Resources
Use these resources for inspiration in your partnership.
If you would like us to add other resources, please contact us.
- Starting points
- Hands-on activities
- Curriculum information
- Useful organisations and programs
- Funding and grants
- IT resources
Starting points
You might like to try these activities (with student worksheets) to get your partnership started. These come from the support material sent to you when you were matched with your partner. All the worksheets can be copied for use in the classroom.
- Arrange a site visit (PDF, 80KB)
- Organise a careers talk (PDF, 82KB)
- Try some hands-on activities (PDF, 83KB)
Note: these files have been provided as PDF files to keep the file size as low as possible. If you'd like the files as Word documents, please contact us.
Hands-on activities
There are plenty of great, maths activities that are ready to use in the classroom. Try these sites:
- Collect, share and analyse real data with Reach for the Stars (part of National Literacy and Numeracy Week)
- National maths competitions and challenges from the Australian Mathematics Trust
- You can do maths - advice about using maths in careers
- World Maths Day international competition
- Interactive programs that allow students to manipulate virtual objects to help learn maths concepts from the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives (NLVM)
- The maths of games from Northern Illinois University and Madras College in Scotland
- Displays and activities for your own Maths Night
- Maths puzzles and links from the AIMS Education Foundation and a maths blog
- Intriguing but accessible maths articles from Plus magazine
- A fantastic range of rich mathematical tasks for the classroom from Cambridge University
- A list of maths websites from Flinders University
- Maths in the movies from a Harvard lecturer
- Financial literacy information and tools from Dollars and Sense (Commonwealth Bank)
Curriculum information
National Statements of Learning provide a guide to students' learning at different levels. Note that each state and territory also has their own curriculum or syllabus.
- Science (external website, PDF, 952KB)
- Mathematics (external website, PDF, 1009KB)
- Information and communications technologies (ICT) (external website, PDF, 919KB)
Useful organisations and programs
Maths Teacher Associations run events and competitions, plus offer plenty of resources and information about maths teaching. The national Australian Association of Maths Teachers (AAMT) website includes links to each state and territory association.
edna provides resources and links related to education at all levels and in all subject areas. The Science Learning Hub is a similar site from New Zealand.
The Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations offers general information about education in Australia plus links to other education organisations including state and territory education departments.
There are maths-based programs and competitions that can provide ideas or be a framework for your partnership. Try:
- Competitions run by the Australian Mathematics Trust
- The Australasian Problem Solving Mathematical Olympiads (primary and junior secondary)
- The National Mathematics Talent Quest
See also the list of complementary programs that might be useful for your partnership.
Funding and grants
The following programs may be able to assist with funding for partnership activities.
- Commonwealth Bank Foundation financial literacy grants - secondary schools
- E3 Program - rural and regional NSW
- Junior Landcare Grants
- Rural Education Program
- Small grants for rural communities
- GrantsLINK - lists of grants programs from across Australia
- A guide to community grants with links to government and non-government grants programs
IT resources
These resources might help you stay in touch and record the work your partnership is doing. Note that schools will have varying levels of access to these resources.
Skype allows phone and video calls over the internet. The software is free to download, and calls between two Skype accounts are free (except for your ISP costs).
Blogger and Wordpress offer free blogs that can be customised. You can use the blogs for discussions within your partnership or to showcase your work to the world. There are many other similar programs available. Be aware of security and privacy issues when using blogs.
Education Queensland's Learning Place provides tools and support for online learning, including blogs, online chats and forums. It's only available to Queensland government schools, but check your local education authority to find out if there's something similar available for you.
Scientists in Schools has an email list for discussions between participants. Mathematicians in Schools partnerships are also encouraged to join this list.