This past week, our students embraced exciting and empowering experiences during Mathematics Mindset Week. Designed to foster positivity and resilience in their approach to Mathematics, the week has been filled with dynamic activities that emphasised the development of critical thinking and growth mindset habits, such as the importance of struggle as well as problem-solving strategies.
Central to the week’s learning journey was our belief that our mathematicians are active agents in their own learning. We encouraged students to engage in activities that cultivated skills such as:
- Acting with courage by embracing unfamiliar challenges with flexible thinking, learning from mistakes and staying positive in the face of complex mathematical problems.
- Striving for mastery by asking deep questions and looking for patterns and connections to strengthen understanding of mathematical concepts.
- Building social alliances through collaborative group work, where students shared ideas, reasoned together and sharpened problem-solving skills.
- Being reflective by evaluating their thinking, celebrating successes and setting achievable improvement goals.
- Creating feedback loops by seeking and applying feedback to redefine mathematical reasoning.
- Using reason to connect ideas, evaluate solutions systematically and apply principles to new situations, building confidence and critical thinking.
- Managing ambiguity by tackling open-ended problems with persistence and creativity, using uncertainty as an opportunity for discovery.
Another focus of the week revolved around students reviewing their “maths fact toolbox”. By identifying what knowledge they already possess, they set personal learning goals to improve their recall of basic maths facts. Research supports that quick access to foundational knowledge, such as addition facts, doubles facts, multiplication tables and measurement conversions, helps free up cognitive capacity to engage in higher-order mathematical thinking, analysis and reasoning.
By fostering these habits, Mathematics Mindset Week has equipped our students with practical mathematical skills while empowering them to grow as confident and capable learners. We are immensely proud of the strength of character, collaboration and critical thinking shown by our mathematicians this week. This experience has set a positive tone for the year ahead and laid the foundation for a lifelong love of Mathematics.
