The Advanced Mathematics Support Programme (AMSP) continues to offer a range of professional development courses for maths teachers and student enrichment events. Many of these opportunities are available free of charge to teachers working in state-funded schools and colleges in England. You can view the AMSP’s full events offering on the AMSP website.
The AMSP’s popular sustained professional development courses are currently recruiting for cohorts that will begin in spring 2022. These sustained courses typically last for around six months, and provide comprehensive professional development for specific elements of A level Mathematics and Further Mathematics. Teachers can choose between courses that are delivered either entirely online, or through a combination of online sessions and face-to-face study days. At a recent study day on the Teaching Mechanics 1 sustained course, one of the delegates described the day as, “the best CPD [I’ve] had in over 30 years of teaching!”
The AMSP’s Core Maths Winter Festival returns in the New Year. The Festival consists of six inspirational talks taking place throughout January, on subjects from climate modelling to ‘how not to be wrong’ that aim to leave you feeling enthused, challenged and enlightened. You can view more information about the session presenters and content in the Festival programme. The Core Maths Winter Festival is suitable for all maths teachers, regardless of your level of experience with Core Maths (if any). Teachers of other subjects that contain mathematical content, such as Biology, Geography and Sociology, are also encouraged to attend.
The AMSP is running a Next Steps for Your A Level Students online course in January over two days. It will support you in understanding how you can best assist your students with their transition to undergraduate study, and how to prepare them for the mathematical expectations of university admissions tests. The course will also provide maths activities that you can use immediately in your classroom.
If you’re looking for opportunities for your students, the AMSP also has plenty to offer. Setting Out In Problem Solving is a practical session for Year 12 and 13 students, where they’ll get the chance to attempt some problems and develop their problem-solving techniques. STEP Online is ideal if you teach students who will be sitting one or more of the STEP papers in summer 2022, as it will help them with their preparation and provide online resources including notes, exercise sheets and solutions. If you teach high-attaining Year 12 A level Mathematics students, they’d benefit from reading the AMSP’s monthly web-magazine, SUMS (Steps to University for Mathematical Students).
The AMSP is also offering various online enrichment events for Year 10 and 11 students – there’s Space!, which looks at challenges faced in space travel; Maths is everywhere, where students will find out how and why maths is used in so many other subjects; and Which Career? – Meet people working in different roles, where three guests will talk about their career journeys and how maths is used in the work they do.
