Skills add up

By Lia Bichel
MATH skills of Dandenong South Primary students are set to improve with the help of three specialists at the school next year.
Dandenong South Primary School is one of 27 government schools in Victoria to have been selected for a $5 million government program.
Dandenong MP John Pandazopoulos made the announcement on Monday.
“These specialists will work intensively with teachers at schools to improve students’ results,” he said. “This is great news for our local schools and even better news for students who will benefit enormously from improved maths instruction.”
Eighty-one math specialists will begin positions in Victorian schools in term one next year.
The three specialists at each school will spend half their time working at their designated school, and their remaining time working at schools nearby.
Three teachers from Dandenong South Primary school have already been selected to receive training as primary mathematics specialists, acting-principal Debbie Cottier said.
The three teachers are currently undergoing a 10-day training program, which will be followed by a five-day program in term one next year. “It’s a great opportunity to build teacher capacity. We are looking forward to the program implementation,” she said.
At Dandenong South Primary school, one specialist will work with Prep to Grade 2 teachers, another with Grades 3 and 4 teachers and one with Grades 5 and 6 teachers.
Ms Cottier said the specialists’ placement would benefit each of the 527 students at Dandenong South Primary.
Education Minister Bronwyn Pike said the initiative would help give children the best start to life, regardless of where they live or their personal circumstances.
“Our recent NAPLAN results show Victorian Year 3 students are the best in the nation in numeracy, with more than 95 per cent of students performing at or above the national minimum standard, but there is always room to improve and that is what this initiate is about,” she said.
The initiative is part of the $8 million directed towards literacy and numeracy reforms in the 2009/10 State Budget under the Targeted Investment to Achieve National Partnership Objectives and builds on the government’s Energising Science and Mathematics Education strategy.