From the Chief Executive:

► Announcing the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme

Apr i l 2018

MEI Newsletter

The key aims of the AMSP are to ensure that:

►all students understand the importance of mathematics education in helping them to fulfil their aspirations in education and employment.

►all state-funded schools and colleges with post-16 students on level 3 programmes can offer their students the chance to choose to study for AS/A level Mathematics, AS/A level Further Mathematics and Core Maths qualifications.

The AMSP, alongside the new Advanced Maths Premium funding, will help to sustain the growth in participation in AS/A level Mathematics and Further Mathematics and give a major boost to participation in Core Maths.

Inside this issue:

The FMSP and the AMSP

2

MEI Annual Conference 2018

4

Underground Mathematics

7

Integral update 8

Revision resources for AS and A level Mathematics

9

A level Mathematics Summer 2018

9

M4 classroom resources categorised by GCSE topics

9

MEI has won the government contract to manage the ‘Level 3 Maths Support Programme’ to support the teaching and learning of mathematics at beyond GCSE level post-16. The programme, which will be called the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme (AMSP), starts on 1 May.

MEI will lead the AMSP, with support from Tribal Education. The AMSP will support the teaching and learning of AS/A level Mathematics, AS/A level Further Mathematics and Core Maths, building from the work of the Further Mathematics Support Programme and the Core Maths Support Programme.

Announcing the Ad vanced Mathemat ics

Support Programme:

A new chapter in support for Post -16

Mathemat ics

The Smith review of post-16 mathematics education highlighted the importance of studying maths to higher levels to help young people to succeed in education and employment, and to support our national economy. The intention of the AMSP is to help realise the aspiration that, over the coming decade, it will become the norm for young people in England, irrespective of background or gender, to study maths to age 18.

As Kevin Lord explains in the following article, though the FMSP is now coming to an end, the AMSP will ensure its work is developed and expanded.

Charlie Stripp

Chief Executive

Email Charlie

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MEI’s work running the FMSP/FMN has been enormously successful, enabling thousands of students in state funded schools and colleges to take AS/A level Further Mathematics. Entries for A level Further Mathematics have trebled since the programme began. The proportion of state-funded post-16 providers with students entered for Further Mathematics has increased from 40% in 2004 to 70% last year.

The success of the FMSP was cited in Sir Adrian Smith’s Review of Post-16 Mathematics, published in July 2017.

The Review recommended that funding should continue for national support for Further Mathematics and Core Maths. The Government responded by announcing £16m of funding for a new support programme for level 3 maths, to provide support for AS/A level Mathematics, AS/A level Further Mathematics and Core Maths.

The new ‘Advanced Mathematics Support Programme’ (AMSP) will build from the work of the FMSP, expanding it to support Core Maths and to provide additional support in Opportunity Areas and other areas of low participation in level 3 maths.

The AMSP will commence on 1 May 2018, initially for 2 years. The same MEI team that is involved in the FMSP will be involved in leading and coordinating the AMSP, though we will be expanding our capacity in order to provide support for schools and colleges to offer Core Maths and to provide enhanced support in areas of greatest need. Support for ongoing FMSP activities for students and teachers will continue until the end of this academic year and many FMSP programmes will continue under the AMSP.

The FMSP, and its predecessor the Further Mathematics Network (FMN), have supported schools and colleges to offer AS/A level Mathematics and Further Mathematics for 13 years . MEI’s support for Further Mathematics began with an idea from a teacher, which led to a pilot project, funded by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation. The pilot ran from 2000-2005 and its success led to Government funding the FMN from 2005. Support has continued under different Government contracts since then. MEI’s current FMSP contract with the DfE, which started in 2014, is coming to an end this summer.

In the last four years the FMSP has provided professional development to approximately 10,000 teachers, and over 50,000 KS4 students have attended FMSP enrichment events promoting the continued study of maths.

Cont. on page 3

The FMSP and the AMSP

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Apr i l 2018

Support will be available to all state-funded schools and colleges in England. The AMSP will provide additional support for schools and colleges in Priority Areas - the 12 government Opportunity Areas and other areas of low participation in level 3 maths - to improve provision and participation in level 3 maths.

The AMSP will promote the study of maths post-16 and will provide:

►sustained professional development courses for teachers of AS/A level Mathematics and Further Mathematics

►a range of one-day, twilight and online professional development courses for:

Core Maths

Higher Tier GCSE Mathematics

University mathematics entrance tests

AS/A level Mathematics and Further Mathematics

►resources to support the teaching and learning of AS/A level Further Mathematics, and new resources to support the teaching and learning of Core Maths

►enrichment events for 11-16 and 16-19 students

►tuition support for AS/A level Further Mathematics

►support for students preparing for university mathematics entrance tests

Information about courses and events in the summer term can be found on the FMSP website. Resources and information will be transferred over to a new website, amsp.org.uk, during the summer, however the FMSP website will remain active until the autumn term 2018 and resources will be accessible from there until they are transferred to the new AMSP website.

The AMSP will Tweet as

@Advanced_Maths

Kevin Lord

FMSP and AMSP Programme Leader

Email Kevin

The FMSP and the AMSP

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Apr i l 2018

Registration is open for our annual conference, taking place 28-30 June 2018 in the stunning campus and conference facilities at Keele University. You can register for 1, 2 or 3 full days at the conference, with or without accommodation.

Bursaries and discounts

►All UK-based teachers can apply for a London Mathematical Society grant of up to £400 to attend the MEI Conference. The deadline for applications is 30 April.

►Early careers teachers can apply for an Autograph bursary which provides a 50% discount on Conference fees. The deadline for applications is 20 April.

►Full-time students (undergraduate and postgraduate) and those in initial teacher training can access

generous discounts.

For details of all of these, please visit the MEI Conference website.

Comprehensive programme of sessions

The conference timetable includes the usual wide range of sessions, designed to be of interest to all teachers of 11-19 maths. Examples include:

Registered delegates can now login to the delegate area of the conference website to make session selections. Book now to ensure your first choices!

Plenaries

On each day of the conference there will be a different plenary presentation, intended to be of interest to all delegates.

MEI Conference 2018

KS3 and 4:

►Lessons to learn from student performance in GCSE (9-1) Mathematics assessment

►Variation in maths

►Year 5-8 continuity

Core Maths:

►AMSP Supporting Core Maths

►Core Maths and the art of estimation

►Supporting Core Maths

A level Mathematics/Further Mathematics:

►The MEI A level - reflecting on year 1 and looking ahead to year 2

►Innovation and problem solving through failure

►Supporting GCSE grade 5/6 students at A level

Enrichment:

►Odd and interesting sequences

►Pythagoras and the Napkin Ring

►How to share a secret - an introduction to Cryptography

Cont. on page 6

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About the speaker

Charlie Stripp is Chief Executive of MEI. He taught mathematics in the state sector for 10 years. In 2000 he joined MEI to set up and lead the project that eventually became the national Further Mathematics Support Programme. He became Chief Executive of MEI in 2010. Since March 2013 he has also been the Director of the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM).

He is a passionate advocate of mathematics education at all levels, from primary school to university. In 2015 he was awarded an MBE for services to education.

Friday: When mathematics meets art: the story of Escher and Coxeter

Professor Sarah Hart

The artist M.C. Escher has long been a favourite among mathematicians. His work often used ingenious tilings of the plane with interlocking

Thursday: The new ‘Advanced Maths Support Programme’

Charlie Stripp

Confidence with the use of mathematics and statistics has never been more important, but England lags behind other developed countries in participation in mathematics education post-16.

What can we do to raise post-16 maths participation and ensure our population has the maths skills it needs for success? Successive governments have recognised post-16 maths as a priority and have put in place initiatives to support it.

This plenary presentation will review these initiatives, and explain how MEI, through the new ‘Advanced Maths Support Programme’, plans to support the expansion of participation in post-16 maths in ways that can enhance maths education for all.

figures such as fish and birds. Although these tilings could in principle extend forever, Escher could not show this on a finite picture. But a diagram from a paper by the mathematician Donald Coxeter presented one solution to this conundrum.

In this talk we will explore the mathematics of Escher’s designs and how he was influenced by Coxeter. We will also see how Coxeter produced mathematical research based on aspects of Escher's work.

About the speaker

Sarah Hart is Professor of Mathematics at Birkbeck College, University of London, and Head of the Department of Economics, Mathematics and Statistics.

Her research is mainly in group theory, which is the main tool used by mathematicians to understand symmetry. She believes it’s important to bring the cultural context and history of mathematics into her teaching, and her interest in the links between mathematics and art is part of that

mission.

MEI Conference 2018

Saturday: School mathematics and data

Professor John MacInnes

We are in the middle of a data revolution. A century ago, the challenge for countries was to teach their children 'the three Rs'. The challenge today is to get children interested in data. We have the advantage that data is often exciting. We can use the right data to tell stories about virtually anything. However we also have the challenge that it does demand some new skills.

The maths required is relatively simple, but the concept of probability sits uneasily with the deductive logic of most maths. The volume of calculation in even simple data analysis makes software a must. In most data analysis we deal in the balance of probabilities rather than right or wrong answers. Finally, while our models are often simple, they sit in a complex world.

Cont. from page 5

Cont. on page 7

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Apr i l 2018

Sponsors

We are very grateful to all organisations that sponsor MEI Conference.

This year we have a headline sponsor (Casio), gold sponsor (OCR) and silver sponsor (Hodder Education).

All three organisations will be present during the conference so do please visit their stands to meet their teams and learn about their support for teaching and learning.

About the speaker

John MacInnes is Professor of Sociology at the University of Edinburgh, where he is the Associate Dean for Quantitative Methods in the School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. He is Strategic Advisor to the British Academy on Quantitative Skills, a Chartered Statistician, and helped establish the Nuffield/ESRC/HEFCE Q-Step programme in UK universities. He is a member of the advisory board for MEI.

His current research includes studies of 'statistics anxiety', and the measurement of population ageing. He is keen to promote the use of quantitative methods and evidence in social science.

Find out more

Explore the event on the MEI Conference 2018 website.

If you’re on Twitter, get updates by following our

MEI Conference Twitter account and the hashtag #MEIConf2018.

If you’re on Facebook, like and follow our

MEI Maths page for updates.

We look forward to seeing you at Keele in June! Bernard Murphy

Teacher Support

Programme Leader

Email Bernard

Bernard Murphy

Teacher Support

Programme Leader

Email Bernard

If you haven’t yet visited the site, click on the diagram on the right that you find most intriguing (what questions spring to mind about the diagram?), and it will take you to the corresponding resource on the Underground Mathematics website.

A request: please read the rest of this MEI newsletter first as, once you find yourself on the Underground Mathematics website, it could be hours before you leave!

Over the past four years MEI has been offering PD courses focused on the Underground Mathematics resources produced by a team working at the University of Cambridge. During this time, over 2000 teachers and trainees have taken part in these courses. Funding for the course has now come to an end but the website, hosted by NRICH, lives on.

Underground Mathemat ics

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MEI Newslet ter

September 2019, giving up to 18 months of access, including during the revision period for exams this summer, for around only 20% more than the usual 12 month rate.

Subscription offers are also available to students in the UK who don’t have access to Integral via their school/college. These provide access until either September 2018 or until September 2019 at competitive rates.

Students benefit from having round-the-clock access to Integral to support their studies. Many of the resources that have been introduced recently, such as walkthroughs, skill packs, ‘explore’ resources, and the increased number of exercises, can be used to encourage independent study.

Now is a very good time to consider taking out a school/college Integral subscription, which includes both teacher and student accounts. Our current offer allows you to take out a subscription until

See our Subscription web page for details of all our subscription offers.

A version of Integral to support the Cambridge International syllabus is being developed and will be available soon. See integralmaths.org/international for more details. Cambridge International Integral will also link with Hodder Education’s Whiteboard and Student eTextbooks, allowing users with access to both to move easily between the same topics in each.

We continue to develop Integral to provide the best possible support we can. You can contact the Integral Team with any queries or feedback about using Integral.

Integral Tweets as

@Integral_Maths

Richard Lissaman

Online Resources

Coordinator

Email Richard

Integral accounts for teachers allow them access to the many classroom activities, notes, exercises, tests and interactive resources to use with their students. Many schools and colleges subscribe to Integral so that they can also give students their own Integral accounts.

Once students have their own accounts, schools/colleges can make full use of the on-screen section tests with associated records, tracking and analytics.

A simple traffic light system allows teachers to assess the performance of individual students and see how groups of students perform on particular questions at

a glance:

We hope you are enjoying using the new Integral website for the new AS/A levels and are finding the resources useful. Work continues on providing resources for A level/Year 2 Further Mathematics. Visit the Integral site for details of the latest progress with this.

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Apr i l 2018

Hodder Education is offering a special buy 1 get 1 free deal until the end of May. To take advantage of this visit the Hodder website and enter code WP0009721 at the checkout.*

*Terms and conditions apply. UK and European educational establishments only. Orders must be placed via Bookpoint or the Hodder site by 31/05/2018.

We have been working with Hodder Education to produce revision resources for AS and A level Mathematics. Revision notes and exam practice books are available for all specifications.

The revision notes include worked examples and practice. The exam practice books have plenty of exam-style questions. Both books include access to full worked solutions online.

Not valid in conjunction with any other offer. To receive the buy one get one free offer a minimum of two copies must be ordered, titles must be ordered in multiples of two and orders will be processed at a 50% discount. This offers only apply to the titles specified on the order form and excludes all other print resources, Dynamic Learning, assessment, magazines and CPD courses.

Stella Dudzic

Curriculum and

Resources

Programme Leader

Email Stella

Stella Dudzic

Curriculum and

Resources

Programme Leader

Email Stella

The cohort taking the new maths A levels this summer is likely to comprise mainly Further Mathematics students, and so will be different to a typical cohort both in terms of numbers and in terms of attainment. There is information in the

Summer 2018 will be both the last opportunity to sit the legacy maths A levels (with a resit opportunity in 2019) and also the first opportunity to sit the new maths A levels.

A level Mathemat ics Summer 2018

Ofqual blog about the approach that will be taken when setting grade boundaries; this will be of interest to teachers entering students for the new A level this summer and also to anyone who will use the 2018 paper as a mock.

Revis ion resources for AS and A level Mathemat ics

Sue Owen

Communications

Manager

Email Sue

We have also mapped the Key Stage 4 classroom resources (produced by Carol Knights) against the GCSE curriculum, to make it easier for teachers to search for resources by topic. Each resource can be downloaded direct from the web page. Each includes a class PowerPoint presentation with Teacher Notes, and student worksheets where relevant.

As you may know, we published the final edition of M4 magazine in February.

All of the 2011-2018 editions of Monthly Maths and M4 magazines with accompanying classroom resources have now been archived on the M4 magazine web page. Some of these resources are suitable to be adapted for use across Key Stages 3-5.

M4 magaz ine c lassroom resources

categor ised by GCSE top ics

A list of the KS4 classroom resources categorised by GCSE topics can be found on the M4 magazine web page:

► Algebra

► Geometry and measures

► Number

► Probability

► Ratio, proportion and rates of change

► Statistics

Contact:

MEI Monckton House Epsom Centre White Horse Business Park Trowbridge Wiltshire BA14 0XG

Phone: 01225 776776

Fax: 01225 775755

Email: office@mei.org.uk

Contacts: mei.org.uk/contactingmei

© MEI 2018

Websites:

MEI:

mei.org.uk

MEI conference:

conference.mei.org.uk

Integral mathematics resources:

integralmaths.org

FMSP:

furthermaths.org.uk

AMSP:

amsp.org.uk

Social Media:

Facebook:

facebook.com/MEIMaths

Twitter:

twitter.com/MEImaths

twitter.com/MEIConference

twitter.com/Integral_Maths

twitter.com/furthermaths

twitter.com/advanced_maths

MEI manages the government-funded Further Mathematics Support Programme (FMSP), providing advice and support for teachers of AS/A level Mathematics and Further Mathematics in schools and colleges throughout England. From 1 May MEI will manage the new Advanced Mathematics Support Programme (AMSP), which will build from the work of the FMSP, expanding it to support Core Maths and to provide additional support in Opportunity Areas and otherareas of low participation in level 3 maths.

MEI is a member of the consortium, with Tribal Education, which manages the government-funded National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) and coordinates the work of the Maths Hubs.

MEI is a membership organisation and a charity. Since the 1960s, MEI has worked to support mathematics teaching and learning. Any income generated through MEI’s work is used to support mathematics education.

MEI emphasises understanding and enjoyment of mathematics and also highlights the importance of mathematics in industry and commerce.

MEI pioneers the development of innovative teaching and learning resources, including extensive online materials.

MEI offers teachers of all GCSE, A level and Core Maths specifications a range of continuing professional development (CPD) courses, provides specialist tuition for students and works with industry to enhance mathematical skills in the workplace.

MEI’s popular A level and Core Maths specifications are administered by OCR, with MEI taking responsibility for the curriculum, and producing teaching materials including course textbooks published by Hodder Education.

About MEI

Company registration number: 3265490