Two national experts in mathematics teaching were the keynote speakers at CMAT’s inaugural Primary Maths Conference.
The theme for the conference was ‘Lighting the Maths Fire’ and primary teaching staff from across the trust got together virtually to take part.
Throughout the day, the teachers were able to choose from a variety of different workshops to immerse themselves in and extend their own professional knowledge. These workshops included: the use of manipulatives in the primary school; educational Minecraft and maths; numicon; and the use of vocabulary and language in the maths lesson.
Attendees listened to guests Andrew Jeffery and Peter Virnuls. Andrew is consistently rated as one of the UKʼs top maths trainers for both UK and International schools and holds the NCETM standard for Professional Development. He has trained teachers throughout the world and is the author of several books for teachers.
Andrew’s key note speech was centered on how to engage with maths, using real life opportunities.
Peter spoke about reasoning and problem solving in primary education and how teachers can regularly include it into maths lessons.
He is currently Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Bedford. Peter is currently studying for his PhD, which is centred on understanding the barriers to a deeper understanding of arithmetic at the end of primary school.
The reception to the event was strong across attendees. Comments included: “It was an enjoyable day, learning from others and reigniting approaches that I had learned in my training year and NQT year, but had forgotten or had not used recently.”
“I’m looking forward to putting these strategies in my teaching and being more flexible in my own teaching so that it’s exciting and inspiring for all learners.”
“Andrew was fantastic and engaging. Powerful and thought provoking, particularly linking to his own story.”