Spring Term 2020 1 Newsletter 5 January 2020 News from our Maths Hub Lead, Abha Miller: Happy New Year ! The number 2020 is a extremely satisfying number, with 12 divisors and the sum of its digits a square number it makes a very nice whole class activity. In MMXX we are very excited that this term BBO will be hosting primary and secondary shanghai showcase events. We are one of only 12 hubs to host a secondary exchange and are looking forward to welcoming the Chinese teachers. In addition to this, we will continue to run workgroups and open mornings that showcase our approach to teaching for understanding. Our integrated approach to curriculum design and pedagogy is wholly consistent with the curriculum deep dives and maths leaders attending our LLME meetings are finding it useful to connect and share experiences. Please keep an eye out for the dates of these at the end of the newsletter and get in touch with the LLME team. There are many opportunities to sign up for work groups, especially: Developing A Level Pedagogy, Core Maths, Yr5-8 Continuity Work Group (Dicot + Slough), Specialist Knowledge for Teaching Mathematics Programme (Primary and Early Years) and Primary Twilights. We also have two new primary innovation projects starting; The Case for Maths Journals and Subject Lead- ership in a Mastery Context. Keep warm during these months Abha Miller 11111100100 Teaching for Mastery is a Department of Education TEACHING FOR MASTERY initiative which started in 2016, to develop Maths teaching and learning in England. The aim is that all schools in England will eventually be teaching using this Free Primary Mastery Open methodology. Schools that have already been working Mornings with mastery report: a higher level of participation in lessons; Free Primary and Secondary an increased ability to explain reasoning Shanghai Showcase Events mathematically; a more positive mind-set towards mathematics; Free Secondary Mastery greater understanding of the links in mathematics; Open Mornings increased ability and confidence with problem solving. Free Secondary Mastery But don’t just take our word for it, come along and find Taster Days out more! Join the BBO Maths Hub by emailing [email protected] Follow us on Twitter @BBOMathsHub Maths Hub Lead - Abha Miller [email protected] Administrators - Ruth Long [email protected] & Moira Hulme [email protected] Page 2 2 Join the BBO Maths Hub by emailing [email protected] Follow us on Twitter @BBOMathsHub Maths Hub Lead - Abha Miller [email protected] Administrators - Ruth Long [email protected] & Moira Hulme [email protected] Page 3 3 Our Primary Shanghai Exchange teachers are being hosted by Ladygrove Park Primary School in Didcot. They will be offering two opportunities for all teachers in the Bucks, Berks and Oxon area to observe KS1 and KS2 lessons at the Showcase Events on 10th and 11th March. These lessons will take place in the school hall and will be taught by the Chinese teachers. This will be followed by a lesson debrief and general Q&A session. Everyone is welcome to attend, but these events are always popular, so bookings will be limited to 2 places / school. To book a place: http://bit.ly/30wcKU7 Mastery Open Sessions If you can’t make the Showcase Events, fear not! BBO Maths Hub is offering multiple opportunities for teachers in our area to observe lessons taught with the teaching for mastery approach. Attendance is free of charge and bookings can be made at www.bbomathshub.org.uk Come along to find out more! Primary Mastery Open Mornings William Morris Primary, Banbury : Tue 28 Jan Holmer Green Junior School, High Wycombe : Mon 3 Feb Witney Community Primary School, Witney : Wed 5 Feb, 25 Mar Secondary Mastery Open Mornings Chiltern Academy, Chesham : Wed 29 Jan, Wed 18 Mar, Wed 13 May Desborough College, Maidenhead : Fri 24 Jan, Tue 5 May Wycombe High School, High Wycombe : Tue 28 Jan, Tue 19 May, Tue 16 Jun, Tue 7 Jul Didcot Girls School, Didcot : Tue 4 Feb, Tue 24 Mar, Tue 5 May, Tue 7 July Sandhurst School, Sandhurst : Tue 5 May, Tue 9 Jun Finding the Equation of a line 4 by Anne Morgan, Mastery Specialist Desborough College, Maidenhead Students grasp the concept Lesson 1: of drawing the equation of a In the first lesson of the sequence students drew line from its equation by linear graphs from their equations using a table of completing a table of values values. We paid a lot of attention to the format of with little difficulties. How- the equation (y=mx+c with m the gradient and c ever, many struggle to find the y-intercept). the equation of a line from a Every question, students needed to identify the graph, and even more so gradient and the y-intercept in the equation of the from 2 points. line and in the table of values. They didn’t encoun- ter any major difficulty. At the end of the lesson, we This year, I decided to link made sure to summarise the learning by going over the 2 more closely and mon- the approach and focusing on the gradient, the y- itor whether this helped intercept, and where they appeared in the equa- them. tion, the table of values and the graph. Lesson 2: The following lesson, students needed to complete the same process but in reverse. From a linear graphs., their task was to read find suitable points on the graph, construct a table of values and extract the gradient and the y-intercept from the table of values in order to get the equations of the graph. The first graphs presented points that were all easy to read and the y-intercept was visible on the graph. The last graphs from their worksheet hid they y-intercept (it was out of the graph). So they wrote the table of values for the points they could see, and then extended the table to the left in order to find the y-value when x = 0. As students completed this work without any difficulties, they were then given 2 points, including the y-intercept to work from. At first, they were not sure how to use to the work they had just com- pleted. Because they were given only 2 points, using a table of values to guide their calculation was not intuitive. However, once we had done an example together, they were very clear on what to do and engaged in the work with purpose. By the end of the lesson, the 2 given points were no longer adjacent. Students continued to draw tables of values, leaving empty columns between the 2 points. They then started to use calculations to find gradients. Overall, the class was very engaged and confident in what they were doing. By the end of the lesson, they could all find the gra- dients and recognise the y-intercept (given as one of the 2 points) and they were finding the equation of the lines. Lesson 3: In the third and last lesson of the sequence, students contin- ued finding the equation of lines from 2 points, but the diffi- culty was increased by: 1. Two points that were further apart: from the table of val- ues with an increasing number of empty columns, stu- dents felt the need to use calculation to find the gradient and could derive the formula to calculate the gradient; 2. Two points further away from the y-axis: again, working backward from the point closest to x=0 became unpracti- cal. Using mental strategies, most understood that to calculate the y-intercept, they needed to do y1 – m × x1 . At that stage, we could have progressed to working out equations of lines without tables of values (using formulas instead), equations of parallel, perpendicular lines, and equations of lines from real-life graphs. However, because of the dynamic of this particular group of pupils, I finish on this positive lesson, set some homework on the topic and moved to solving simultaneous equations (graphically, and then algebraically). As a strong believer of interleaving, we will come back to this topic in a few weeks and my goal will be to try and wean them off the table of values... Or not! 5 Work Groups Page 5 Subject Knowledge for Early Years Teachers Work Groups in this project for Early Years Teachers will develop mathematical subject knowledge in conjunction with understanding the pedagogy that underpins the teaching of it. Understanding of mathematical structures will be explored so participants gain a detailed understanding of how children learn early mathematical concepts. We are offering 2 work groups, based around 4 half-day sessions, Newbury: 2 Mar + 23 Mar + 20 Apr + 11 May (Mondays) Book These work groups, led by Nathan Crook and are now available to book via our website. Subject Knowledge for Primary Teachers Work Groups in this project for Primary Teachers will develop mathematical subject knowledge in conjunction with understanding the pedagogy that underpins the teaching of it. Understanding of mathematical structures will be explored so participants gain a detailed understanding of how children learn early mathematical concepts. We are offering 2 work groups, based around 4 half-day sessions. Oxford: 7 Feb + 27 Mar + 15 May + 19 Jun (Fridays) book Bicester: 25 Feb + 24 Mar + 21 Apr + 9 June (Tuesdays) book Newbury: 2 Mar + 23 Mar + 20 Apr + 11 May (Mondays) book Wokingham: 24 Mar + 21 Apr + 12 May + 9 Jun (Tuesdays) book Primary Twilight, Reading & High Wycombe A fantastic forum for introducing new concepts and exchanging ideas.