NSW K-2 English and Mathematics Syllabuses

As mentioned in previous newsletters, all schools in NSW are implementing the reformed NSW English and Mathematics K - 2 syllabuses. These syllabuses highlight foundational literacy and numeracy skills. Please find below suggestions about what you can do as a parent or carer to support your child in Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 in the area of Measurement and Space in Mathematics.

Helping your Early Stage 1 child at home with Mathematics

Measurement and space

Three-dimensional spatial structure

3D spatial structure focuses on:

• recognising, representing and describing common 3D shapes
• describing and comparing volume.

You can help your Kindergarten child at home by:

• using and discussing different measuring containers when cooking, gardening or filling baths, buckets or cups. Refer to containers as being full, empty or half full.
• comparing the capacity of 2 different containers by pouring their contents, such as sand, water or rice, into 2 containers that are identical
• stacking blocks or other items into different spaces to compare capacity
• comparing and discussing the capacity of tall/narrow with short/wide containers and how their appearance might be misleading when estimating how much they can hold.

Helping your Stage 1 child at home with Mathematics

Measurement and space

Three-dimensional spatial structure

3D spatial structure focuses on:

• recognising, representing and describing a range of familiar 3D objects
• measuring and comparing volume.

You can help your Year 1 and Year 2 child at home by:

• discovering and naming 3D shapes around your home and backyard. Examples include dice (cube), bread (rectangular prism), ball (sphere), toilet roll (cylinder), ice-cream cone (cone)
• making a variety of 3D shapes, such as a cube, rectangular prism, square pyramid, sphere and cylinder from playdough
• creating a 3D snack food plate. Find food that is in the shape of a cube, rectangular prism, sphere or cylinder. Some ideas could include cheese cubes, caramels, cheese sticks, baby tomatoes, wafer biscuits, pretzel sticks, meatballs, rigatoni pasta, croutons or an orange
• filling different size and shape containers with water, marbles, rice or sand to compare which can hold the most.

NSW STUDENT LEARNING LIBRARY

As mentioned in last week’s newsletter the NSW Student Learning Library is a resource that has been designed to be flexibly used by students at home or school. Learning resources are NSW syllabus-aligned and have been created and reviewed by accredited Australian teachers.

The learning resources have been designed with students as the focus. They have been developed so students can work through them without guidance but can also be worked through with a parent or carer.

All learning resources on the site have been designed to be engaging and accessible to students. With video content, interactive elements, informative images and more, students can work through learning resources at their own pace.

Learning resources are also available in non-digital format allowing them to be downloaded and printed.

STUDENT LEARNING LIBRARY LINK

MRS LILLIAN DEL GIUDICE

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL