The Year 9 Mathematics programme is based on the content in the Australian Mathematics Curriculum. The Australian Mathematics Curriculum provides students with the skills to be confident, creative users and communicators of mathematics, able to investigate, represent and use mathematics at school, at home, at work and in society. The curriculum focuses on developing increasingly sophisticated and refined mathematics understanding, fluency, logical reasoning, analytical thought and problem-solving skills.

The Australian Mathematics Curriculum is organised around three content strands and four proficiency strands.

The content strands are:

• Number and algebra
• Measurement and geometry
• Statistics and probability

The proficiency strands describe the actions in which students can engage when learning and using the content. The proficiencies are incorporated into the content descriptions of the three strands.

The proficiencies are:

• Understanding
• Fluency
• Problem solving
• Reasoning

The main resources used in the courses are the “Essential Mathematics for the Australian Curriculum Year 9 text and the “Hotmaths” website both of which are developed by Cambridge University Press.
The online learning program Mathematics Pathway is the main resource for students who are in need of extra intervention.

Mathematics Courses
The Mathematics courses are organised to give every student the opportunity to work at their highest mathematical ability, whilst also giving them the opportunity to soundly understand one level of mathematics before proceeding to the next level.

In Year 9, the following Mathematics courses are offered:

• Mathematics Extension
• Mathematics Advanced
• Mathematics Mainstream
• Mathematics Focus, (on a needs basis)

A student is placed into a course based on the results achieved in Year 8 Mathematics. Students who need a small group environment in which to learn and develop basic mathematical skills are placed in the Mathematics Focus groups.

Assessment
The assessments for Year 9 Mathematics consist of Topic Tests and Investigations. An Investigation requires students to plan, research, conduct and communicate the findings of a given problem or mathematical concept. Students may also be given informal assessments such as quizzes to gauge their understanding, however, these will not contribute to the student’s final mark.

Progress of Subjects
The Mathematics subjects are organised to give every student the opportunity to work at their highest mathematical capability, whilst also giving them the opportunity to soundly understand one level of mathematics before proceeding to the next level.

At the end of Year 9 the students are streamed into groups according to their ability for the commencement of Year 10. These groups are:

• Mathematics Extension
• Mathematics Advanced
• Mathematics Mainstream
• Mathematics 2
• Mathematics 1 - (on a needs basis)