Having joined AMSP’s North West Region team at the start of this academic year, I’d like to draw your attention to the wide range of activities designed to make maths interesting, exciting, relevant and popular. We want more young people to choose maths as a course after the age of 16, whether that be A level Mathematics, Further Mathematics or Core Maths, and we want teachers to never stop getting better at teaching it!
The AMSP offers short and long courses for teachers, as well as enrichment events for pupils. In Cumbria, Lancashire, Blackpool and Blackburn & Darwen, we have several popular events already on offer:
- We have a Year 12 Problem Solving Day, for students who wish to develop their mathematical problem-solving skills, on Tuesday 19 November at Lancaster University
- The eighth annual Florence Nightingale Day event, aimed at promoting maths to young women in Years 11, 12 and 13, will take place on Thursday 9 January 2020, also at Lancaster University
- Raising Confidence with Reasoning, a teacher CPD event taking place on Thursday 28 November in Kendal, will provide strategies and resources for teachers to use in the classroom with GCSE maths students
- These events, and more, can be found and booked online in our events listings
Having only just come out of school, I know how difficult it is to prise yourself from the classroom, so I would also like to offer school-based professional development for leaders of maths, maths teachers, and also non-specialists. I am happy to design a CPD event specific to your needs, so if you have any requests, please do get in touch.
One example of this bespoke CPD is an event I’m currently planning for maths teachers in Blackpool around February/March. After speaking to a few Heads of Maths and Assistant Heads about barriers to pupils’ learning and progression, we decided that a session for teachers on “Building Resilience in Your Maths Classroom” would be a really useful and relevant session to offer. If you’re interested in coming along to this afternoon session (date to be confirmed) then please email me to reserve a place.
To help improve participation rates and the quality of students’ maths education in general, I’ll also be working with the Cumbria Mathematics Partnership and the NNW Maths Hub to facilitate network meetings and workshops so that we can share the fantastic practice that’s already out there. I know many local areas already have good maths networks in place, but if you’d like help setting up a new one or expanding an existing one, please do get in touch with me directly.
I hope that has whet your appetite for now and given you a taste of all the fantastic events we have planned in our region.
For queries or requests, you can contact me on [email protected] or my colleague [email protected]
By Adrian Hall