Spring Term 2017 Newsletter 5 13 January 2017 Welcome back! We hope that you all had a wonderful and relaxing holiday. The Maths Hub is looking forward to a really busy term with lots of exciting new courses and work groups on offer. We are delighted to welcome Teng Xiaojuan and Zhao Ying on the return leg of the Shanghai exchange. They are settling well in to life at Holtspur School. We have been delighted by the response from primary schools to attend the Shanghai Showcase sessions, the KS2 session is fully booked but there are still a couple of spaces available for the KS1 session on 19 January. We have lots of high-quality professional development at no cost to you! Coming soon are twilight sessions for secondary Maths leaders to help you focus teaching over the last few months to ensure the best student outcomes from this new syllabus. We will be running a second cohort of the Teacher Subject Specialism Training in Mathematics; this course is fully funded by the government with the aim of increasing the expertise of non-specialists in our teams. If you are a Secondary Head of Maths, please consider all staff who are teaching maths lessons, not just the ones in your department for this course, which will improve their subject knowledge and pedagogy and, as a result, improve the results for your school. We understand how tight many schools’ budgets are, so wherever possible we do not (yet) charge for many of our programmes, enabling all schools to participate. That said, we have to demonstrate to the DfE who fund us, the reach and impact of everything we provide. We have started identifying the cost of each course to help schools appreciate the value of the CPD they are receiving and therefore, treat the course accordingly. Without this we have found that a few schools and teachers have not valued what was on offer and dropped out at the last minute or did not attend all the sessions. Most primary programmes are now oversubscribed and we want to ensure that no opportunities are wasted. Read on, we have something for everyone….. JANUARY 2017: Primary Maths Mastery Shanghai Showcase Events KS1 and KS2. As mentioned above, we still have a limited number of places available for the KS1 Shanghai Showcase Lesson on Thursday 19 January (KS1). This will be a half day session, providing a fantastic opportunity to observe teachers from Shanghai deliveria mastery lesson. It will be followed by an in-depth debrief and discussion to enable you to discover more about how the teaching for mastery approach helps children to develop their conceptual understanding of mathematics and engage positively in lessons. To make a booking (there is no charge for this event), please email mathscourses@whs.bucks.sch.uk. JANUARY 2017: Twilight session for teachers of Post-16 Mathematics 17 January 2017, 4 - 6pm at Mary Hare Secondary School, Newbury. This BBO Maths Hub twilight event will offer information and guidance about Core Maths and advice to help prepare for teaching the new linear A level which will be introduced in September 2017. There will be an introductory session for all, followed by your choice of workshop on, either Core Maths or the new A level Maths syllabus for September 2017. Please book your place in advance: http://cygnustsa.co.uk/courses/details/116/BBO-Maths-Hub-Post-16-Mathematics/ JANUARY 2017: Further opportunities to see Mastery practice in action Are you interested in observing mastery-style lessons? Disraeli School’s AHT, Anna Raine, was part of the initial BBO Maths Hub Shanghai Exchange in 2015- 2016. Disraeli School is kindly opening its doors for a series of open mornings in the week beginning Monday 30 January 2017, to enable maths leaders and teachers keen to find out more about how the school has developed teaching mathematics for mastery. 30 January - 3 February 2017, am sessions, at Disraeli School, The Pastures, High Wycombe, Bucks HP13 5JS Tel: 01494 445177 Places must be booked in advance. To reserve a place, please contact the school directly: office@disraeli.bucks.sch.uk (places are limited and offered on a first come, first served basis) Join the BBO Maths Hub by emailing mathscourses@whs.bucks.sch.uk Follow us on Twitter @BBOMathsHub Maths Hub Lead - Julia Brown at JBrown@whs.bucks.sch.uk Administrator - Sarah Yarwood at SYarwood@whs.bucks.sch.uk Ruth Long at RLong@whs.bucks.sch.uk
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SPRING TERM: Open sessions for KS3 mastery. Jo Walker, one of the KS3 Teaching for Mastery Specialists for our hub, will host a series of Open Sessions for KS3 Mastery at Wycombe High School. You are invited to come and observe lessons and discuss how teaching maths for mastery is developing in the School. Wednesday 25th January 11.30 to 2 pm Thursday 2nd February 11.30 to 2 pm Thursday 23rd February 11.30 to 2 pm Wednesday 15th March 11.30 to 2 pm Thursday 23rd March 11.30 to 2 pm As these sessions take place during normal lesson time, numbers are strictly limited for each session; places must be reserved in advance by emailing: mathscourses@whs.bucks.sch.uk
JANUARY 2017: Twilight for KS2 Teachers of Mathematics A free opportunity to spend time exploring mathematics, including teaching for mastery and to share ideas for use in your classroom. These fantastic sessions are run by Rachel Walters at Wycombe High School, High Wycombe and by Elizabeth Glaister at Kendrick School, Reading. Sessions are open to all teachers of KS2 Mathematics. The next session at Wycombe High School is on Thursday 26 January, from 4:30 – 5:30 pm. Due to popularity we are restricting participants to a maximum of 2 per school Please email mathscourses@whs.bucks.sch.uk to book a place. The next session at Kendrick School is on Thursday 23 February. Please email eglaister@kendrick.reading.sch.uk for information and to book yourplace. SPRING TERM: Teacher Subject Specialism Training (TSST) Secondary Mathematics Cohort 2 This NCTL funded course is designed for teachers in the area who are teaching, or plan in future to teach, Maths to learners aged 11-16 but don’t have a secondary ITT specialism in the subject. The course has been designed to:
Develop your understanding of the big ideas of mathematics to give you confidence to teach mathematics through understanding Inspire your enthusiasm for mathematics Develop your understanding of mathematical pedagogy and how to engage pupils in learning mathematics Support you in teaching mathematics content at Key Stages 3 and 4. Provide mentoring and support throughout the course
All NCTL TSST courses also offer the opportunity to gain some Masters accreditation without cost to the participants. All those joining this course will have the opportunity to gain up to 40 Masters Level Credits. There will be an information evening for this course on Monday 30 January 2017 from 4.30 – 5.30. To reserve your place, please email: mathscourses@whs.bucks.sch.uk EYFS Mathematics Pedagogy Work Group Starting Monday 30 January We were overwhelmed by the response to our EYFS work group and places for the group were fully booked within 24 hours. We are hoping to be able to run a second cohort and will be in touch with those of you who expressed an interest but were unable to book onto the first cohort. Participants in the work group will try out ideas with guidance, developing their own activities, provision and strategies. The ideas will be compiled into a resource and will be shared with all participating schools .
EYFS
15 MARCH 2017: Primary Conference The Maths Hub Primary Conference will be held at Bisham Abbey, Marlow on 15 March. We are delighted to announce that our keynote session will be led by Jane Liddle, Mastery Lead for the Bucks, Berks and Oxon Maths Hub. We are also delighted to have booked Rachael Horsman from Cambridge Mathematics who will deliver a session on geometry. The afternoon conference will begin with lunch at 1pm and also will include a session by Julia Brown, BBO Maths Hub Lead outlining current and future opportunities and top tips on how to secure a places on the fully funded Teaching for Mastery projects. Full details will be confirmed shortly and a flyer will be sent directly to primary schools. This was a popular event last year so we will limit schools to two places each, to allow the maximum number of schools to participate. Join the BBO Maths Hub by emailing mathscourses@whs.bucks.sch.uk Follow us on Twitter @BBOMathsHub Maths Hub Lead - Julia Brown at JBrown@whs.bucks.sch.uk Maths Hub Administrator - Sarah Yarwood at SYarwood@whs.bucks.sch.uk Ruth Long at RLong@whs.bucks.sch.uk
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SPRING TERM: Pre-Mastery Work Groups Are you thinking about using Singapore style text books in your school, have recently purchased some or are you using other resources to teach for mastery? BBO Maths Hub will be holding a number of work groups, led by Jane Liddle, from January 2017 onwards, in which we will be able to explore getting started with text books, and thinking about effective pedagogies that help us to make the most of the resources. These sessions will be of interest to those primary teachers who would like a useful introduction to getting started with mastery or develop what they have already started and who are not currently involved in one of the Teacher Research Groups (TRGs) with the Maths Hub. Sessions will be held in three geographical venues (further information to follow), with the first cohort to be held at The Disraeli School and Children's Centre, the Pastures, High Wycombe, Bucks, HP13 5JS starting on Tuesday 21 February from 4.00-5.30pm To register interest, please email: mathscourses@whs.bucks.sch.uk
Secondary Mastery Workgroup This year we are training three Secondary Mastery specialists who will be working with groups of schools to help them develop teaching for mastery in their schools. The first of these groups will start at Wycombe High School in the Spring Term as this department is furthest along the journey to teaching for mastery. We will give you information on how to apply early next term but in the meantime discuss this with your teams and the leadership of your schools, as we need to be sure that there is full commitment and support before giving a place to any school. We would also expect serious applicants to have observed a mastery lesson in action. Why should you consider teaching for mastery? In the two year groups following a mastery approach at Wycombe High, the gap has been narrowed and the students say they are more confident about their maths. Preparing your students for the new style GCSE Following requests from heads of maths departments, we have prepared a series of twilights for Maths Leaders to cover aspects of the new GCSE. This suite of three twilight sessions is designed to support teachers of the new GCSE in preparation for the summer examinations. It is not expected that the same teacher will attend all sessions - it may be more appropriate for a different teacher to attend each time. The sessions will each run from 4.30 pm to 6.30 pm and light refreshments will be available. Following each
session, the Maths Leader will be given the powerpoint and materials to run this session with their own teams. There twilights will be run in three locations across our hub area, the first of which will be held at Wycombe High School on Wednesday 1 Feb, Monday 6 Feb and Tuesday 21 Feb. We will be forwarding a flyer to schools detailing what each session will cover so you can determine which member of staff should attend. Mathematics Underground In conjunction with MEI, we are offering two Mathematics Underground Training days. This free course for A level mathematics teachers will explore how the Underground Mathematics online resources support the overarching themes in the new Mathematics A level: proof, problem solving and modelling. The first will be held at the Oxford Academy on Thursday 9 February and the second at Newlands Girls School on Thursday 15 June. To book your place please follow the link: http://tinyurl.com/um1617application Royal Statistical Society William Guy Lecture The 2017 RSS William Guy lecture will be held on Thursday 9 March at Wycombe High School from 4.30pm. This event is for students and is open to pupils in Years 11-13. The speaker will be Professor Christl Donnelly , Professor of Statistical Epidemiology at Imperial College London, who will be explaining epidemic growth and examining how statistics can help control the spread of disease. To book places for you and your pupils, please email: mathscourses@whs.bucks.sch.uk
SAVE THE DATE! 22 JUNE 2017 Conference for Secondary Maths Leaders Charlie Stripp, Director of the NCETM, will be delivering the keynote session at our Conference for Secondary Heads of Maths. The conference will be held at Bisham Abbey, Bisham, Marlow, Bucks. Post-16 Enrichment Workgroup We are looking for four schools across our hub area to work with us to design and organise four events in or near their schools to inspire Y9/10 students to continue to study Mathematics beyond GCSE. You will be paid for your time and the event will be fully funded by the Maths Hub. If you would like to be involved in this project please email Julia Brown, at jbrown@whs.bucks.sch.uk Join the BBO Maths Hub by emailing mathscourses@whs.bucks.sch.uk Follow us on Twitter @BBOMathsHub Maths Hub Lead - Julia Brown at JBrown@whs.bucks.sch.uk Maths Hub Administrator - Sarah Yarwood at SYarwood@whs.bucks.sch.uk Ruth Long at RLong@whs.bucks.sch.uk
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Partnership Grants at the Royal Society Partnership Grants – now open for applications The Partnership Grants scheme offers up to £3000 to UK schools or colleges to buy equipment to run a STEM research project in partnership with a STEM professional (research or industry). Since it started in November 2000, the Partnership Grants scheme has awarded over £1.6 million to over 900 schools and colleges, igniting enthusiasm for STEM in thousands of young people across the UK. Since 2010, 88% of awarded Partnership Grants partners reported that they would apply again. The 2017 winter round of Partnership Grants is now open for applications until 30 January 2017. Further information, including case studies and advice on applying, can be found on the Partnership Grants webpages and in a series of five short YouTube videos:
How to do research in schools with Partnership Grants
Partnership Grants case study – what causes epigenetics?
Partnership Grants case study – how to predict the weather?
Partnership Grants case study – what are meteors made of?
How to apply for a Partnership Grant?
All of the videos can be seen on the relevant parts of the Partnership Grants webpages and on the playlist, What are Partnership Grants?, on the Royal Society YouTube channel. For anyone who would like to know more about the Partnership Grants scheme, please contact Steven via education@royalsociety.org or on 020 7451 2531. https://royalsociety.org/partnership
Qualifications and Curriculum Microsite NCETM have recently launched a new Microsite providing information about qualifications and curriculum. Please follow the link to find out more: https:// www.ncetm.org.uk/qandc Marking Guidance for Secondary Maths Teachers If you have not signed up to receive the NCETM newsletter, then please register on their website and do so. For those of you who missed it the November issue has guidance on marking which you may find helpful and wish to discuss in your own schools https://www.ncetm.org.uk Maths Association Annual conference 7-9 April 2017 Do you need some mathematical or teaching inspiration/affirmation/recharging? The MA annual conference 2017 runs from 7-9 April, at Royal Holloway College, Egham, Surrey. Teachers at previous conferences have been extravagant in their description of the benefits - see http://www.m-a.org.uk/annual-conference. You’ll find a great programme, costs and early bird booking now available at that web address, together with support for getting funded by your school or college. Excellent value, and a superb and fun way to get on top of the teaching needed for new curricula 5-19. Primary Special Day 8 April; Further Maths Day 9 April; Teaching and learning with technology strand throughout. Good company, civilised surroundings and hands-on mathematical recharging. Join us for this lively and inspiring conference. Discounts available for new teachers, for groups of 4 or more booking together or personal members early in their career or new to conference. For more information please go to www.m-a.org.uk
or first-timers and group
Join the BBO Maths Hub by emailing mathscourses@whs.bucks.sch.uk Follow us on Twitter @BBOMathsHub Maths Hub Lead - Julia Brown at JBrown@whs.bucks.sch.uk Maths Hub Administrator - Sarah Yarwood at SYarwood@whs.bucks.sch.uk Ruth Long at RLong@whs.bucks.sch.uk