The New Head of Mathematics

1. The New Head of Mathematics Challenges and Strategies for Success

2. Criteria for Effective Leadership • The head of maths is central to the management structure of a secondary school. • There is a need to operate on several levels. • (Of course ...) There has to be a clarity of direction, focus, vision, ...

3. Levels of engagement

4. Concerns • Students • Teachers • Parents • SMT • Governors

5. Concerns engagement security, creativity happy kids, doing well targets, being left alone flash, publicity Students Teachers Parents SMT Governors

6. Designing an Integrated Course • Increasing central control of the curriculum • Local implementation

7. Crofton School: A Case Study Substantial range of local issues: • Low achieving intake • 12% C+ @ GCSE • SMILE • Low take up of A level maths

8. Crofton School: A Case Study Curriculum desires: • A problem solving approach to learning maths • To include statistics • A look at mathematical modelling • Integrate ICT into mathematics teaching

9. Crofton School: A Case Study A change in discourse • Students to engage in mathematical discussion • Teachers to talk about teaching mathematics • A rhetoric of acceptability to be good at maths (ie pro boff)

10. The Big Picture An atomisation of the curriculum can lead to disconnected learning. • For students, the problem is seeing the wood for the trees • King’s College, London: Effective Teachers of Numeracy connexionism Askew, M.; Brown, M.; Rhodes, V.; Wiliam, D. & Johnson, D. (1997). Effective Teachers of Numeracy: Report of a study carried out for the Teacher Training Agency. London: King's College, University of London

11. The Big Picture What are the ‘big ideas’ in (school) mathematics? • Infinity • Number • Functionality • Transformation • Proof • Modelling (application)

12. Designing a Course

13. Designing a Unit: Quadratics • What’s the maths? (content) • What’s the story? (narrative) • What are the student activities? (orientation) • What are the exercises? (practice) • What are the resources? (resource) • When / how will we assess it? (evaluation) • How will it be displayed? (display)

14. Quadratic Functions • Check the NC for content • Develop a coherent narrative • Look at the history • Decide on a way in • Decide on your end point • Develop the story

15. Quadratic Functions • Quadratic functions • Plotting Graphs • Graph variations • y = ax² + c • y = x² + bx • y = (x + n)(x + m) • Factorising and multiplying out • Trial and error by zooming • Trial and error by calculation • Finding the apex from completed squares • Completing the square • Finding the general formula

16. Quadratic Functions • Student activities – explorations of each level of variability • Exercises – practice at each level • Resources – a medium to support graphical exploration (graphing calculator/omnigraph) • Evaluation and Display – report and write up

17. Raising Achievement • GCSE grades • Greater A level take up • “bottom end” up to A* • Positive talk in the mathematics department • No-one sent to the disruptive unit cont’d•••

18. Raising Achievement • Ban the ‘F’ word • Maximize ‘H’ entry • Consider an early entry strategy • Maths ‘clubs’ - be adventurous • Speakers • Parents • Other teachers

19. Raising Achievement • Make maths buzzy • Adopt a can-do rhetoric • Be Bold • Be Strategic • Be Creative

20. Monitoring and Tracking • ACTIVITY • Share with your neighbour the practices that your department uses to monitor and track student progress. • What action is taken as a result of the data collected?

21. Monitoring and Tracking • What do have to go on? • Key stage 2, 3 results • CATs, NFER, other external assessments • Regular internal assessments • Half termly tests • EOY exams + past papers

22. A Tracking Measure Under achievement

23. A Tracking Measure Good achievement

26. Monitoring and Tracking • Effort = achievement – expectation • Progress = achievementx – achievementx-1 • Prediction is the extrapolation of achievement over time

27. Monitoring and Tracking • Reliable and consistent reporting mechanism • To talk to students, parents, tutors • To inform target setting and review • To generate teacher assessments at KS3 • To generate realistic (=useful) predicted grades

28. The Departmental Handbook • ACTIVITY • Who is the handbook for? • As a departmental document: • What does it need to contain • How do you get people to use it?

29. The Departmental Handbook • Developing a policy that determines practice: • Classroom management • A statement of belief • A detailed encapsulation of practice • A shared view to develop practice • A trial period of implementation • A shared review

30. The Departmental Handbook ... A trend towards increasing sophistication ... • Statements of policy and practice for (e.g.) • Groupwork • Working with beginning teachers • How students write their mathematics

31. The Development Plan • End of year review meeting • Review progress on last year’s plan • Set content for the following year’s plan • Use the meeting schedule to programme in cyclical development schemes • Share responsibility, set timescales, build in costs.

32. Efficient and effective development • Building and maintaining a successful team • Issues of Finance • Foreign Affairs

33. Team Building Two considerations • What do you want? • What do your teachers want?

34. Team Building-HoD’s view A HoD will want teachers who are: • Enthusiastic and energetic • Willing to take responsibility • Adopt a rhetoric of doing maths and engaging pupils HoDs will need: • Recruitment strategies • Retention strategies

35. Team Building - teacher’s view Teachers will want to: • follow own interests (e.g. ICT, stats…) • have an opportunity for creativity • have an effect in the department • take up appropriate CPD • feel supported with recalcitrant pupils In other words: to be a professional

36. Resources • Part of the function of a head of department is to ensure that as far as possible adequate resources are available to support teaching and learning • This can lead to the syndrome of HoDs as ‘Robber-Barons’

37. Resources: in school issues • Inter-department comparisons • Need for flexible access to ICT • Display material • Centrality of mathematics in curriculum • Budget formulas • Highly competitive • Highly political

38. Resources: out of school • Bids to external funding bodies • Industry connexions • Numeracy/ GATs funding • Funding officers have to give money • Have projects mapped out in advance

39. Making Bids • Ensure that bid topic matches that required by the funding body (even if in practice it will be a bit tangential) • Set out clear success criteria • Identify which data will evidence the success criteria • Set out precisely how the data will be gathered • Keep it simple • Keep it manageable

40. Foreign Affairs The mathematics department has at least two aspects: • An internal structure and organisation • A part of a larger structure, such as the whole school Attention has to be given to both but, in fact, the HoD has to attend to ‘foreign affairs’.

41. Foreign Affairs Externally the maths department has to account to various constituencies • Parents • Senior management • Targets • Appraisal • Exam results • Governors • Publicity • Recruitment

42. Foreign Affairs • Just as the Headteacher has to spend time dealing with extra-school bodies and leaves the deputies to deal with much of the internal running of the school, so too a HoD may attend to foreign affairs while leaving the day to day running of a department to a good deputy. This is sound training in order to take on the job of Head of Department.