13 Nov 2020
Term 4 of 2020 has seen a number of changes within the Mathematics Faculty. We farewelled Mrs Karen Blandon who has sadly transferred to Cessnock High and Mr Michael Jarvis has been engaged to replace her this term. Mr Ross Thompson had surgery during the last school holidays and he has been replaced by Ms Carrie Conserdyne. Both staff are suitably qualified and have moved into their new roles smoothly. If there are any questions about the progress of any student in those classes they can be directed to either the teacher or myself at any stage.
The Maths faculty will have a new member joining us next year with Ms Chloe Loxley, a targeted graduate, having been appointed to the position left by Mrs Karen Blandon. We are excited to welcome her and we look forward to her contribution to teaching and learning at Mount View High School.
Numeracy has been a strong focus at Mount View and we have a number of programs that support the developing needs of students. Some programs are run exclusively at school, like the Numeracy Withdrawal groups and Quick Smart, while others are available to work on at home while being supported by classroom teachers through MangaHigh. If you’d like more information on a program that your child is involved with, reach out to me at the school.
This year was the first year that Advanced and Standard 2 HSC exams have been completed with common content. There were 23 marks that were identical in each paper. The net effect of these questions has made the Advanced paper easier and the Standard 2 paper much harder. The questions have been controversial for a number of factors including the use of language, notations and in some cases the content itself appears to be beyond the scope of the syllabus for at least one of the exams. We will review the impact of these papers for teaching and learning though marker’s feedback and school result analysis. We will also assess the importance of Stage 5 content as assumed knowledge and adjust teaching programs to reflect the needs of HSC assessments.
The Mathematics faculty will be completing a voluntary review of practice this term following the successful snapshot of Science from last term. We will be looking at how our programs, assessments and teaching and learning practices reflect the School Excellence Framework and Teaching Standards. While this is a voluntary internal process, it is in anticipation of the External Validation that the school undergoes every 5 years. We are eager to show what we consider to be best practice and explore recommendations that will encourage the faculty to continue to improve into the future.
Finally, for some fun holiday homework - PLAY CARD GAMES!
For the summer break your homework is to play cards! There are a significant number of children who haven’t experienced regular opportunities to play cards. There is a consistent appearance of card-related problems when working with probability, including a question from the 2017 HSC General 2 Exam. So, while you sit around campsites, or count the clock down, or just need to keep someone busy, get your kids to put down the phone and pick up a deck of cards!