The effectiveness of subject PD has been highlighted by both the Teacher Development Trust’s Developing Great Teaching report and the Wellcome Trust’s follow-up Developing Great Subject Teaching, so it only makes sense to make this available for staff wherever possible.
The Cambridge Meridian Academies Trust did just that on their INSET day immediately after the autumn half-term, and the AMSP East of England regional team were able to contribute to the programme offered to the maths teachers in the trust. About 100 teachers from Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire joined sessions either face-to-face or online, starting with a keynote from Richard Perring followed by a talk from MEI’s Vicky Wheelhouse on Building in Problem Solving to Make Transition Easier. After lunch, the teachers split up to attend carousel sessions, with the AMSP providing a session on Core Maths alongside a range of other choices.
Having whole departments (or large portions of them) together receiving the same input in the morning allowed teachers to think and plan how to apply these ideas in their own context. Break times were also great opportunities for Heads of Departments and others to ask informally about the support that the AMSP could offer. Teachers were then able to specialise more and mix with teachers from different schools in the trust in the afternoon’s carousel sessions. The day was a great success, with teachers inspired to take on the second half of the term and the remainder of the school year with renewed energy and enthusiasm.
If you’d like the AMSP to provide professional development for your department, a consortium of schools, or teachers across a multi-academy trust, please speak to your local Area Coordinator to find out what is possible.