simultaneously working with their teacher to figure out how they can continue to develop their skills.
• Regular check-in tests and goal setting to figure out what your son wants to achieve next.
• One-on-one teacher and student lessons. When students are stuck on a particular area of maths, that information is easily surfaced for teachers, so they can see and reach out to students to help them out as needed.

Already students in Years 7 & 8 are showing excellent growth in their understanding and are working well. It is crucial that students in these years come prepared for learning with a fully charged device, their exercise book, calculator and pens. 

Students in Years 9 & 10 will continue with their pattern of study utilising a mixture of textbooks, worksheets, and online platforms to consolidate and increase their learning.

We are looking forward to a fantastic year of focused learning and student growth in Mathematics.

Why numeracy is important!

Numeracy is more than numbers. For example, numeracy helps us:

- understand and use numbers and other mathematical ideas in everyday life

- recognise and use shape

- work out the chance of something happening

- understand the data we see in the media.

Numeracy is necessary for everyday living. From daily activities like telling the time, cooking and setting the table to more difficult tasks such as understanding mobile phone plans, planning a trip, reading a map and understanding timetables.

As children and young people move through life stages the everyday numeracy demands become more complex.

Employers see numeracy as important in the workplace. Research shows that higher numeracy skills lead to higher levels of health and wellbeing and other benefits such as better decision making and financial independence.

Mark Laverance

Head Teacher Mathematics