Explain this
Setting Up and Running an ATM Branch
Local branches of the Association of Teachers of Mathematics provide the opportunity for professionals to share ideas and experiences in their own area.
There are many benefits of membership of a local group such as:
- meeting teachers from other schools who are dealing with the same issues as you
- meeting people from different phases of education: primary, secondary, tertiary
- finding out about new ideas from people who are expert in their field
- revisiting old ideas by taking a fresh look at them
- establishing a connection between local teachers and the ATM
Meeting Formats
There is no set format or schedule for meeting.
Some branches meet every month; some twice a year and others anything in between. Similarly there is no set day of the week. Most branches have used trial and error to find out which is the best day and time to organise a meeting. Some always meet on the same day of the week; others move to different days to enable everyone a chance to attend at least some of the meetings. The most common format seems to be about one and a half or two hours in the evening e.g. 18:00—19:30 or 19:30—21:00, but some branches prefer to meet on a Saturday morning e.g. 10:00—12:00 or 10:00—13:00. It really is down to the availability of a venue at a suitable time and what suits best in your area.
The meetings also take a wide range of different forms. Most branches invite a session leader to run a workshop style session where everyone can get involved. Other ideas are people who attended conference sharing their favourite sessions with the branch, or working on ideas from ATM publications (books, Mathematics Teaching journal, ATM resources).
The best way to get a feel for what is on offer is to follow the links to each of the existing branches where you should find details of their previous meetings as well as the forthcoming ones.
If there is another branch close enough for you to get to why not visit and discuss how that one is organised? Or contact the main office who can deal with any queries you may have or put you in contact with the General Council member with branch responsibility.
Branch Organisation
Committee
Running a branch can be quite time-consuming and it is best to share out as many jobs as possible. Each Branch should have a Secretary and a Treasurer. The Secretary is concerned with communications with national ATM and keeps a general overview on the running of the Branch. The Treasurer is responsible for the money.
Finances
The Branch will need some funds for:
- printing
- postage (although most communicating is done by email now)
- room hire
- refreshments
- travel expenses for visiting speakers
The money needs to be kept in a dedicated account so that all transactions are transparent to the membership. The Treasurer is required to make a financial report to the national ATM once a year.
Most branches charge a meeting fee ranging between £1 and £10 depending on the costs involved. Some charge a branch membership fee which covers attendance at all meetings at that branch for a year. It would be useful if you could have a differentiated fee for ATM members and non-ATM members so as to encourage membership of ATM (see next section).
Membership and mailing list
The national ATM office will be able to send you contact details for members in the postcodes closest to the location of your branch. This will give you a starting point of people to contact. In addition it is worth finding a way of contacting schools in your area e.g. through personal contact; the Local Authority Maths consultant if they still have one; using local authority lists of schools and going to the school websites; by enlisting the help of a local teacher training institution; etc.
Local branches are a key place to promote membership of ATM as a whole so the office will send you out a pack of membership leaflets, catalogues of publications, special offers etc. and we would appreciate it if you could display these prominently, collect in any completed forms and post them into the national ATM office. You will be reimbursed for any postage costs incurred on behalf of the national ATM office if you batch them up and send in a claim every so often.
Fliers
Most branches email out a flier that can be forwarded on by the recipient to anyone else they think might be interested as well as printed out to display in maths departments and other suitable locations. Make sure you include everything necessary to find you:
- venue
- time
- duration
- topic
- cost
- whether refreshments are available
Take a look at the existing branches to see what their fliers are like.
ATM Branches Pages
ATM has an excellent website with pages specially reserved for local branches. All you have to do is email the details of your meeting to the branches contact at the national ATM office, branches@atm.ork.uk, who will upload the details onto the website. Visit the branches page to see what other branches have done.
Book Sales
The ATM produces a wide range of very good publications. Many of the larger branches run a bookstall at their meetings. The books are sent to the branch on a sale or return basis. ATM members can buy books at the current members discount and other attendees at a branch meeting will receive a 10% discount if they buy at the branch meeting. Choose publications based on the theme of your meeting or a general selection. Just let the office know in advance what you need and they will send them out on a sale or return basis.
With smaller branches it may not worth the postage to send out books as above but you can take orders from the catalogues and send them in for the same discounts.
Money taken at the bookstall and unsold books do need to be returned promptly, and you will be reimbursed for any postage costs involved in returning unsold books if you batch them up and send in a claim every so often.
Support from the ATM office and General Council
General Council Branches representative
A member of General Council is nominated to represent branch issue. They can be contacted by email on BranchesOfficer@atm.org.uk. There is also a member of staff in the office who is used to dealing with branch issues who can be contacted by email on branches@atm.org.uk.
Contacting ATM Members
As we said above the office will be able to send you a contact list for members in your area. They may also be able to provide you with ideas of people who are prepared to run sessions in your area. Contact the national ATM office for further information (Branches@atm.org.uk).
Reports of Activities
Please keep ATM informed of what you are doing through the nominated General Council member and office contact. Copies of fliers should be sent to the branches@atm.org.uk for insertion on the website. A brief annual report would be appreciated prior to the AGM for inclusion in the branches report.
