What emerges when we envision mathematics engagement in primary schools through the lens of culture, curiosity, creativity, communication, critical thinking, and collaboration? This will be the focus of this keynote session for primary school leaders and teachers.

This workshop is for primary teachers who are looking for an engaging and challenging resource that builds place value understanding. Numerous Connexions took inspiration from Di Siemon who at MAVCON 2019, described a student’s ability to rename numbers as “the best indicator for place value success.” The resource includes sets of cards at each year level to facilitate renaming, as students think flexibly about numbers, make connections between equivalent representations and use reasoning to explain how they know. In this workshop, we will explore some practical ways to use the cards at different year levels. We will consider important questions including: how might I encourage perseverance, collaboration and idea sharing? What does differentiation look like? Where might it fit within my current program?

The situation with COVID19 changed the way that education was delivered to students across the country. It hastened the development of many online tools and remote learning resources but also highlighted the frustration many parents and carers have towards mathematics. The focus of the workshop is to provide schools with ideas and resources to support parents to become more informed participants within the maths learning process. It will make connections between traditional and modern teaching strategies and offer suggestions for ways to encourage more positive maths experiences outside of school.

Mathematics planning is messy business and it is easy to get overwhelmed when planning units of work. In this workshop Aylie will share practical approaches, including free online resources and recommended texts to make planning purposeful. We will explore a planning model and planning proforma that supports teachers to focus on what matters – the maths! We will also discuss ways you can adapt these approaches to enhance your regular planning routines.

This session will demonstrate how teachers of all experience levels can use Mathology to access the maths knowledge, teaching strategies and support to teach the key maths concepts, identify misconceptions/extension needs and take appropriate in-the-moment actions that allow every student to progress their maths learning. Designed on best current pedagogy, Pearson Mathology K-2 offers a flexible resource built on a research-based learning progression that has been mapped to all Australian state curricula. It equips teachers to deliver rich, hands-on lessons, activities and formative assessment through the use of age-appropriate and maths-first Little Books, table-top games and activities. Teacher support on planning, differentiation, extension, assessment, and next steps are all available via a digital platform where teachers can also add and integrate their own favourite activities.

A number string is an instructional routine that involves the teacher presenting a carefully designed sequence, or string, of related problems for students to solve mentally. Students engage in mathematical discourse as they explain their thinking, compare and explore connections between strategies, and justify their reasoning. Ultimately, the goal is for students to be flexible, strategic mathematical thinkers who have developed, rather than acquired, a range of mental strategies. Number strings are useful for student learning, but they also provide teachers with an opportunity to develop sophisticated instructional practices. In adopting this routine, teachers facilitate purposeful mathematical discourse, pose questions that elicit student reasoning and use mathematical representations to connect strategies and concepts. This workshop involves experiencing number strings as a learner, discussing mathematical ideas integral to strings and analysing string design – how you see problems being related