Matamatika - the new Maths curriculum

Taimi o le Matamatika!

What a fantastic PD day we had for the new Maths curriculum, led so brilliantly by Donna and Elena from the Manaiakalani team – a huge thank you to them both! I really appreciated being walked through the different parts of the curriculum. While we know as experienced teachers that many pages of any new curriculum might not get a full read by busy classroom teachers due to workload and being time-poor, it was incredibly reassuring to get a clear overview of all the parts, the layout, and the expectations for our classrooms. Indeed, today's PD gave a clear message about our role in knowing the curriculum in detail to influence how we teach. No one can hold all the information in mind, but the act of checking in regularly with the finer print – for example, during termly planning overviews – is incredibly important.

One highlight for me was being coached about the 'Science of Learning'. It was a great visual – left side for the Ministry's approach, right side for our blue Manaiakalani MPI. It really clicked!

I also picked up on the promotion of using lots of oral language in our maths teaching, which is absolutely key. And I love that the growth of good relationships – between teacher and learners, and learner to learner – is acknowledged. This was a big focus of DMIC (Developing Mathematical Inquiry Communities), and it's wonderful to see this important aspect of teaching in maths being highlighted.

Speaking of that, we even had a go at a rich task with three colleagues – the very ones I'd been in a breakout group with that day. Our task was about shading shapes to make fractions. Initially, I started to feel a bit nervous. But, given how comfortable and safe I felt with the group, I decided to declare my barriers or "entry points," which was at the lowest end. This put me at ease and really helped me to relax, listen, and even understand others! I found myself able to apply the imaging of shapes, flipping them, and so on, to make up fractions. I went from feeling comfortable only with halves and quarters to looking at sixteenths – woo hoo! Elena highlighted that the smiles and relaxed feel we had on screen are the exact time and tone we want to keep in maths lessons, as it contributes hugely to maths being understood and enjoyed.

And here's a big one for us as teachers: if you think you're "not good at maths," we need to challenge and change that mindset. Our own beliefs about maths impact our students hugely! This new curriculum has a strong focus on enabling access for all our learners to all levels of maths. It's about acceleration, not remediation. In the past, we often identified where students were, then focused solely on "gap filling." The result, most times, was little to no shift, and learners remained in low achievement cycles. This curriculum aims to break that cycle. Don't hold learners back if they don't know basic facts – they will pick this up in other strands as they progress! This emphasis on accelerative practices within the curriculum truly resonates with Manaiakalani's core goals for learner progress and equity.

A key aspect of this curriculum is its strong push for using materials to build understanding. Think place value disks – materials are strongly advised to help learners grasp concepts concretely. Also, make sure to check out the videos provided on Tāhūrangi! These have been re-recorded to incorporate the new phases and curriculum, and they show some great examples of how to effectively use materials with learners in class. Playing games is also highly encouraged! Learners love this, and there are games suggested to link to specific phases and learning sequences.

When it comes to assessment, the message was clear: we need to continually monitor our students' progress, and this should directly influence our next steps with the resources available. We need to ask ourselves: are the right design scaffolds present? Are there opportunities for learners to apply their learning, revisit concepts, reteach, and consolidate understanding?

Our planning should integrate the interests and current events/activities of our learners, school, and community. Imagine getting our kids to consider the maths in a special cultural event – the cost to run it, statistics around participation and audience, and so on. That's real-world maths!

Currently, we're faced with choices about new resources. The key message from Elena and Donna was clear: be led by the curriculum first, and then the resources. Resources have different strengths – some offer rich tasks, others focus on practice. We need to shift our thinking to: "How does this resource support what the curriculum directs us to do?" Providers are supplementary, not the drivers of what should be taught. The curriculum guides the teacher, and the teacher guides how and when the resources are used. And a big one: if you have resources that have worked well in your classroom, KEEP THEM, USE THEM! Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater, as the saying goes! Remember, 70% of NZ Maths resources are available on Tāhūrangi – definitely check them out!

We also explored the strands, noting some new substrands like Financial Mathematics. It was great to delve into one of these. The curriculum provides a clear progression in the language required in maths, which you can see from Year 0 to Year 8 for each strand and substrand. Planning examples are available on Tāhūrangi, and it was emphasized that these are examples to be adapted and changed to suit your school and classroom – they are not exemplary, just a starting point.  Integrating maths across curriculum areas is another supported practice in this curriculum refresh.

There's much more I'm still processing from today, so take this as a taster! Want to know more? Join our MPI, or contact us at Manaiakalani to assist!