Our Maths

The content of the Mathematics Curriculum at Caroline Chisholm School is aligned with the Australian Curriculum and addresses concepts across the three content strands of Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability. Students are formatively and summatively assessed against the Achievement Standards to determine the quality of learning they have achieved at a particular point in their learning compared to what is expected that they would typically be able to do at that point.

Students are expected to build a range of reliable skills based on a solid platform of conceptual understanding of key mathematical ideas. Mathematics should make sense and students are encouraged to explain how they solved mathematical problems to help them build their sense of mathematics. In addition, students are encouraged to explore alternative solutions and strategies when solving questions. This helps students to develop their interpretation skills and supports them to understand and solve problems that they may not be familiar with or have not seen before.

Year Seven

In Year Seven, students are immersed in numbers, special groups of numbers, properties of numbers, the relationships between operations with numbers and the conventions related to order of operations. They also explore the concept of negative numbers and the four operations with integers. They are introduced to benchmark fractions and decimals and their equivalent percentages.

They begin work on the concepts related to ratios and rates and they start exploring concepts related to algebra. They calculate the perimeter and area of plane shapes and use their understanding of place value to round whole numbers and mentally calculate estimates. They apply their knowledge of algebraic expressions to work with formulae and to solve simple equations. They classify and measure angles, and use them to help describe plane shapes and solids. They interpret and produce tables and graphs and use averages to compare sets of data. They assign probabilities to simple events and are able to talk about the likelihood of an event occurring and identify events that are certain or impossible. They reinforce their spatial awareness through the application of concepts related to translations, rotations and reflections. 

Year Eight

In Year Eight, students are introduced to the distinction between rational and irrational numbers and Pythagoras' Theorem provides a strong link to the occurrence of irrational numbers in everyday life. They explore the basic index laws and their application to both number and algebraic expressions. They build upon their knowledge of percentages, fractions and decimals and apply ratios, rates and scale to real world scenarios. They expand their use of algebraic terminology and learn how to solve algebraic equations using both informal and formal methods. They work with perimeter and area of plane and composite shapes, including the introduction of Pi when working with circles. They apply deductive reasoning to explore relationships between angles, triangles and quadrilaterals. They investigate the collection, presentation and analysis of data using the statistical measures of range mean, mode and median. They learn about the concepts associated with sample space and the probability that an event occurs, as well as the correct notation used for describing probability. They are introduced to mathematical concepts related to financial literacy.