Instructional recommendations

About these recommendations

These guides help you use ENSSA results to strengthen regular classroom instruction.

Skills marked Recommended are areas where more than half of the class showed Low or Very Low performance. This suggests a classwide need for an additional instructional boost.

When a classwide need is identified, the most efficient first response is to strengthen instruction for the whole class in that skill area. The same guidance can also be drawn on for small-group or individual support when particular students need more targeted or intensive follow-up.

Open a skill page to access the overview, teaching guidance, vocabulary, representations, stem sentences, review routines, explicit instruction routines, and implementation support.

Use these resources to decide whether students need more explicit teaching, more practice, or clearer representations and language.

Foundation + Year 1 ★ Recommended

Magnitude Comparison

Reason about which numbers are more, less, or the same.

ENSSA assesses this skill through the Magnitude Comparison task, where students compare numerals and decide which number is larger.

View teaching guide
Foundation ★ Recommended

Counting, Quantifying and Number Recognition

Recognise, count, and match quantities to numerals.

ENSSA assesses this skill through the Numeral–Quantity Match task, where students match a shown quantity to the correct numeral.

View teaching guide
Foundation + Year 1 ★ Recommended

Number Sequence

Identify what comes before, after, and between numbers in the counting sequence.

ENSSA assesses this skill through the Missing Number task, where students identify the missing numeral in a counting sequence.

View teaching guide
Foundation ★ Recommended

Decomposing Numbers

Break a whole number into parts and work out the missing part.

ENSSA assesses this skill through the Decomposition task, where students work out a hidden or missing part when given the whole and one part.

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Year 1 ★ Recommended

Addition and Subtraction

Solve and recall addition and subtraction facts accurately and fluently.

ENSSA assesses these skills through the Number Facts Addition and Subtraction Fluency tasks, where students solve basic facts accurately and efficiently.

View teaching guide
Foundation + Year 1 ★ Recommended

Magnitude Estimation

Build understanding of number size using quantities, position, distance, and relative size.

ENSSA assesses this skill through the Number Line Estimation task, where students estimate where a number belongs on a bounded number line.

View teaching guide