For me, it certainly feels like the pandemic is over, but the effects for students and teachers are still ongoing and it may be some time before we see the complete picture.
With the exam period coming to a close, it’s a time to reflect and to look forward to next year. When I spoke about this in my college’s office, where we’re moving back to two face-to-face sessions next year after a blended approach this year, it was remarked that we have to remember that the effects of the pandemic are still going to be felt. In some ways, we thought that with the news that our college was moving to fully on-site learning next year came a line drawn on the pandemic. Although the effects won’t be as readily apparent as they were this year, those gaps in knowledge and understanding may well still be there for many of our students.
So, what can we do about it? We’re not going to get the same level of support for intervention as we did this year, so we’ll have to help in other ways. While the scheme of work will be adapted to focus on areas and topics that we feel are weaker amongst the students in general, one of the major ways we’re doing that is by continuing to provide access to online platforms so that students can work on their areas for improvement independently.
The AMSP have produced recovery packages that are still going to be useful next year, with resources for teachers of KS4, Core Maths, A level Mathematics, and A level Further Mathematics.
For students, there are a number of options that they can use depending on what they feel most comfortable with. Some options require self sign-up, while others require access from their school or college’s subscription. You can view the options for A level Mathematics/Further Mathematics students and for Core Maths students on the AMSP website. Of course, resources are helpful whatever the situation! For example, our Transition to A level: Essential Skills resources will be useful to any student to help them keep their skills honed over the longer summer holiday.