Grades 9 & 10 Maths Options - New Student Learning Experience

Term 1: Exponent laws and scientific notation are a major focus. Students expand and factorise monic quadratics, work with gradient, midpoint, distance, and line equations, and use rates, proportion, scale, and financial modelling in practical contexts.
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​Term 2: Students work with rational and irrational numbers, including surds, and apply Pythagoras’ theorem and right-angle trigonometry. They also study enlargements, similarity, scale, and the surface area and volume of prisms and cylinders, with an emphasis on multi-step spatial problem solving, units, and precision.
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​Term 3: The focus shifts to quadratics, statistics, and modelling. Students graph, solve, and transform quadratic relationships, decide when linear or quadratic models are appropriate, and study sampling methods, bias, and survey design. They also interpret box plots, histograms, and dot plots, and compare centre, spread, and outliers.
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​Term 4: Students explore how parameter changes affect graphs and functions, study compound probability using tables, lists, and tree diagrams, and use relative frequency in repeated chance experiments. They also plan and report statistical investigations, calculate absolute, relative, and percentage error, and use algorithms in geometric problem solving.
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​Across the year: Year 9 Mathematics moves from algebra and modelling into geometry and trigonometry, then into statistics and quadratics, and finishes with probability, investigations, error, and algorithmic thinking.
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Term 1: The term focuses on practical money skills. Students read payslips, invoices, and utility bills, divide wages and bills into halves and quarters, add and subtract workplace expenses and takings, use EFTPOS, cash, and digital wallets, track income and expenses, reconcile transactions, set savings goals, calculate percentage discounts, and present financial information in graphs or tables.
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​Term 2: Students work with time, fractions, decimals, transport, and budgeting in daily life. They read analogue and digital clocks, use bus and train timetables, divide shifts and tasks into parts, apply fractions to workplace orders, use decimals in invoices and receipts, calculate discounts, adjust budgets, plan transport to arrive on time, and design a weekly work or study timetable.
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​Term 3: The focus is measurement and space in practical settings. Students measure length, capacity, and weight using common units and tools, measure surface area for jobs such as painting or tiling, identify common 2D shapes in workplace plans, read maps, recognise repeating patterns, combine measurements in multi-step tasks, and measure rooms or outdoor spaces while reflecting on accuracy and efficiency.
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​Term 4: Students use data, graphs, and chance in everyday and workplace contexts. They identify data in tables, lists, and charts, represent stock and rosters using tables and graphs, read bar graphs, use data to support shopping and budgeting decisions, recognise chance in everyday events, discuss safety risks using probability, collect workplace data, graph stock levels, design surveys, and reflect on how data is collected and represented.
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​Across the year: Year 9 Mathematics Life Skills 1 develops practical numeracy through money, budgeting, time, transport, measurement, data, and everyday workplace problem solving.

Term 1: Students work with real number approximations, geometric proof, and deductive reasoning. They study surface area and volume of prisms and composite objects, interpret and create network diagrams, and apply Pythagoras’ theorem, similarity, and right-angle trigonometry in elevation, depression, navigation, and other multi-step spatial problems.

Term 2: The focus is algebra, equations, modelling, logarithmic scales, and error. Students expand, simplify, and factorise algebraic expressions, use exponent laws, solve linear equations, inequalities, simultaneous equations, and quadratics, and apply proportion and scaling models. They also interpret logarithmic scales in contexts such as earthquakes, pH, sound, and finance, and analyse measurement error.

Term 3: Students study exponential relationships and modelling, especially growth and decay. They solve exponential equations using algebra, graphs, and digital tools. In statistics, they construct and interpret box plots, scatterplots, and two-way tables, compare distributions, analyse association between variables, and critique statistical claims, bias, and ethics in media reports.

Term 4: The final term focuses on function exploration, conditional probability, bivariate investigations, and algorithm design. Students test patterns in linear, quadratic, exponential, trigonometric, inverse, and composite functions, use simulations and repeated chance experiments, apply formal conditional probability language, plan and evaluate bivariate data investigations, and design and improve algorithms for 2D and 3D spatial problems.

Across the year: Year 10 Mathematics moves from geometry, proof, measurement, networks, and trigonometry into algebra and modelling, then into exponential functions and statistics, and finishes with conditional probability, bivariate investigations, function exploration, and algorithm design.

Term 1: The term centres on money management and budgeting. Students identify forms of money and sources of income, calculate sale prices, convert fractions to decimals in financial situations, recognise common percentages, identify when interest applies, recognise different pay cycles, read utility bills, split shared costs, and create a weekly budget including income, savings, and expenses.
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​Term 2: Students strengthen number operations and number language in everyday contexts. They add totals from receipts, subtract expenses from income, multiply for bulk shopping, divide bills equally, add and subtract costs in shopping and outing situations, order prices from cheapest to most expensive, use number words such as dozen, half, and quarter, and subtract repayments from a loan balance.
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​Term 3: The focus is time, measurement, shapes, direction, and schedules. Students read and write time on analogue and digital clocks, plan daily routines, measure length, capacity, and area using informal units and common tools, identify 2D shapes, use directional language, measure and cut materials for projects, create a weekly work roster, and read bus and train timetables.
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​Term 4: Students work with data, chance, and practical numeracy. They collect survey data and record it in tally charts, read and interpret bar graphs, identify events as certain, likely, or impossible, recognise correct change in shopping transactions, add and subtract costs in grocery situations, measure height and length, read timetables, create bar charts of workplace tasks, compare mobile phone plans, and split shared meal bills fairly using fractions.
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​Across the year: Year 10 Mathematics Life Skills 2 strengthens independence in budgeting, shopping maths, number operations, time, measurement, travel, data use, and everyday decision-making.