Sigma | Term 1, 2021

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Message from the President

We hope that you had a good break over Christmas and New Year. As keen as we may be to put the events of 2020 behind us, the new ‘normal’ may be with us a bit longer than we hoped. The MAWA Executive has decided to temporarily close the office in response to the case of Covid community transmission. MAWA continues to operate with staff working from home. As a result, some minor delays might be experienced and we appreciate your understanding.

Despite the obvious challenges, MAWA had an extremely productive year in 2020. We hosted our first hybrid conference which allowed us to have live virtual keynotes from Amie Albrecht in South Australia and James Russo in Victoria, both of which were extremely well-received. MAWA is very pleased to announce that year-round access to PL from the conference is now available by subscription.

MAWA revived the WA Maths Summer School in January 2021. With support from UWA and Mark White from Perth Modern School, the residential summer school was hosted at Trinity College. Our thanks to Professor Michael Guidici and Emeritus Professor Cheryl Praeger for their support, as well as our guest lecturers, tutors, students and parents for their support.

In the last 12 months, MAWA’s revenue from PL, publications and student activities declined significantly, and we are thankful for the Government’s JobKeeper support which allowed us to achieve a small positive operating result. Despite these financial challenges, MAWA has decided against increasing the cost of its student activities, and is hopeful of your continued support in 2021.

In staffing news, MAWA has welcomed on board Tom Love as our new Student Activities Coordinator in a part-time role. MAWA has been slowly but steadily expanding its repertoire of student activities and locations for several years and needed a person to coordinate this ever-growing list. We are sorry to say that after a number of years of being the familiar face and voice of MAWA, Holly Hughes has decided to move on and we wish her luck in her new role.

In sad news, Dr Peter Neumann passed away at the age of 79 on 18 December 2020. An esteemed British mathematician, Peter was the son of Berhard and Hanna Neumann, who took up positions at ANU in 1963. Hanna Neumann had the honour of being the first female Chair of Mathematics in Australia, leading the way for our own Professor Cheryl Praeger as the second. After receiving the Prime Minister’s Award for Science in 2019, Cheryl was recognised with the highest honour on the Australia Day 2021 Honours List as Companion in the General Division of the Order of Australia. Congratulations Cheryl!

Stay safe and we hope to see you at MAWA’s third annual Mathematics Expo on 14 March at Crown Convention Centre. This free event is open to everyone and will include lots of games, freebies, resources, and prizes for children of all ages!

Dr John West
President

From the Executive Professional Officer

Many of us were so glad to see the end of 2020, it will certainly be a year that many of us will remember for a series of firsts. For me, those firsts including experiencing a global pandemic, seeing panic buying of toilet paper, zoom family quiz nights with our family in the UK and teaching my students online. Upon reflection I can see many positives personally and for MAWA, these include learning to delivery PL virtually, meetings that did not require travel and working towards a completed strategic plan for the association. Just when we thought school would start on time and as normal things changed again for people in Perth, Peel and the South West. It is a good job that teachers are adaptable professionals.

We held a very successful professional learning workshop in January with Dr Paul Swan. I am currently working on the Semester 1 professional learning calendar. There will be face-to-face and virtual offerings please let me know if there is something specific you or your colleagues are interested in. Meetings to provide feedback on the review of the current Australian Mathematics Curriculum will be included. Look for information on the MAWA event calendar https://mawainc.org.au/mawa-events-activities/ or follow us on our socials. If your school is looking to book professional learning for teachers or education assistants, I can be contacted by email eo@mawainc.org.au or 93450388. However, available places are filling fast.

MAWA has recently completed the paperwork as a third-party vendor for our online student activity Have Sum Fun Online. I am anticipating hearing the outcome during March. We are optimistically positive as we do not collect nor store individual student information or data. The first 2021 HSFOL competition starts in Term 2, when we will hopefully have everything place to minimise the work for government schools.

I wish everyone a smooth and successful Term 1. If your school is holding a maths event or activity, we would love to showcase it in future SIGMAs so please send us details and photos to sales@mawainc.org.au.

Sheila Byfield, one of our life members, spent some time with the students at Carmel School constructing a geodesic dome at the end of 2020. Schools are welcome to collect the dome from the MAWA office the week prior to their event and return it after. Sheila may even be available to come to your school event and assist if she is available. For further information and geodesic dome instruction please contact office@mawainc.org.au.

Paula McMahon
Executive Officer

Classroom Corner

Topic: Mathematics and Playing Cards!
Date: Thursday 4 March 2021
Time: 4:00pm - 5:15pm
Cost: Free for members, $20 for non-members
Location: MAWA Office, 12 Cobbler Place Mirrabooka
Presenter: Paula McMahon

A recent survey of Victorian teachers revealed that a whopping 98% of them used games as a regular feature of the mathematics lessons. Games are engaging and often easily differentiated to suit the needs of all students. During this Classroom Corner the focus will be on number games that use playing cards as they are inexpensive and easily available. Many of these games are great for warmups, group rotations or used at home for consolidation and fun! Learn to play highest number, crossing the swamp, part-whole triangles, nearest to one and more if time permits!

Beryl Hume
(1932 - 2021)

The passing of Beryl Hume is a loss for the mathematics community of Western Australia. MAWA would like to acknowledge Beryl’s dedication to Mathematics and Mathematics Education, and particularly her contribution to MAWA. She donated to MAWA all of the royalties from her book, “An Introduction to Probability and Statistics”.

In 1958, Beryl was a founding member of MAWA. For several years, she was the Association’s librarian and in 1972 she was awarded Life Membership of the Mathematical Association of Western Australia.

MAWA would like to extend our sincere condolences to Beryl's family for their loss.

To read the obituary, please click here.

Edward (Ted) William Speering
(5/01/1950 - 22/12/2020)

MAWA would like to acknowledge Ted’s dedication to education and in particular his contribution to Mathematics education by his leadership in Professional Development and the COMPASS conferences which he facilitated as the Secondary Mathematics Coordinator at the Catholic Education Office during the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.

Ted will be fondly remembered by many MAWA members within the Catholic and independent school systems for his helpful and friendly nature.

We extend our condolences to his wife, his 3 children and their families, including his 6 grandchildren.

Have Sum Fun 2021

The Have Sum Fun Competition is an exciting mathematics initiative that uses a quiz-night format. Teams of six students race against the clock to solve four intense rounds of eight challenging problems.

• Open to students from Years 5 - 12
• Venues across WA
• Trophies and Prizes up for grabs

MAWA Member Price: $56
Non-Member Price: $69

For more information or to register visit our website mawainc.org.au/have-sum-fun.

2021 Maths Expo

Sunday 14 March 2021
Astral 2 & 3, Crown Convention Centre Perth

AM Session: 9:30am – 11:30am
PM Session: 12:30pm – 2:30pm

The expo is a free event and is targeted at families in the aim to provide support to parents and students with mathematics learning at home.

The expo will showcase interactive resources that can be used to support learning at home.

It will be a fun, interactive day with lots of opportunity to see a variety of resources that make learning fun, to speak to training providers about your future and there are prizes to be won on the day!

We would appreciate your help in sharing this valuable event with your students and families. Although this is a free event registration is required.

For a copy of the flyer, click here.

In partnership with Curtin's School of Education
and Penrhos College
MAWA presents Maths Empowering Girls Day!

This day aims to empower Year 9 girls to recognise and take up the amazing opportunitiesthat studying higher level maths can present for them.

Date: 29 June 2021
Time: 9:15am – 2:15pm
Location: Curtin University, Bentley
Cost (per student): $20 members & $35 non-members (inc. showbag, shirt and catering)

Limited to ten Year 9 girl students and one teacher per school.

*This event is a special measure that has been taken in accordance with the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (WA). For more information, check out the website.

A special thanks to IETPL, the home of Numero for agreeing to be our Maths Empowering Girls Day shirt sponsor.

The "like a girl, like a boss" shirts have their own significant role to play in empowering girls to take up amazing opportunities in their study and in their life.

MathsCraft Professional Development Workshop

Date:     Thursday 25 & Friday 26 February 2021
Time:     8.30am-12pm (Perth time)
Venue: Via Zoom
Cost:    $40 (includes GST) per person

This one-day professional development workshop is designed to help teachers give their students an authentic experience of ‘doing maths’ like a research mathematician while at the same time supporting success in tests and examinations.

Enabling your students to work in a way that is similar to the way a research mathematician works can dramatically change the classroom experience, for the better. Would you like to find out how, for example, a topic like Pythagoras’ Theorem could be approached a little differently?

Learning Goals:

* Practical strategies for analysing experiences of mathematical problem-solving
* The ability to create the conditions for your students to have their own independent ideas, and to see where they lead
* An experience that simulates mathematical research

Spaces are limited – ENROL NOW to reserve your place! https://bit.ly/3ps1d3B

Suitable for primary and secondary school teachers.

For further details on MathsCraft and the team please visit www.mathscraft.org. Enquiries please contact mathscraft@adelaide.edu.au

MathsCraft is developed in collaboration with maths teachers and research mathematicians. MathsCraft is an outreach initiative of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers (ACEMS) with partner researchers from The University of Melbourne, The University of Adelaide, Queensland University of Technology, The University of Queensland, UNSW Sydney, University of Technology Sydney, and Monash University.

Numero® is a must for all classrooms, providing an engaging mental maths program for all ages and maths ability levels. It assists in developing understanding of numeracy concepts and problem-solving skills.

A focused Numero® program can significantly boost children’s mental maths abilities, help improve achievement in mental computation testing, and encourage tactical thinking and thinking ‘outside the box’.

IETPL will plan and implement Numero® workshops to suit your requirements for:

- Staff

- Students

- Parents

Get in contact to see how you can have Numero® happening at your school.

Website: https://www.numero.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/numerowa

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/numero.by.ietpl/

Competitions: WA schools also have the opportunity to participate in interschool competitions. For more information on these events and/or to register click on these links:

Primary : https://www.numero.org/numero-in-schools/afg-interschool-numero-challenge/

Secondary : https://www.numero.org/secondary-interschool-numero-challenge/

New teacher/parent dashboard!

Thank you to the people who provided feedback on our new HSFOL website. Many teachers and parents suggested updating the teacher/parent dashboard so that they could view the progress of all teams/competitors during the competition. The new dashboard has been designed based on this feedback and we are aiming to roll it out in the next fortnight. The leaderboard is live for teachers and parents only and shows current and past competitions.

Please remember that teachers and parents have the capability to change the password for their teams/competitiors. This is done on the teacher/parent dashboard.

In 2021 the structure of HSFOL will change slightly as follows:

Term 1 - no competitions
Term 2 - Years 5-10
Term 3 - Years 3-10
Term 4 - Years 3-10

Term 1 is all about Have Sum Fun face-to-face for Years 5-12. Due to increased numbers, we have included a third metropolitan venue for 2021.

Make Maths AMAZING with The Maths Show!

If you’re looking for something fun, engaging and exciting to do in maths, The Maths Show may be just what you need!

The Maths Show is now based in Perth, and regularly tours regional areas.

The Maths Show is a live touring performance that comes to you at your school. The production is:

· Highly entertaining and lots of fun

· A unique way to build student engagement in maths

· Full of audience interaction, maths history, puzzles, maths magic and more

· A great way to have students see maths from a different perspective

· Easy to organise – we come to you

· Sure to promote maths reasoning and problem solving skills.

We have different versions available for Junior Secondary and Primary students.

The Maths Show is proudly sponsored by the Mathematical Association of Western Australia with a 10% discount available to members.

The Maths Show is perfect for a Maths / STEM Week or Day or end of year activity.

You can view a trailer at https://vimeo.com/384680726

To find out more, contact us today.

Email: info@felstead.com.au

Web: http://www.felstead.com.au/portfolio/themathsshow/

Phone: 0402 223406

Proudly sponsored by:

What you’ve said about us:

Everything they showed me made my jaw drop. Student, Dandenong Primary School

It was awesome! The performer was engaging and hilarious. The kids loved the show! Libby Foley, Maths Teacher, Chevallum State School

Contact us today!

Email: info@felstead.com.au

In November 2020 MAWA hosted our first ever hybrid conference. Whilst our virtual numbers weren’t as high as we had hoped, there is promise of growth in future years. One teacher wrote - We are all enjoying the conference so far – thanks to MAWA for organising the Virtual Conference. Many thanks from an appreciative country school.

We welcomed a total of 626 delegates to the conference which really is remarkable when you think about what is still happening in other states. On Wednesday we had 88 HOLA’s attend face-to-face and 19 online, which was followed by 301 face-to-face and 24 virtual delegates on Thursday. On Friday we greeted 316 face-to-face and 35 delegates who helped us round out a fantastic conference.

Exhibitor Passport Winner

$150 Crown Gift Card – Katja Horley, John Curtin College of the Arts

Wednesday Prize Winners

$250 PL Voucher from IETPL Numero – Stephen George, Carmel School

Thursday Prize Winners

$250 PL Voucher from IETPL Numero – Nathan Standish, Christmas Island District High School

Nelson Senior Maths, Mathematics Essential Units 3 and 4 textbook valued at $77.95 – Salem Ahmed, Thornlie Senior High School

Friday Prize Winners

$250 PL Voucher from IETPL Numero – Chris Kirkwood, Eastern Goldfields College

Klikko Tek Set from Modern Teaching Aids valued at $192.45 – Joanne Mills

Maths Australia Signature Online Training valued at $299 - Katrina Bates, High Wycombe Primary School

To conclude, MAWA would like to thank all those who took part in our ever-growing annual conference and look forward to welcoming you to the 2021 WA Annual Maths Conference!

Please click the links below to download the latest issues of Mathmag and Math Math World.

2021 - Term 1

Mathmag

Math Math World

What's new in The Maths Store?

Foundation Maths Book Set

The Foundation Mathematics books are designed to help people become more numerate in their daily lives; in their personal life and in work, education and community. The set of four books are designed to help people really understand and overcome the gaps they may be experiencing with their Mathematics knowledge. Question contexts in the books are suitable and relevant for older Primary students through to adults.

The textbooks are designed for use by Primary students in Years 5 and 6, Secondary students with gaps in their understanding, students in learning intervention programs, and students who are working to pass standards in Numeracy assessments. Pre-service teachers and adults who wish to improve their Mathematics and deepen their own knowledge of important mathematics content that they may not have understood well in earlier years, will also find these very useful.

For an overview of the series, click here.

Grab the entire set for a bargain price of $95.
Discounts apply for members.

BUY NOW

Helpdesk

MAWA has developed a Helpdesk, aimed to assist teachers and parents with any questions in regard to mathematics education and learning. If you have a question about mathematics education, the curriculum, available resources for enrichment, remedial resources or even ideas and resources to make maths fun, feel free to email the helpdesk helpdesk@mawainc.org.au.

Please include in your email what area suits your query best; i.e., Early Childhood Education (K-1), Primary Mathematics Years 2-3, Primary Mathematics Years 4-6, Secondary Mathematics Years 7-9, Secondary Mathematics Year 10, Secondary Mathematics Years 11-12, non-ATAR, ATAR Mathematics.

This inbox will be checked once a day and your email will be
forwarded to one of our many mathematics experts, who will
respond to your email within 5 business days. Please allow the full 5 business days before calling the MAWA office.

To unsubscribe, please click here