Top 5 Maths Twitter Accounts we should all be following.

With the holidays in full flow I thought I would do a bit of research and list my top 5 maths twitter accounts that both students and staff should be following.

So, here we go….

Firstly, an honourable mention to NCETM.   It doesn’t make the top 5 as it is probably only suited to the CPD of teachers, rather than of interest to students, but nevertheless, it is one to be following.

We all know that continuing to improve our ability to teach is vital and following an account that has a heavy focus on Maths CPD is a no-brainer.  This account has a great community of skilled professionals working together for a common cause.  I particularly like the resources and support given for maths that is simply intriguing …rather than flogging topics that are going to be in the exams.  Keep it up!

So, my top 5....

5th  ASAPMaths

This is a teacher resource friendly yet fairly new twitter account.  Lots of regular and targeted resources seem to come out during the academic year to help students get a “C” or “A*” at GCSE and, brilliantly, the answers are provided!  Another area to keep an eye on is their “You Tube” channel which is starting to cover specific topics and past papers in a friendly way.

4th.  CorbettMaths

Another twitter account with excellent, and free, resources available.  This account is currently focused on giving students daily practise to ensure they keep their knowledge up to date.  For no other reason, this is a great account to follow.  The Corbettmaths website is linked to this twitter account with helpful and graded videos on a wide range of topics that students should find very helpful.

3rd.  Mr Barton Maths

A close call whether this should have been in 2^nd place or not but Mr Barton has just been edged out into 3^rd!  A truly outstanding twitter account and website is available.  His knowledge of Autograph is especially welcome and his role as a TES maths advisor means that there are lots of links to other helpful resources and people should you need them.  Most impressively, his twitter feed contains links to whole lesson plans and resources should you be needing a starting point for those topics that are tricky to teach.

2nd.  Just Maths  and  Revise Just Maths

Two accounts for the price of one!

This is an established and thriving community of people who regularly engage with the issues of the day.  In addition, Just Maths produces outstanding resources and is always ready to help with questions or queries any student or teacher may have.  They also have a great website linked in but some parts of the website do require a paid subscription to access.  The only reason this isn’t number 1 is because there is, currently, no KS5 stuff available…but I’m sure they are on it!

1st.   Hegarty Maths

A truly fantastic and supportive account that ticks all the boxes.  A brilliant "You Tube" channel is hailed as being absolutely vital by student after student after student.  His fascination with “growth mindsets” and “technology” means you are missing out if you are not following this one.  

Make sure you are following all of these to get September off to a flying start!

A Level and GCSE Maths exam results variability.

The BBC  is reporting of a warning to schools regarding this year’s forthcoming A Level and GCSE results.  However, on closer scrutiny, it is difficult to figure out what the warning actually is....

It seems that there are rumblings of great variations in results this year.  Greater variations of what though?  Greater variations between teacher prediction and actual attainment?  Greater variations between school’s expected and historical results and what they attain this year?  Or greater variation of student attainment across the subjects they have taken….or all three?

To muddy the waters more there is further contradiction.  Glenys Stacey (Chief regulator for Ofqual) says that standards would be “held steady”.  To me, this means that a student who got a “C” last year should get a “C” this year.  But, where is the variation in that?  Encouragingly, Stacey then goes onto say, “Overall, results are likely to look different because of the difference in entry patterns”.

The only difference in entry patterns is that many schools have cancelled their plans to enter Yr 10 students for the GCSE exam as it was claimed by some (principally Ofsted and Ofqual), though I never agreed with it, that entering students early for their maths exam did not result in greater attainment by the end of Yr 11.

So, following Ofqual and Ofsted’s logic, reducing the number of Yr 10 students sitting the exam should result in higher attainment for those in Year 11 this summer – especially as most Yr 11 students will not have been “damaged” by the historical early entry opportunities of the November, January and March sittings. 

But every teacher knows that would be a foolish and dangerous assumption.

Confused?  So am I.

And as the countdown to the results continues, us teachers wait for the traditional shrieks of joy and tears of despair, knowing that we too are receiving our judgement.

GCSE grade boundaries to be lowered?

So, further to my post a couple of days ago it seems that changes to the grade boundaries are afoot.

GCSE Grade boundaries to be lowered?

The Times is reporting the lowering of grade boundaries to avoid the "Gove effect".  Essentially, Gove appears to have insisted upon harder exams this year to reduce the number of students getting each grade to ensure the best students are highlighted.

Whilst an admirable philosophy - students should certainly have to earn the top grades - this was always going to put him at odds with secondary teachers and schools who are rigorously judged by the amount of progress students make.

It wouldn't do, especially with an election on the horizon, for schools to see their results drop and the inquiring face of Ofsted to appear to annoy everyone...Did Gove really want to be the first Secretary of State for Education to see results go down?

So, just maybe, Gove is going to have the absolute opposite effect of what he intended as grade boundaries are lowered to ensure standards don't drop....

The writers of "Yes Minister" would be proud...

How to get the most out of your child's start to Secondary school maths.

Now that we have hit August the shops have started their “Back to School” sales in their bid to grab the academic pound.  Whilst most teenagers will be returning to familiar terrain, around half a million youngsters and their families will be especially nervous this September as they move from their Primary school up to Secondary school. 

With all the concerns of moving to a Secondary school, how do you make sure you get the best maths education for your child?

    1.   Be in it for the long haul.

A good secondary school will develop your child socially and emotionally in partnership with you.  But, academic qualifications are the main remit for schools.  The aim of the maths department is to ensure your child leaves with the best GCSE grade (or level) that they are capable of.

Don’t worry if things fail to get off to an explosive start.  Schools often have very little meaningful data on students in September when they join.  (Indeed, more and more schools are testing their year 7 students on entry to get around this problem).  Don’t assume we have their SATS scores – we normally don’t!

In addition, Year 7 students won’t be the maths department focus for the first week or so.  Appealing GCSE grades, getting the right youngsters on the right courses in the 6^th form and ensuring the new Yr 11 have started their final year well will be. 

Things should be flowing well by the 4^th or 5^th week and if they aren’t use the next point (which you will have done in the first week of September) to find out more.

    2.   Get in touch with your child’s maths teacher.

The beauty of email allows parents and teachers the opportunity to communicate effectively at a time convenient to both.  Send your child’s maths teacher an email to introduce yourself and to let the teacher know that you are there to help support your child’s learning.  Ask what day homework is set and when it is due.  Additionally, ask if there are any resources online that the school subscribes to as most schools now subscribe to something (Mymaths, Mathletics, Conquermaths etc) that students can access from home. Teachers really value knowing there is someone at home supporting them and the school.

    3. Take the opportunities – send them on a residential.

A benefit of a bigger secondary school is that they have the finances and staff numbers to offer more things to the students.  Encourage your child to get involved in new things and broaden their experiences.  More and more schools now run year 7 overnight events to help students bond and get to know each other and the staff.  Make it a priority for your child to go on these as it will help expand their friendship group outside of their current primary school friends.

Teachers will always tell you that the academically most successful students are  the busiest having taken advantage of the extra-curricular opportunities on offer.  Encourage them to get involved in the school play, join an academic after school club, join a sports team or start to learn a new musical instrument etc.

    4.    Big fish, small pond.  Small fish, big pond.

Many students start year 7 in a cohort of 200+ having come from a primary school where there were 30 or 60 in Year 6.  They may well have been the best in the year group at maths at their old school and are less likely to hold that title now.  We all like doing what we are successful at so be on the look-out for declining attitudes towards maths as your child realises they aren’t at the top anymore.  Some students react positively to this change and work even harder (this is the response we want), some accept it and continue to do a good job and a few blame their teacher (this isn’t the response we want!) citing personality clashes…. 

    5. Understand the school’s attitude to your child will be different.

In Year 6 the academic attainment of your child was hugely important for the primary school’s league table results.  To that end, it was likely they would have had the best teacher available and as much support and intervention as the school could afford.  The same happens in secondary schools – but in year 11.

See this change as an opportunity to encourage your child to develop an understanding of maths, which takes time, rather than an immediate focus on “knowing how to do it” and moving on as there is an important SATS exam around the corner.

All in all, the overwhelming majority of students flourish at secondary school.  Make sure your child knows you value education (social, emotional and academic), keep in regular touch with the school and give the school the opportunity to iron out any things that do go wrong and you should have a stress free year 7!