Links to Foundation to Year 10

For all content areas of Essential Mathematics, the proficiency strands of Understanding, Fluency, Problem solving and Reasoning from the F–10 curriculum are still very much applicable and should be inherent in students’ learning of the subject. Each strand is essential, and all are mutually reinforcing. For all content areas, practice allows students to develop fluency in their skills. They will encounter opportunities for problem solving, such as finding the volume of a solid to enable the amount of liquid that is held in the container to be compared with what is written on the label, or finding the interest on an amount in order to be able to compare different types of loans. In Essential Mathematics, reasoning includes critically interpreting and analysing information represented through graphs, tables and other statistical representations to make informed decisions. The ability to transfer mathematical skills between contexts is a vital part of learning in this subject. For example, familiarity with the concept of a rate enables students to solve a wide range of practical problems, such as fuel consumption, travel times, interest payments, taxation, and population growth.