Hello again!
Welcome to our 2021 Spring Newsletter.
Inside you’ll find links to our Remote Learning
Webinars, opportunities to join our 2021/22
programme and links to a great selection of
useful resources shared by teachers in these
challenging times.
Led by a team of Local Leaders of Maths Education from the Sussex Maths Hub, this webinar was an informal ‘teach meet’ style webinar where our team shared their own experiences of switching to remote learning overnight for lockdown ‘3’.
The links and presentations used in the Webinar are shared below:
Welcome to the start of another very different looking term!
There have been a lot of changes in schools for the start of 2020/2021, and Sussex Maths Hub are here to support our teachers and colleagues as much as we can.
It’s not just our schools that look different! Over the summer both Maths Hubs and the NCETM have had a makeover!
The school year 2020/21 will be substantially affected by the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. The knock-on effects on school life and teachers’ working lives can’t be predicted with any certainty. Staffing issues may continue into the Autumn term, making it more difficult for schools to find cover and release teachers for training. In addition to this, many students will have been out of school for several months, and teachers will need to adapt to address the gaps in their learning.
All Maths Hubs work will be flexible and adaptable to changing realities. Our Work Groups this year focus on how to Teach for Mastery in a recovery climate. We will look at blended learning models to ensure pupils catch up, keep up and make progress, with key resources for curriculum recovery.
There’s likely to be more live online collaboration, utilising technology such as video conferencing. In addition, Work Group content will be adjusted to address schools’ recovery from coronavirus-related disruption alongside work on the central maths subject matter of each project. First meetings will likely take place around October time, with face-to-face meetings expected to start in January 2021.
Our Mastery Specialists will work with your school, supporting the individual needs of your school and students.
Work Groups are classroom focussed, and often involve planning, observing and refining lessons collaboratively.
“Mastering maths means pupils acquiring a deep, long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of the subject”
The NCETM Model for Teaching for Mastery was inspired by teaching approaches developed in Singapore and Shanghai, where they use Mastery as an inclusive way of teaching that is grounded in the belief that all pupils can achieve in maths.
The last couple of months have been a rollercoaster of emotions and adjustments for students and teachers alike. Here at the Sussex Maths Hub, we’ve been working to support our teachers, specialists and schools in this unique scenario.
We hope you find the enclosed materials interesting and helpful.
Above all – Stay Safe.
Reflections on Distance Learning – adapting to school closures and remote support
England China Exchange 2020 – A rundown of our March 2020 Lesson Demonstrations from our UK Shanghai Exchange Teachers.
PD Story – Assistant Maths Hub Lead Katrina Pounder tells us about her journey through Mastery.
Johanna Stedman – Maths Hub Lead
If someone had told me this time last year that I would be teaching my 6th form students from my kitchen, there’s not a chance I would have believed them – and I’m sure there are many of you out there feeling the same! The changes to our lives over the past several weeks often seem to me like we’re living in a sort of surreal fantasy novel, but slowly and surely we’re making the small (and some fairly large) changes that are creating, at least for now, our ‘New Normal’.
Like many of you, I’m a teacher and a parent, and finding the time, patience and technical skill to balance those roles has been a challenge. As a maths teacher, I’ve learned to use new technology, and adapt the technology we already used, and since the school closures I’ve had to adjust to the idea that I’m becoming a virtual teacher, whether I’m ready or not!
But I’m not the only one. One thing I’ve realised from watching my Maths Hub colleagues running off mid meeting to deal with a child doing something they shouldn’t, having a colleagues child ‘photobomb’ our meetings (hilarious!), and having one of their children interrupt to introduce us all to his toys, is that we’re all in this together.
When it comes to technology, I’ve discovered a whole host of useful tools, from using Zoom to connect with my Maths Hub colleagues both across Sussex and nationally, to using Microsoft Teams to connect with my A Level Students, to accessing the tools sent home with my Year 8, 11 & 13 children. A colleague of mine uses Loom, a great free piece of software which records you clicking through a task on your computer, which she has found invaluable.
I’ve learned that online meetings need to have an agenda and a clear focus – Zoom (free) for example has a 40 minute limit on video calls, so it can be difficult to find time for everything you want to talk about – but more than that, the agenda helps you focus your thoughts and establish a sense of normality.
There have been some challenges – trying to get my hue camera working on teams was an experience! Online lessons will never be able to replace the real thing – the format is too restrictive. You lose the interactions, the misconceptions and misunderstanding – and in doing so lose the ability to react and respond to your students. You’re also missing out on the opportunity to progress your own development through reflection and evaluation. And finding the balance between teaching my students and supporting my own children with their studies is something I’m working on every day.
But there are positives too. My students are learning, which is great, but more importantly, they are in contact – sharing ideas, chatting to me and each other, and getting the reassurance they need that life is still going on. They send me the questions they want me to review – we have a shared plan (thank you One Note!). My children are showing a resilience and level of maturity that I find both humbling and inspirational.
In short, we’re all supporting each other.
Jo