As a newly appointed Area Coordinator within Whitby and Scarborough and parts of the North East region, I feel privileged to be collaborating with teachers and students from schools and colleges in North Yorkshire, Middlesbrough, Redcar, Cleveland and Stockton. This role provides many opportunities for building expertise in specific areas of maths and to visit schools within the region.
My aim for the next few months is to get to know the schools in Whitby and Scarborough and to collaborate with Opportunity Area coordinators, as the North Yorkshire coast has been identified to receive extra support from Department of Education.
Throughout my own school days, I found participating in maths competitions particularly helpful to my studies. In Croatia where I grew up, the curriculum is not so exam driven, and teachers have more time to engage with extra-curricular enrichment activities. This helped to inspire a passion for maths that stayed with me throughout my career and into my role as Area Coordinator. I hope I can instil that same passion within students across the region.
Being a teacher in England provides so many opportunities. In the past I have marked national A level exams for the old specification S1 and S2 modules, as well SATS papers for KS2. It is always interesting to see what is happening in the early years of education.
I previously taught in an 11-18 school, as well as a Further Education College, and lead some international cross-curricular projects with a strong mathematical base. I hope I can use the expertise I learnt in these roles to assist you and your students in the coming months.
Email Valerija at [email protected].