This section outlines the meaning of, and connection between, the Big Ideas and Significant Learning, which together form the Learning Matrix. It then explains each Mathematics and Statistics Big Idea.

The Mathematics and Statistics Learning Area curriculum, including its Whakataukī, inform this subject's Significant Learning – learning that is critical for students to know, understand, and do in a subject by the end of each Curriculum Level. This covers knowledge, skills, competencies, and attitudes. It also includes level-appropriate contexts students should encounter in their education. The Learning Area's Whakataukī is:

Kei hopu tōu ringa ki te aka tāepa, engari kia mau ki te aka matua.

Cling to the main vine, not the loose one.

The subject's Big Ideas and Significant Learning are collated into a Learning Matrix for Curriculum Level 6. Teachers can use the Learning Matrix as a tool to construct learning programmes that cover all the ‘not to be missed’ learning in a subject. There is no prescribed order to the Learning Matrix within each level. A programme of learning might begin with a context that is relevant to the local area of the school or an idea that students are particularly interested in. This context or topic must relate to at least one Big Idea and may also link to other Big Ideas.

There are six Big Ideas in Mathematics and Statistics. The nature of this subject as a discipline means aspects of Significant Learning often cross over multiple Big Ideas, and vice versa.

Unpacking the Learning Matrix

The Mathematics and Statistics Big Ideas are organised into two categories: 'process' and 'knowledge'. They are key ideas about how to work with, and understand, mathematics and statistics. Within the Learning Matrix, the Significant Learning sit under and alongside the six Big Ideas. Each piece of Significant Learning might relate to any, or all, of the six Big Ideas. This highlights the relevance of the Big Ideas to all learning.

Each piece of Significant Learning is also categorised under a different combination of learning topics (number, algebra, geometry, measurement, statistics, and probability). It is framed in this way to show that most learning in Mathematics and Statistics is cross-topic. Topics can be taught together, and not unnecessarily compartmentalised. The Learning Matrix provides a starting point for kaiako to weave the topics together; kaiako will have their own ideas about how to do this weaving. This interwoven approach forms a solid base at Curriculum Level 6 which gives school leavers a workable mathematical toolbox, and enables further specialisation at Curriculum Levels 7 and 8.

The process Big Ideas of wānanga, hononga, and tāiringa kōrero highlight the importance of Aotearoa New Zealand’s identity in how ākonga conceptualise the world and solve problems. These processes sit across all the Significant Learning, and the emphasis here on mātauranga Māori recognises the importance of socio-cultural context when learning and applying mathematical and statistical skills. The content of mathematics is universal, but it will be accessed, and engaged with, by different cultures in distinct ways.

The Significant Learning comprises all the skills that ākonga are entitled to leave Curriculum Level 6 with. The Learning Matrix structure reflects that although Mathematics and Statistics involves a broad range of skills, the Big Ideas are the common underlying processes and knowledge that pull these skills together. It is important that learning is firmly embedded in a context which resonates with ākonga and which recognises their cultures. Kaiako are encouraged to match Significant Learning to the interests and needs of ākonga. Course Outlines and Assessment Activities will provide guidance on how teaching can be linked to the particular contexts and future pathways of ākonga.

What is new?

The pieces of Significant Learning are not materially different to what has previously been taught in Mathematics and Statistics. This collection of mathematical learning remains an excellent collection of capabilities for ākonga.

The real change is focused on how the Significant Learning is taught and assessed. Firstly, teaching across topics allows learners to engage with all sides of a problem. Mathematics is a practical skill. Exploring how different mathematical principles apply to anything and everything can empower ākonga to actively use mathematics in all contexts. Secondly, the four new Achievement Standards are designed for flexibility. The standards are wide enough that kaiako will be able to design Assessment Activities that ākonga can see themselves in, and which prepare them for the diverse pathways they follow after school.