Witton Park High School Business and Enterprise College

WITTON PARK HIGH SCHOOL – BUSINESS AND ENTERPRISE COLLEGE

IT’S YOUR DECISION A MATHS RESOURCE USING PERSONAL FINANCE

*Thank you to all colleagues within the Maths Faculty for their contribution*

OVERVIEW

 Introduced to the school through consultation with NCETM and pfeg as part of the promotion of personal financial capability in maths.  Used over a 2/3 week period in June including Maths Week  6 out of the 8 maths staff used the resource with Years 7/8/9/and 10  A timetable was produced to ensure the cards were available to different year/ability groups at different times.  To facilitate the usage, the cards were put into 6 complete sets of each level.  Lesson format was agreed at the initial meeting of staff i.e. 1. Introduction and preparation where teams were selected, key skills revised or introduced and plans made. 2. Individual teams discussed the contents of the cards and organised them into a ‘story’, mathematical calculations made and key questions answered. 3. Posters prepared and presentations given by each group. 4. Peer assessments made based on criteria given and pupil evaluations made of the resources and activity as a whole.( see attached sheet)

 Evidence and comment was gathered in the following ways :-  Pupil evaluations both oral and written  Teacher evaluations  Photos  Posters  Costs can be broken down into :- o Initial cost of the 6 packs of cards o Additional cost of materials for posters etc. o Staff time in planning and evaluating the resource o Photos PUPIL EVALUATION

 Different from the normal maths lessons  Working in teams and with other people  It was a real life thing and practical  Doing maths without realising it  Solving a problem/puzzle or mystery  Discussing things  Making posters and powerpoints  Explaining how we worked things out

DISLIKED

 When some people messed about  Not everyone worked hard or made a contribution  Didn’t have enough time to spend on the poster  Some of the cards were confusing  Not being able to choose where we went on the holiday  Having to present to the rest of the class

SKILLS DEVELOPED OR LEARNT

. Basic arithmetic . Percentages . V.A.T. . Conversion of money between £s and Euros . Measuring/units and areas . Fractions . Ratios . Grids . Designing a poster/powerpoint . Presentation . Assessing other people

HOW COULD IT BE BETTER ?

Longer time to do things More choice in destinations etc. Some more active stuff TEACHER EVALUATION

POSITIVES

 Most of the pupils really seemed to enjoy using the resource and the change from the regular lesson format.  Liked the fact that the resource was based on real life and practical examples.  Good to use team/group work in maths  Excellent discussion of problem and the maths involved.  Problem solving and application of maths skills.  Resources were well differentiated and accompanied by straightforward lesson plans etc.  Excellent progression within the cards.  Good combination of maths with presentation techniques – ‘How do we explain maths to others ?’  Can pick up students who do not normally participate or are weak in some areas.

NEGATIVES

 More able students did much better  Less able were confused by open –ended tasks  Many students not used to group working  Cost of the extra time and resources involved  Behaviour management issues  Some students took the opportunity to be disruptive/noisy/mess about.  Many posters contained little or no maths.

POSSIBLE IMPROVEMENTS

 Cards and packaging need to be much sturdier for regular use in school  Students need to see a basic example of how the cards are used  Teacher needs a large/OHT/WB set of cards to use for whole class  Cards should be marked/numbered  Use wild cards or extra situations/problems to change or develop the task

CONCLUSION Overall the resource was regarded as successful in it’s aim and purpose and has given colleagues the opportunity to examine other ways of using group work, discussion and presentation within maths lessons. LHU/07/07