This case study explores how Trinity C of E School increased its maths department’s capacity to teach at a level at which many of its existing staff required more experience.
About Trinity C of E School
Trinity C of E Sixth Form Centre is part of an 11-18 school. The centre opened in 2016 and serves students from across South and Central Manchester. There are over 1500 students in the school and around 200 students in the sixth form. It is based in the Manchester Local Authority.
Professional development that grows subject and pedagogic knowledge
The Head of KS5 Maths, Shaun Barton, uses the AMSP Professional Development courses to upskill his teachers (11 to 16 school to 11 to 18). As an 11 to 18 school, this might involve developing a GCSE teacher into an A level teacher or an A level teacher into a Further Mathematics teacher.
The Teaching Further Mathematics course made a big difference, especially for non-specialists (no maths degree), it has a big subject knowledge impact especially as even for maths graduates, there are parts of Further Mathematics you might not have covered (or it was some time ago). The Teaching Advanced Mathematics (TAM) course has been a real positive, helping to get those teaching A level for the first time up to speed quickly. Again, it helps not just upskilling in terms of subject knowledge but also building confidence around the maths and how to teach it.
S Barton
Head of KS5 maths
Trinity C of E Sixth Form Centre
Age range: 11 – 18
Subjects:
A level Mathematics
A level Further Mathematics
Core Maths (taught as part of an enrichment programme)
Events and support to help recruit more students into Level 3 maths courses
AMSP support has been essential in enabling Trinity to be able to offer A level Further Mathematics and the work of the Local Area Coordinator also supports this work by providing regular student events as well as helping promote post-16 maths to years 10 and 11.
Andrew (Local Area Coordinator) has run taster sessions for Further Mathematics and A level Mathematics for students in which he linked GCSE topics with A level, it was pitched across attainment levels and these have occurred during a period of growth in numbers staying on to study A level Mathematics. He also ran a ‘Taking Maths Further at Uni’ session with a group of year 11’s which led to some students, who were undecided, to pick maths.
S Barton
Head of KS5 maths
Find out more about A level Mathematics click here. To find out more about A level Further Mathematics click here.
More advice
The following resources and pages offer further advice about increasing participation in level 3 maths and teaching Core Maths:
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