Peter Ransom, BSc, FIMA

Currently Director of Mathematical Studies at The Mountbatten School, Romsey - a mixed comprehensive of c.1450 students aged 11-16.

I have been teaching 11-18 year olds since 1977 with a 4 year break, working with SMP in the early ‘90s.

Also I am actively involved with the professional associations: the MA, ATM, NCETM, BSHM, LMS and IMA

I have attended many national conferences and the last 6 ICMEs, giving sessions at all of them.

I write and have written mathematical materials for many publishers.

Editor of MA News, History and Pedagogy of Mathematics Newsletter for a number of years

Author of A Dozen Dials and co-author of Mathematical Tradition in the North of England

Leader of the sundials case study on the Bowland Maths DVD

Keen interest in involving history and cross-curriculum aspects in mathematics lessons to inspire and enthuse the use and application in the creative aspect of mathematics.

Involved in the development of hand-held technology and will be starting up as a freelance mathematics consultant from 1 September this year.

Yo Ho Ho-ratio: some mathematics of Trafalgar

This is presented by Able Seaman Ransom of HMS Pickle (the ship that brought the news of Trafalgar back to Britain) in 1805 seaman’s dress. After looking at the risks Nelson took we look at the mathematics of cannon balls and demonstrate their destructive power. 200 year old cannon balls are used. Probability using crown and anchor dice may be used, together with some other seamen’s dice games. We finish off by showing how an old piece of navigational instrumentation (parallel rulers) can be made and used. There will be a free CD ROMs of all the materials (and much more) for those present and a taste of ships biscuits.

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Lauren Archer is the Communications officer for the Consumer education team at the Office of Fair Trading. She works on the development and publicity of Skilled to go and is a qualified primary school teacher.

Workshop notes

Skilled to go is a free online learning toolkit which helps to develop transferable consumer skills, knowledge and confidence. It uses everyday consumer situations, such as choosing a mobile phone, as contexts for learning numeracy and literacy.

This workshop will provide teachers with:

- an introduction to Skilled to go - what exists now and what's coming soon

- guidance on how the fully authorable learning resources can be accessed

- suggestions for how the toolkit can be used; and

- opportunities for hands-on exploration of the activities.

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Bryan Dye has been a mathematics teacher in a large comprehensive school for 29 years, including periods as Second and then Head of Department. In 1990 he developed an interest in the educational use of computers and from then on pursued this interest first by writing books for teachers on how to use software (such as logo, graph plotters and spreadsheets) and then by creating on-line teaching resources. Over the last few years he has developed the Mathsnet collection of websites which focus on geometry, puzzles, GCSE and A-level. Currently he has left teaching to work full time on www.mathsnetalevel.com.

Workshop notes
A hands-on session in the computer suite, looking at A-level mathematics. Various kinds of interactivity will be considered, such as graphing, geometry and step-by step algebraic processes. We will look at how to tackle typical A-level questions, including recently sat examination papers. Finally we look at on-line assessment: how teachers can set up on-line tasks and then monitor their students' progress, and the various types of assessment available. All examination specifications will be covered, including International Baccalaureate, Cambridge International Exams and Pre-U. All participants will be given a fortnight's temporary access to www.mathsnetavel.com to assess its usefulness to their teaching.

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Dr Jennifer Piggott

BSc, BA, PGCE, PG dip, MSc, MA, EdD

After nine years at the helm, Jenny has recently retired from the post of director of the NRICH Mathematics Project at the University of Cambridge, where she also did some teaching in the Faculty of Education. Jenny started teaching mathematics in secondary comprehensive schools in 1972 and was a head of mathematics for eight years. During her time in schools she also took on pastoral and ICT leads. Jenny spent four years as a mathematics and ICT consultant for Hertfordshire LA in the late 1980’s before returning to work at the chalk face. Prior to taking up the directorship of NRICH, she taught training teachers on post graduate and undergraduate courses at the University of Hertfordshire.

Jenny aims to share her passion for mathematics, teaching mathematics, and learning mathematics. She hopes what she has to offer will help to widen participation in the subject at all levels through encouraging inquisitiveness, sharing passions and fostering enjoyment. She remains an ardent supporter of NRICH which she believes can make a significant contribution to mathematics education for all pupils, including the most able, by making its wealth of free resources meaningful and easily accessible to teachers in what are very demanding times.

Session 1

Becoming better mathematical collaborators

Content at Entry level to Level 1 (ish)

There is a great deal of research which supports the view that working collaboratively, sharing mathematics, and listening to and helping others can improve performance in, as well as attitudes to, mathematics. However, learners need practice at working collaboratively and diving into group tasks without first developing some of the necessary skills to support such activities (for learners and teachers) can be both daunting and difficult. In the session we will work in small groups on mathematical tasks that develop team working and collaboration skills, discuss the implications for our roles as teachers and the potential benefits for out learners

The session will focus on group working and collaboration. In May 2010 the theme on the NRICH website was Group-worthy tasks.

NB There are two sessions with this name but using tasks at different mathematical content levels. You might like to come to one or both of the sessions.

Session 2

Becoming better mathematical collaborators

Content at Level 2 to level 3 (ish)

NB There are two sessions with this name but using tasks at different mathematical content levels. You might like to come to one or both of the sessions.

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Liz Peet has worked in Further Education colleges for 30+ years, first in London and then in Suffolk. She has taught A level Mathematics, GCSE Mathematics, mathematics units for BTEC and H E Access courses, Adult Numeracy, Key Skills Application of Number. In 2001 she became a Key Skills Support Programme (KSSP) trainer across all 6 key skills, but specialising in Application of Number and was co-author of the FEDA publication “Key Skills in A level Mathematics”. From 2001 – 2006 she was the Key Skills coordinator for her college and also a Key Skills visiting standards moderator for an awarding body. From 2002 – 2006 she was part of the county (PDC) team that developed and taught the level 4 Adult Numeracy subject specialists courses and the Level 3 Adult Numeracy subject support courses. In 2006 she became Head of the Sixth Form Academy at an FE college.
Since October 2009 she has been an independent educational consultant working for ACER on the Functional Skills Support Programme (FSSP) and the Level 5 Diploma in Adult Numeracy. She has also been working with GCSE Mathematics students in four National Challenge schools.

Workshop – Supporting the Development of Functionality in Mathematics
We shall be working with the standards for Functional Maths looking at the differentiation factors between the levels and looking at activities for developing functionality in mathematics. This will be a fast moving active workshop – come prepared to work!!