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Our
TEAM
Genovieve Grouios MEd
Director and Lead Mathematics Consultant
Genovieve is a highly experienced mathematics educator and consultant who has worked in many primary and secondary schools across Victoria. As a mathematics consultant she has worked in schools to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics. Her experience in this field centres on building and sustaining professional learning communities and supporting teachers to build capability and aspiration for lifelong learning in mathematics. This work entails, in-school coaching with individuals and teams, classroom modelling and demonstrations, team planning and support in developing planners (yearly, unit and weekly) and school mathematics programs and events, developing school documentation such as, scope and sequences, planning templates, schedules, and formative assessment, and conducting and leading professional development for levels F-10.
As director of Linear Abacus, Genovieve has been working alongside Dr. Andrew Waywood on developing a new mathematical resource for classrooms known as the Linear Abacus™. You can watch Genovieve’s instructional videos on YouTube and download lesson plans and other reference materials which demonstrate how to implement the resource in the mathematics classroom. Further information on the resource can be found on this website.
Genovieve has engaged in various curriculum writing projects with the Victorian Department of Education. This includes writing mathematical content for the Mathematics Curriculum Companion (levels 3-6), the Numeracy High Impact Teaching Strategies (levels 3-8), the Explicit Teaching Modules for the Mathematics Hub, and the Maths in Schools Professional Learning national project with the University of Adelaide.
Since 2016 Genovieve has worked in various universities in Victoria as a project officer and a mathematics lecturer in charge and has developed mathematics course work for the Master of Teaching, Bachelor of Education, and Early Childhood courses.
Dr. Andrew Waywood
Principal Advisor
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​Dr. Andrew Waywood is a long time mathematics educator academic, now retired. For over ten years Andrew has been developing and trialing a language arts approach to teaching arithmetic. Many of the ideas were trialed in pre-service teachers training courses. He has written academic papers on the connections between children’s learning language and how this interacts with learning arithmetic as well as presenting at national and international conferences. He believes that teaching language and teaching maths have a common core which is teaching to ‘make sense’. He formulated the idea of a PIC (a pedagogical image of a concept) - which actively connects doing, saying, and calculating - as a schema for classroom communication that meets the deeper curriculum requirements of students becoming problem solvers.
Dr. John West
Mathematics Consultant
Dr John West is a former teacher and lecturer in mathematics education and now works as a mathematics education consultant and author. Since 2021, John has worked as fly-in/fly-out numeracy consultant for Coober Pedy Schools and has also consulted for The Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers (AAMT) and the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). John is a regular presenter at mathematics education conferences across Australia. Since 2019, John has served as President of the Mathematical Association of Western Australia (MAWA).
S​éverine Sors
French Translator
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Séverine Sors is an international educator with over 25 years of experience in primary, secondary, and higher education across Belgium, France, England, and Australia. She is a UK qualified teacher and holds a Master's degree in English from Sorbonne Nouvelle, as well as a Master's in Education. Her extensive experience encompasses teaching in private, state, and Steiner education settings. In particular, she has worked in primary schools in Brussels, Belgium, where she effectively instructed students in French. Additionally, her role in a Melbourne-based bilingual primary school was instrumental in shaping her pedagogical approach, allowing her to implement innovative teaching strategies and curriculum development tailored to diverse learning needs. This experience has been a significant foundation in her preparation for a Master of Teaching, where she aims to further enhance her skills and contribute to the educational landscape.
Testimonial
"Throughout the year I have been using the linear abacus in my classroom. It is an excellent tool for students to understand number concepts, with an easy-to-use concrete tool. The abacus allows students to manipulate and visualise how numbers work, which is especially beneficial for students who are struggling with a range of math concepts. The abacus can also help students develop their problem-solving skills.
Some examples of how the abacus has helped my students:
- A student who was struggling with addition and subtraction problems was able to add numbers quickly and easily on the abacus. This gave her confidence in her math skills, and she could transfer this knowledge to her other math work.
- A group of students were working on a problem that involved multiplying large numbers. They were able to use the abacus to collaboratively find the answer and explain their thinking with the abacus
- A student who had difficulty with fractions was able to show a range of representations on the abacus and then over the course of a few lessons was then able to use the same skills to represent and identify common fractions into decimals.
I encourage other teachers to consider using the linear abacus in their classrooms, as it is a valuable tool that can help students to understand numbers and develop essential mathematical skills with an easy to manipulate tool, that enables students to visualise a range of concepts."
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Gary Laffy, Teacher St Albans Heights Primary School