At Wynnum State High School, we believe that it is our responsibility to develop the mathematical ability and capabilities in all students. Opportunities are provided to develop a deep understanding of mathematical concepts and to actively engage in problem solving tasks.
Year 7-10 Mathematics
In Years 7 - 9, all students study the Australian Curriculum in Mathematics. Students are encouraged to study and be assessed in Extension Maths topics in addition to the core learning in each year level.
In Year 10, all students study Maths at one of the following levels. The level the student is placed in is based on their results in Year 9.
- Extension Maths – prepares students for Mathematics Methods and Specialist Mathematics in Year 11
- Core Maths – prepares students for General Mathematics or Essential Mathematics in Year 11
- Essential Maths – a modified version of Core Maths which prepares students for Essential Mathematics in Year 11.
Students in Year 10 also have the option of choosing to undertake Year 10 Specialist Maths as an elective subject. This subject provides students with an opportunity to engage with higher level Mathematics concepts in preparation for Specialist Mathematics in Year 11.
Year 11 and 12 Mathematics
In Years 11 and 12, students will undertake one of the below:
- Mathematics Methods
- General Mathematics
- Essential Mathematics
Students studying Mathematics Methods are also able to select Specialist Mathematics as an elective subject.
Literacy & Numeracy
Literacy is an integral part of any Maths program. In both the Junior and Senior School, it is an integral component across all Assessable Criteria.
"Students become literate as they develop the skills to learn and communicate confidently at school and to become effective individuals, community members, workers and citizens. These skills include listening, reading and viewing, writing, speaking and creating print, visual and digital materials accurately and purposefully within and across all learning areas. Literacy is an important aspect of mathematics.
Students need to understand written problems and instructions; ellipsis (for example, 'convert your age to days, then hours, minutes and finally seconds'); synonyms (for example, 'subtract', 'take away', 'minus'); imperatives (for example, 'circle the correct answer'); the passive voice (for example, 'if 7 is taken from 10…'); nominalisations (for example, 'product', 'quotient'); technical terminology (for example, 'digits', 'lowest common denominator'), including the use of common words with a specific meaning in a mathematical context (for example 'find the value of x' requires more than searching, it implies problem solving), and metaphorical language used to express mathematics concepts and processes."
Australian Curriculum 29/11/11
Numeracy is an obvious part of every lesson of Mathematics at every level in the school. Staff members are encouraged to participate in Professional development on new methods and regularly share best practice techniques.
"Students become numerate as they develop the capacity to recognise and understand the role of mathematics in the world around them and the confidence, willingness and ability to apply mathematics to their lives in ways that are constructive and meaningful. Mathematics makes a special contribution to the development of numeracy in a manner that is more explicit and foregrounded than is the case in other learning areas. It is important that the mathematics curriculum provides the opportunity to apply mathematical understanding and skills in context, both in other learning areas and in real world contexts. A particularly important context for the application of Number and Algebra is financial mathematics. In Measurement and Geometry, there is an opportunity to apply understanding to design. The twenty-first century world is information driven, and through Statistics and Probability students can interpret data and make informed judgments about events involving chance."
Australian Curriculum 29/11/11
ICTs
The Mathematics Faculty has embraced ICTs as a valuable method of delivering the subject matter to students in Mathematics classes.
Students in all year levels are provided with opportunities to enhance their understanding of Mathematics through a range of digital tools such as Excel, Graphmatica, and GeoGebra. The use of technology is a mandatory element of Problem Solving and Modelling assignments which students complete each year. In Mathematics Methods & Specialist Mathematics, students also use Graphics calculators (TI84+) extensively.
Mathematics Activities
Wynnum SHS offers Mathematics tutoring sessions in addition to the school's homework club.
We also encourage students to participate in a range of extra-curricular Mathematics activities. These include:
The Australian Mathematics Competition https://www.amt.edu.au/australian-mathematics-competition
Engineering Link https://telg.com.au/
Griffith Engineering program https://griffith.edu.au/