Mathematics
Years 7-9
We are well and truly into the second half of term 2 as all Year 7 - 9 students completed their number and algebra units in the last week. If your child has yet to complete their exam, due to absences, please contact their classroom teacher as soon as possible so a catch up exam can be organised.
For the remainder of the term, students will be working on financial maths through the lens of the sustainable development goal "Decent Work and Economic Growth". Students will complete an assignment where they connect real world aspects of finance and maths to best buys (Year 7), profit and loss (Year 8) and simple interest and banking (Year 9). Generally, students have approx. 6 in class lessons to work on their assessment, but work does need to be completed at home and in personal time to allow for students to suceed fully in the assessment.
Year 10
Students are finalising their data assignments where they are comparing statistical trends on the consumpion and production of goods and services within Australia to other countries in the world. Students have developed their own inquiry questions and collected authentic and real life data to explain real world events and trends. Some examples of inquiry questions include, how has the quantity of food waste in Australia changed over time to that of countries of similar population?
Equipment
Once again I ask parents/carers to supply your child with an exercise book, pencil case and scientific calculator. Over 300 students did not have a calculator for recent exams. Scientific calculators are part of the stationery requirements, which was issued at the start of the year. Ipads are not allowed as exams are held under exam conditions and the use of a scientific calculator can differ from brand to brand. Getting to know the functions of a calculator takes time and students are significanlty disadvantaged when coming to an exam without one. Quite often when I contact home to discuss equipment issues it turns out parents have indeed purchased all the equipment, but students are forgetting to bring it. If you could assist your child in this area that would be wonderful. As I often say you wouldn't play a game of footy without taking along a ball.
If the purchase of one is due to hardship please get in contact with me ASAP. Kmart and such places have them for approx $10. For Year 9 maths when we start trigonometry next term, students will be unable to complete the work unless they have a scientific calculator with these functions. Thank you for supporting your children to be successful in maths!
Mrs Russell - Head of Department Mathematics