John Heffernan, AC for Kent & Medway
The teaching demands of the 2017 maths A level, with its new content and change of assessment foci, is causing concern amongst both experienced and inexperienced teachers of the qualification. Much of this concern is based on the compulsory applied content of the specification.
In November 2018, 14 teachers attended our ‘Statistics and Mechanics Topics for Year 2 of A level Maths’ professional development day at the Canterbury Academy in Kent. The one-day course was designed to strengthen teachers’ understanding of the applied content of the course and to introduce new teaching ideas and resources that they could take back to the classroom.
Feedback from the course was very positive, with the most common comment being that the provision of resources and links to useful websites was very helpful. Requests for another day with a greater focus on new-style exam questions have been noted and will be implemented later this academic year.