Boosting teacher & student confidence with Lighthouse Maths

Lighthouse Maths coach reflection: Graham Rees 

Graham Rees is a Year 3 teacher, and numeracy coordinator at Tuart Rise Primary School. After completing Scitech’s Lighthouse Maths program in 2024, Graham went on to become a Lighthouse Maths coach, helping other primary school teachers develop their skills using problem solving and reasoning techniques to deepen students’ understanding of maths concepts.

Benefits beyond maths lessons

Reflecting on his time with Lighthouse Maths, Graham said that the program heavily influenced his approach to both teaching maths in the classroom, and whole-school planning.

“Whilst open-ended maths questions are nothing new, I am developing a much keener understanding of how to use these sessions to further expand students’ understanding of core concepts, and review material, as part of a wider framework of pedagogical approaches,” Graham said.

“Students have benefited from my improving ability to question and knowing when and how to assist – or leave them be – both in terms of thinking about problems, as well as modelling of questioning skills.

“This has impacted not only my maths teaching but also other areas of the curriculum.”

Building teacher confidence

Graham said one of the most important outcomes of Lighthouse Maths was seeing teachers develop confidence and push themselves.

“Most challenges I see generally stem from teacher apprehension about maths – often their perceived lack of knowledge or understanding,” he said.

“One of the most rewarding aspects of coaching Lighthouse Maths, is seeing the development of teachers who fall into this category, and observing their growing confidence, not only in their ability to cover the material in question, but also their ability to deal with the unexpected.

“My favourite quote from a teacher so far is ‘I’m pretty sure this might go a bit wrong, but I really want to see what they can do.’

“Whilst the lesson ended up having its challenges, the groundwork and planning was good enough to ensure those challenges were met, and all students were able to achieve success.”

Teachers who participated in the 2024 Lighthouse Maths program reported a 62% increase in confidence in teaching mathematical problem-solving.

Teaching to all abilities

Another challenge teachers often face is teaching across split year levels and tailoring maths content for different abilities in the class.

“One of Lighthouse Maths’ greatest strengths is its accessibility across proficiency levels,” said Graham.

“A good Lighthouse Maths problem can be used from Years 1 to 6, with different aspects being explored depending on where the students are at.

“It also provides peer-learning opportunities for both high and low proficiency students, and often provides avenues for less-traditionally proficient students to shine.”

Developing skills in communication and collaboration

In Lighthouse Maths, students are asked to communicate their working out, building skills in reasoning, teamwork and collaboration.

“The reaction the first time one of my highly proficient students was told that they needed to ensure that all of the group could explain their thinking was priceless,” Graham said.

“It was wonderful to see them embrace this new challenge and develop their communication skills as well as deepening their conceptual understanding.

“Another recent example I experienced when coaching was when a neurodiverse student, not usually adept at group work, successfully worked for the whole session, and proceeded to arrive at a solution that no-one had anticipated.

“It afforded them a chance to shine and exposed a level of understanding that a simple worksheet would never have done.”

Graham Rees, Gelsa Dagostino, Aoife Cooksley, Anthea Borg

Learn how you can get involved in Lighthouse Maths  

With the support of Chevron Australia, the 12-month Lighthouse Maths program is provided free to a limited number of schools in the Perth metro region.  To learn more about the program and submit an Expression of Interest to take part in 2026, visit the Lighthouse Maths webpage.