Oxford Mathematics and Statistics for Aotearoa New Zealand
Case study: Rose’s story
Because we are an intermediate with quite high achievement, we felt that Oxford was going to be the best match for us.
Rose Golds Northcross Intermediate School, Auckland
Meet Rose
Rose is Head of Mathematics at Northcross Intermediate in Auckland.
Northcross is a large urban intermediate school, with over 1,450 students from 40 contributing schools.
Rose tells us about the positive impact that Oxford Mathematics and Statistics for Aotearoa New Zealand (Oxford Maths) is having on their school maths programmes. She explains why the programme was chosen over other offerings, how it has supported with the coherence and consistency of programme delivery, and the benefits for teachers and students.
Why Oxford?
When deciding which Ministry of Education funded resource to choose for the revised mathematics and statistics learning area, Rose and her team considered the options with great care. After observing a range of resources used in schools and weighing up the pros and cons, a decision was made to go with Oxford.
“Because we are an intermediate with quite high achievement, we felt that Oxford was probably going to be the best match for us, because its explicitly got a Year 7–8 component, and not all the resources available have that.”
A good basis for planning
Over the past six months, Northcross Intermediate has been using Oxford Maths to strengthen and supplement their maths programme in line with the revised curriculum.
Rose says that planning always begins with the Mathematics and Statistics Curriculum. From there, teachers draw on Oxford Maths to support the curriculum outcomes. She finds the unit plans particularly valuable, as they offer a solid foundation for planning while allowing teachers to adapt based on their confidence and experience.
“The planning framework in Oxford Maths is definitely a strength,” says Rose, continuing that it’s not always easy to find resources that are both relevant and appropriate. Oxford Maths is helping to bridge that gap for her teachers.
Supporting curriculum delivery
Rose believes the structured approach of Oxford Maths helps teachers to connect with the curriculum and deliver consistent and coherent teaching across the school.
Teachers use the interactives for whole class teaching, and differentiation occurs alongside whole-class instruction through small-group work, bookwork, and targeted activities.
Oxford Maths is particularly useful in helping teachers delve into the ‘know’ aspect of the curriculum framework –strengthening key maths concepts. Rose’s teachers have also reported that the mastery tasks provide a useful link to the Understand, Know, and Do components of the curriculum.
“I think one of the biggest things... is to do with consistency, because that is a very hard thing to get in a large school and across the country. And I think this (Oxford) is probably going to help us more with consistency.”
“The scaffolding in the guided tasks has helped my students who are less confident in maths feel a sense of achievement in their understanding of different mathematical concepts.”
(Teacher)
Building confidence
A teacher in Rose’s team shared that exposure to different mathematical concepts through the programme, regardless of the student’s ‘level’, has allowed her students to join in on class discussions. They believe this exposure has resulted in students having a go at things they wouldn’t usually be exposed to, and this is building their confidence in maths and having a growth mindset.
Rose also tells us that the consistent and explicit use of mathematical language is an element of Oxford Maths that she appreciates.
Assessment
Rose explained how the pre-tests are supporting teachers to identify what students know and what needs to be a focus.
Oxford Maths provides pre-tests at the beginning of each unit of learning. One interesting outcome that Rose reported was that the pre-test revealed gaps some of their high achieving students had, which the teachers had not picked up on previously. The pre-test also supported identification of learners who required more targeted support.
Rose explained they found the pre-test helpful to inform planning, and the evidence useful for tailoring and delivering a holistic programme.
“In the Oxford book I could work towards understanding why I may have gotten certain questions wrong and then use questions similar to it to strengthen the area.” (Student)
“When we had parent teacher interviews some of the students wanted to show their parents what they’ve been doing in their workbooks – so I guess they’re proud of what they were doing.”
(Teacher)
What about the students?
Only six months in, Rose can see that the students are keen to use the workbooks, She tells us that she knows they love using them.
At Northcross they call the workbooks “practice books” and Rose tells us that the students like them and the teachers find them useful. She reports students have requested to use them for follow up tasks rather than another resource. They seem to prefer the workbooks to a worksheet.
Rose is impressed with the real-world contexts in Oxford Maths and points to the mastery tasks in particular.
“I think they’re actually really good; the mastery tasks particularly. I like the fact that they are very New Zealand focused, and they have a real demand for reading comprehension, which, of course we know, brings in our comprehension that we get in our mathematical tasks.”
Rose also explains that she believes the structure and routine of the programme supports the students. It provides a framework, and students know how things are going to work and what is coming. She thinks a lot of this is to do with the predictability of the routine and the independent practice work.
“I found the Oxford books easy to use and helpful.” (Student)