This is an activity of the Australian Catholic University Mathematics Teaching and Learning Centre.

We had a very positive response to our first leaders’ conference, closing registrations a month ahead of the conference. So, once again, our national conference focuses on those people whose major role is leading mathematics education in primary schools - mathematics coordinators, school mathematics leaders, mathematics coaches, and mathematics specialists. This conference meets a major, untapped need for leaders. A wide variety of plenary and workshop sessions will be presented, addressing topics in several broad areas that relate to aspects of the mathematics leader’s role.

2nd National Conference for School Leaders in Primary Mathematics EducationFriday 24th July 2015 9.00am – 3.30pm

ACU (Melbourne Campus) 115 Victoria Pde Fitzroy

Cost $330 (incl. GST) – includes morning tea, lunch, certificate of participation and all session notes.

Associate Professor Philip Riley’s research focuses on cognitive, behavioural, affective and existential dimensions of leadership, with particular emphasis on teaching and learning and school leaders. He conducts the annual Principal Health and Wellbeing Survey in Australia, and researches health and wellbeing issues for principals and aspiring leaders.

Features of the day

» High-quality presenters.

» Choose three sessions from a rich array of options. Insights from research will be complemented by the practical experience and insights of session leaders. Some sessions are repeats of our most popular sessions from last year. Please choose sessions with this in mind.

» Handouts, certificate, lunch and morning tea provided.

» Handy location close to city, easy access by public transport (115 Victoria Parade, Fitzroy).

This conference fills a gap in PD for maths leaders.

Fantastic day. Really practical. Presenters were knowledgeable, research based people. A great opportunity to discuss and learn about the leadership side of mathematics.

A brilliant day - as usual ACU put on an inspiring day of maths presentations and discussion.

THE PROGRAM

Session Presenter/s Topic

Keynote: 9.00am – 10.00am

Keynote Philip Riley

Leadership Counts! Facts and Fantasy – Leaders’ personal values are the foundation on which to build a sustainable educational platform. The focus is a developmental sequence: from understanding one’s self to leading the whole community. Practices include multiple ways of knowing, rigorous reflective practice, constructing and refining a personal development plan that utilises the data gathered in a variety of ways and settings. But… there is no leader without followers. So, provocations will be offered to help you develop strategies for exploring the culture and climate of your school with particular emphasis on espoused values and attitudes to numeracy, individual differences and daily enactment.

Session A: 10.10am – 11.25am

A1 Jim Spithill

The Australian Council for Educational Research: An overview of activities and opportunities – The presentation will look at: the use of tablets in early years’ assessments; a new interview assessment called PASA; adopting a ‘growth mindset’ view of learning; developments in PAT; teaching tools that can grow with the student and the curriculum; and the role of Big Ideas.

A2 Matt Sexton

Leading with success: Identifying points of intervention, success indicators and annual work plans – Leadership of the mathematics curriculum in schools is complex. In this workshop, you have the opportunity of identifying your point of intervention as a leader, and then explore success indicators to guide your leadership activities. The workshop will close with a process for designing annual leadership plans that can support your leadership in your school.

A3 Colleen Monaghan

Leading teams to plan mathematics units of work – Are you interested in finding out more about facilitating planning sessions with your teams? If so, this session is for you! We will look at the key questions to ask teachers when planning mathematics units. We start with what it is the teachers want the students to understand and be able to do by the end of the unit. We will unpack the process involved in planning mathematics units of work with your teams.

A4 Leonie Anstey

Creating a culture of “effort” in the mathematics classroom/school – What does “effort” look like in your classroom/school? How do you develop staff and students to have the attitudes, skills and knowledge to persist in your challenging mathematics classrooms? If you are curious about these questions you may find this hands-on practical workshop will provoke ideas worth exploring in your context.

A5 Phil Clarkson

Whole-school inquiry projects: Possibilities for revitalising/rethinking your maths program – A program using action research is described. Level groups and individual teachers are given flexibility to choose what aspect of their teaching they work on, linked to the School Mathematics Plan. The roles of the Mathematics Leader and external mentor, the need for ongoing teachers to build mutual support, and time for the program to operate will be discussed.

A6 Larissa Raymond

Supporting our maths teams to develop as a collaborative learning community – What might leaders need to consider as they work towards developing and sustaining a collaborative approach to learning? Together, we will delve into the ways in which one’s ‘learning architecture’ (learning enabling structures) can enhance collaborative learning. We will also explore conceptual frameworks and protocols to support collegial learning.

A7 Ann Downton

Work samples/rubrics and assessment informing planning – Assessment for learning is part of everyday practice. Student work samples provide evidence of learning but are not necessarily analysed in depth due to time constraints. In this workshop we will explore the potential of work samples to provide insights into student learning and ways of working mathematically.

A8 Anne Roche & Doug Clarke

NAPLAN 101 for beginners – In this session, we will focus on the different forms in which NAPLAN data is provided to schools, and how these can be interpreted. While there are many reasonable concerns about NAPLAN (which we share), the session will also focus on how leaders can use NAPLAN data with their teams to inform their teaching.

Lunch: 11.30am – 12.15pm

Session B: 12.20pm – 1.35pm

B1 David Clarke

Mathematics classrooms around the world: Similarities, differences, assumptions, and practice – Some of the most distinctive features of mathematics classrooms around the world relate to who gets to speak and what they say. Participants in this session will have a chance to compare the classroom talk in their classroom with that recorded in 22 mathematics classrooms across 8 countries. In this way, we will examine some of the assumptions underlying our practice.

B2 Philip RileyLooking after yourself first: Dealing with stress and burnout – We will focus on signs of overload in yourself and others, what to do when you find it, and how to prevent it. Methods for reducing individuals’ cortisol levels (“the stress hormone”) during the working day will be introduced.

B3 Kevin Williams & Emma Sellars

Rethinking the power of parent engagement: The role of school leaders – How does a culture of Parent Involvement move to that of Parent Engagement? Challenging the mindset of parents, trust, collaboration and working in genuine partnership - how do these impact? Research and practical strategies from effective parent engagement sessions will be shared, with time for reflection on your own school’s context.

B4 Ann Downton

Developing an overall school mathematics plan – Much of the work of mathematics leaders relates to facilitating planning sessions with teachers and jointly developing an overall big picture school plan. We will explore issues including the interpretation of AusVELS, the importance of the proficiencies, shared understandings of how students learn mathematics, staff ownership, the language used, and format and detail.

B5 Vince Wright

What are the important things leaders need to know about the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics? – AusVELS adopts the proficiencies and content descriptors with local interpretation through the achievement standards. We will look at these aspects, and the implications for school-wide programs, in particular continuity and specificity, and consider how best to plan for mathematics in light of these issues.

B6 Linda Parish

Leadership and advocating for highly capable students – The real issue in supporting the learning of mathematically highly capable students is not that teachers are unprepared, but that they are unaware of how unprepared they are. Leadership support is needed to ensure teachers understand and know how to provide for these students in the classroom.

B7 Sarah Ferguson

Differentiation – Some ideas for how to differentiate in the mathematics classroom – This session will explore some ideas for differentiation in the mathematics classroom including enabling and extending prompts, “mash up” tasks and student choice. I will share stories from primary school classrooms from Foundation to Year 6 where the teachers tried various ways to differentiate.

B8 Annie FacchinettiWhat’s in the post? – With the benefits of personalised learning well documented, participants in this session will explore a collaborative process to use student pre-test data to design meaningful mathematics activities that meet students at their point of need and to evaluate student learning through simple post-testing.

Afternoon Tea: 1.40pm – 2.00pm

Session C: 2.05pm – 3.30pm

C1 David Clarke

What can we learn from high performing countries in mathematics? – This session examines what might be learned from comparing the practices of our schools and classrooms with those occurring in “high-performing countries” and the care which must be taken in interpreting research findings from such studies. In particular, the difference between a high-performing country and a high-performing classroom will be discussed.

C2 Colleen Monaghan

Differentiation: How to enable all students to engage in mathematics – The “buzz” word at the moment is differentiation. The challenge for many teachers is catering for the range of learners. Teachers are constantly assessing their students, but are they using this to modify their instruction? We will look at using the information gathered from assessments in order to engage all students.

C3 Matt Sexton

Professional learning protocols – Leading professional learning (PL) for teachers can be a daunting task, especially when trying to find teaching and learning strategies that engage adult learners. In this workshop, you will participate in a number of PL protocols that can be used back in your school, through to supporting the PL opportunities you lead for your teachers.

C4 Sarah Ferguson

“This is hard!” – My favourite phrase to hear in a mathematics classroom – A period of struggle and confusion is a necessary part of learning. Creating struggle requires that students are challenged through tasks that are interesting and difficult. This session explores the need to challenge our students and teachers so that struggle becomes an accepted part of learning.

C5 Leonie Anstey

Leading professional learning teams: A sustainable model for improved student learning – Are your teams focused on evidence of student learning? Are your teams curious about the next learning steps for students and themselves? Are your teams able to show a progression in learning for students? This session will focus on the key elements that empower teams to engage in the learning process and develop their skills and knowledge for teaching.

C6 Marj Horne

Leading teachers as they build the Australian Curriculum Proficiencies into their practice – One of the most exciting and yet challenging aspects of the new Australian Curriculum for teachers is implementing the Proficiencies (Understanding, Fluency, Problem Solving, and Reasoning). In this session, we will discuss what makes these challenging to implement, and strategies for leaders to address these challenges.

C7 Larissa RaymondHow can evidence informed conversations support professional learning in teams? – In this session we will explore the purpose of capturing evidence, possible evidence sources to consider, how to utilise evidence as part of your everyday professional practice and how to use evidence to support professional learning in teams.

C8 Vince Wright

Spatial abilities – The neglected opportunity? – Spatial abilities are strongly linked to success in mathematics, science and technology. We will investigate how to apply several decades of research to improve the spatial thinking of our students. That will involve us in visualisation and considering the important roles of gesturing, anticipation and noticing. We will link back to the Australian Curriculum including the Proficiencies.

Reflection and evaluation on the day: 3.20pm – 3.30pm (Same room as for Session C)

School

School Address

Suburb Postcode

School Phone Number

Registration Fee: $330 per person (incl. GST) x _______________ Total Owing: $________________ (Please note fees are non refundable)

REGISTRATION FORM/TAX INVOICE

Australian Catholic University 115 Victoria Parade, Fitzroy VIC 3065 ABN 15 050 192 660 This Registration Form will form a TAX INVOICE upon payment for this conference

Please fill in this registration form and send to: Louise Hamilton, Australian Catholic University, Locked Bag 4115, Fitzroy VIC 3065OR scan and email to louise.hamilton@acu.edu.au

PAYMENT METHOD (PLEASE INDICATE)

CHEQUE: Step 1: Make out a cheque made payable to “Australian Catholic University” Step 2: Send registration form and cheque to Louise Hamilton at the above address.

CREDIT CARD: Step 1: Please pay online at: www.acu.edu.au/leadersconf

Step 2: Send registration form to Louise Hamilton via post or email as above.

EFT: Step 1: Direct transfer to our account: Name: ACU General Account / BSB: 082 451 Acc No: 506 966 793 / Ref: P2028/”school name”

Step 2: Send registration form and a copy of the Remittance Advice to Louise Hamilton via post or email as above.

• It is essential that you receive confirmation of your enrolment by email prior to attending. If you have not received confirmation within one week of making payment please contact Louise Hamilton. DO NOT ATTEND WITHOUT CONFIRMATION.

• Registration is not confirmed until payment is received.

• Faxed registrations are not accepted.

• Numbers are strictly limited. The sooner you register and pay, the better your chances of receiving your preferred sessions.

• Please call Louise Hamilton on (03)9953 3836 or email louise.hamilton@acu.edu.au for any queries.

Registration closes on

Friday 17th July 2015 or when sessions are full

2nd National Conference for School Leaders in Primary Mathematics EducationFriday 24th July 2015

Participant’s name Email address Participant’s Role

SESSION PREFERENCES

Session A Session B Session C

1st 1st 1st

2nd 2nd 2nd

1st 1st 1st

2nd 2nd 2nd

1st 1st 1st

2nd 2nd 2nd

3rd 3rd 3rd

3rd 3rd 3rd

3rd 3rd 3rd

* Please note that some sessions that were popular last year have been repeated. Please take this into account when choosing your sessions.

Dietary Requirements: Please contact Louise Hamilton if there are any Medical Dietary Requirements