Maths Scholarships are hard won but it’s not all hard work... Starting with a Maths Scholars celebration!
Last year over a hundred people accepted a Maths Teacher Training Scholarship. That’s amazing! That’s not all, the sun actually shone in London on Saturday 24thSeptember 2016 as many of our new Maths Scholars came together for a celebration event at the Royal Statistical Society.
Valuable and enjoyable CPD for all Scholars
The event provided a fantastic opportunity for all the scholars to network and talk about the challenges of starting teacher training. It was also the first of five CPD events offered to all scholars throughout the year. These are both valuable and hugely enjoyable as past Scholars have always told us.
What can you do with a Maths degree?
David Goody from the Department of Education came and gave a fascinating talk on how data analytics can be used to manage risk. Scholars were able to stretch their mathematical knowledge on current maths techniques. This was especially true regarding those used in large-scale data analysis. They also gained invaluable insights to share with students on the fascinating careers possible with a good maths education.
Practicality was the focus of the celebration event
Throughout the day scholars developed skills and gained ideas to immediately put into practice in lessons. Louise Allison from the Operational Research Society introduced linear programming and optimisation through the use of Lego blocks. Combining kinematic learning with open problem solving and decision maths, the session engaged all the scholars and sparked much debate over lunch.
Identifying which resources are of most use for classroom use can be hard. Michael Anderson from the STEM Learning Centre introduced the scholars to just some of the resources available. Throughout his fully interactive workshop, scholars were challenged to develop their own approaches to supporting interactive learning in the classroom. In fact, friendly competition abounded in the room as groups tried to work out the answers to some apparently simple problems. The scholars do indeed form a passionate community of inspirational maths teachers.
Last, but by no means least, there was a workshop was run by Anne Fieldhouse of Sum Solutions who increased the friendly rivalry by encouraging the scholars to think more deeply about practically based questions to develop students problem solving and thinking skills. Keen debate abounded about reasonable assumptions that could be made to ensure Anne got her answers!
It was wonderful to be part of such an energetic and fun filled day. Undoubtedly all the other CDP events will follow the same theme.