29 December 2015

Dates for the Diary

2015 has been the most eventful year of my teaching career to date. I returned to work from maternity leave in January and took on a Lead Practitioner role at a new school six months later. I continued to be a busy blogger and tweeter throughout the year and was chuffed that my efforts were recognised at the UK Blog Awards in April. During 2015 I attended numerous education events including maths conferences, TeachMeets, debates and my very own Christmaths party. Although it's tempting to write a long and rambling reflection of all the events of the year, instead I've decided to look at what 2016 has to offer. There's loads going on in the year ahead and this post lists a few highlights. Full listings can be found here.

January
Back to school and the chaos starts all over again. If your school is kind enough to let you out for a day, I reckon La Salle's National Maths Education Symposium on Thursday 21st January is worth a look. The programme is excellent.

I'm incredibly jealous of anyone who is able to attend the next Peterborough Maths Network event. They've only managed to line up the most awesome person in the maths education - Don Steward! This event takes place after school on 19th January and you'd be foolish to miss it.

It's also my birthday on 6th January... just saying.

February
It's a leap year! Did you see this tweet from Matt Parker? I ♥ numbers.
March and April
Have you noticed how short the Spring Term is? Easter falls early in 2016. As a result there's an awful lot going on during March.

The National Mathematics Teacher Conference (#mathsconf6) in Peterborough on Saturday 5th March will be a highlight. I've already booked my train ticket and my hotel room. I love these conferences. If you haven't attended one before then read my write-up of the last conference to get an idea of what goes on.

I'm also really looking forward to Julia Smith's (@tessmaths) Easter Maths Camp which is on 28th and 29th March in sunny St Osyth, Essex. There's all sorts of lovely activities lined up - contact Julia if you want to get involved.
As always, the ATM and MA are holding their conferences over the Easter holidays. The ATM's Easter Conference 2016 is in Warwick from Tuesday 29th March to Friday 1st April and the MA Annual Conference 2016 takes place in Oxford from Friday 1st April to Sunday 3rd April. Both have excellent programmes. Hopefully when my children are older I'll be able to attend one of these residential conferences.

A couple of weeks into the Summer Term is Maths in the Sticks. This event is organised by Stuart Price (@sxpmaths) and is aimed at A level maths teachers. It will involve CPD and a roast dinner at a beautiful boarding school in the Surrey Hills. I've tried the roast dinner - it's delicious! The event programme sounds very good too - I'm looking forward to this one.
May
We're all far too busy with our exam classes to attend events during May...

June
The second half of the summer term is best time of year for CPD. Most of us have some gained time after our exam classes leave so things are a bit less hectic. To start we have researchED Maths and Science on Saturday 11th June in Oxford. No doubt this will be outstanding event - tickets are likely to sell out quickly.

I'll be speaking at LIME Oldham on 20th June - if you're not familiar with LIME events then do check out their website for information. A week later I'll be attending the National Mathematics Teacher Conference (#mathsconf7) in Manchester, and a week after that is the MEI Conference in Bath. Last year I presented at the MEI Conference and absolutely loved it (see my write-up here) so if you get the chance to go, I really recommend it.

July and August
I'll be presenting on A level resources at the annual FMSP Key Stage 5 Teachers Conference in London on 8th July - details to follow.

Tom Bennison (@DrBennison) is organising an East Midlands KS5 Mathematics Conference on 9th August at the University of Nottingham. With the upcoming implementation of new Key Stage 5 specifications, A level CPD is going to take centre stage over the next two years. Tom is planning what sounds like an excellent event - I will share details when they are announced.

September to December
#mathsconf8 takes place in Manchester on 1st October - it's a bit of a trek for me but I wouldn't miss it!

I'm sure there'll be lots more Autumn Term events announced closer to the time. Maybe even a #christmaths16... And (fingers crossed) I really hope to organise something when the new maths gallery opens at the Science Museum. Watch this space.

Quick - get these dates in your diary now!
Throughout the year there's loads of fantastic local events organised by bodies such as the Further Maths Support Programme and the Maths Hubs. I haven't listed everything here, but there's always plenty going on for maths teachers so do find out what's happening in your area.

I look forward to seeing you at an event in 2016.

Happy New Year!





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