Banksia Park students achieve two years of maths learning in one

Banksia Park Primary School students have achieved an incredible two years of additional learning in maths, thanks to an innovative mathematics program.

Supported by Chevron Australia and delivered by Scitech, Lighthouse Maths is a year-long professional learning program to improve teachers’ skills and confidence in using problem-solving and reasoning techniques to teach maths.

A renewed partnership with Chevron Australia will see the program made available to teachers in 2026, 2027 and 2028.

Banksia Park Primary School teacher Ferne Watson took part in the program in 2025 and said that while she was confident teaching some strands of maths, she felt out of her depth when trying to plan, teach and assess problem solving and reasoning.

“It was consistently identified as an area for student improvement and I struggled through various approaches, programs and resources to try to improve my teaching,” Mrs Watson said.

Over the school year, Scitech supported Mrs Watson, her colleague Tess Panomarenko, and 30 other teachers from 16 primary schools in the Perth metro area with one-on-one coaching, workshops and classroom resources.

Mrs Watson said Lighthouse Maths had led to improved student results in every aspect of maths.

“My already high-performing Year 6 class made an astonishing two years’ growth in the Australian Council for Education Research’s PAT-M data!

“Their ability to work collaboratively and be persistent when approaching complex and multi-step problems has also improved exponentially.”

Mrs Watson said a stand-out moment was watching a student, who had previously been disengaged in maths, ‘lock in’ and actively encourage her teammates to persistently and successfully solve a challenging problem.

“At the start of this year, I saw outright work refusal and zero confidence from this student during maths sessions,” Mrs Watson said.

“Watching her explain and defend her strategies and mathematical reasoning to the whole class was a real ‘full circle’ moment.”

Scitech Manager of Learning Futures Inette Henn congratulated Mrs Watson and Mrs Panomarenko on their dedication and willingness to step out of their comfort zone throughout the Lighthouse Maths program.

“It has been fantastic to see Banksia Park Primary School students not only achieve incredible results in their maths comprehension and abilities, but also improve their teamwork, communication and collaboration skills, as they work to share and explain their reasoning with their peers.

“In an increasingly digital and AI-driven world, skills in critical thinking and problem-solving will be essential in everyday life, careers and driving innovation.

“Thanks to the support of Chevron Australia, we are excited to offer Lighthouse Maths to 72 more teachers over the next three years.

“We are also providing more opportunities for regional schools, with the program now available to teachers outside the Perth metro area.”

Having first partnered with Scitech in 2013, Chevron Australia has supported Lighthouse Maths since 2021, enabling 160 teachers to access professional learning in maths.

Expressions of interest to take part in Lighthouse Maths in 2026 are now open.

For more information and to submit an expression of interest, visit www.scitech.org.au/lighthouse-maths