Dr Antony Edkins, Regional Lead for the North West
At the end of any school term, it’s always helpful to evaluate the journey travelled. To evaluate means to determine the worth of the project. Specifically, in terms of our work, this means finding the value of our maths events for young people and the courses for their teachers.
There have been over 50 events on offer in the North West, all of which have been memorable. Attendance has also high. For example, in December, Xaverian College welcomed over 70 KS4 pupils from challenging secondary schools across Manchester. Having led one of these City schools during a period of turmoil, I am all too aware that there is potential for challenging behaviour, especially when pupils are taught by unfamiliar teachers. I need not have worried – from start to finish, the AMSP team had everybody engaged.
Through my work in schools, it is rare to find consistently outstanding teaching. This year, I inspected a girls’ secondary school in ‘Middle England’. The quality of maths teaching was outstanding, and provided a benchmark for me to make future comparisons. In subsequent visits elsewhere, maths provision fell well short of this marker, and I doubted whether there was anywhere else in England that would equal their standard of teaching. However, I was proved wrong; the quality of maths planning, teaching, engagement and delivery of events held by AMSP colleagues is of an even higher quality.
My evaluation of this term’s journey is that AMSP’s team in the North West are jewels to be treasured. The challenge now is to find a way to share this exemplary practice with maths teachers across the North West. Perhaps teachers looking to develop their maths knowledge and teaching practice should consider the AMSP’s popular sustained professional development courses. If you’re interested in taking your maths teaching to the next stage, please explore our website to find out more.