At Central Coast Sports College each student works at their level, which allows them to build a strong foundation in maths.
As teachers we are all searching for ways to work more efficiently. To make our time in the classroom more worthwhile and rewarding. However, we all know how busy term time can be. Blink and you’ll miss it. Even the best of us struggle to juggle planning engaging lessons and marking the seemingly never ending pile of work books. At Central Coast Sports College, they had to fit all this into a condensed school day as they devote two hours each day to the sports pitch. This means every minute in the classroom needs to pack a punch.
In addition to a shorter school day, Central Coast Sports College is also faced with our common enemy — the spread of ability within our classroom. Even with their need-based classrooms, CCSC found they had kids who could barely stay afloat understanding the content, and others who were champing at the bit, ready to move onto more challenging stuff. Brittney Proctor, a primary level teacher at CCSC explained that both of these sets of students were disengaged with the material being taught and so the lessons were neither efficient nor effective.
“One size fits all just doesn’t work for every child” explained Brittney.
“It works for a chunk of students but for the vast majority it’s too hard, it’s too easy, it’s too boring”
That’s when they decided to implement Maths Pathway. The Maths Pathway model meets kids where they’re at. It personalises the curriculum to each student, and teaches them what they’re ready to learn.
“It’s right in their zone of proximal development. It’s right where they’re at and they’re ready to learn” said Brittney.
This ‘Goldilocks’ — not too hard, not too easy — system allows students to actively engage in the content being presented to them. Now in lessons, the students are expanding their knowledge and understanding, rather than passively sitting there.
Maths Pathway also takes the admin out of personalised learning. It collects and curates data for each and every student. Now the teachers at Central Coast Sports College have real-time actionable data at their fingertips. With the manual processes of personalised learning taken care of, the teachers can get back to doing what they do best — teaching.
“Being data informed has made my teaching a lot easier. But I’m working smarter, not any less hard. It just allows me to identify what to teach on any particular day and who to teach it to” said Jed Palmer, another primary teacher at CCSC.
Now they’re able to increase their face-to-face time with students, by carrying out mini lessons with those who are working on the same key concepts. Time that used to be spent at the front of the class talking at students has been replaced with targeted feedback and support.
“I’m sparking their curiosity and again bringing those light bulb moments” continued Brittney.
So what are the results? Maths Pathway has enabled CCSC to teach efficiently and effectively. Even with their condensed school days, they have seen dramatic growth. In fact, in 2020 so far one student is averaging a 307% growth for the year. Whilst the average across the whole school for 2019 (Year 3 – Year 10) was 97% growth. This is almost double the average growth seen with the traditional aged-based curriculum.
What’s more, their kids are finally engaged with maths again. Brittney explains, “The biggest impact that Maths Pathway has had on my classroom is that maths is meaningful to the kids, because it’s achievable for them. That’s pretty empowering”.
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