Explain this
Bowland Maths
How the publisher describes it:
“Bowland Maths makes maths fun and absorbing for pupils aged 11-14. The aim is to help change pupils' views of maths by increasing their motivation and enjoyment, which should help increase their confidence and their competence. A second aim is to help teach maths in a different way.”
Review by Dan Curran
In brief:
Here are materials which may help you rediscover why you wanted to teach maths in the first place
“it soon became clear that this was something new and exciting on the maths landscape”
It seems strange now but there was a time, in the mid-eighties, when producing a worksheet on my BBC computer seemed like a reasonable investment of my time and effort. My lucky pupils in those long off days benefited from my enthusiasm for ICT with individually crafted resources tailored to their mathematical needs. Perhaps it’s just me, but nowadays I operate rather like a deep sea Arctic fisherman: constantly trawling for the great resources catch that means I can return to the educational harbour. Frankly, I’m usually too busy and overworked to create bespoke resources completely from scratch. Most of us know the feeling of occasionally getting lucky and finding the ‘ideal’ textbook, worksheet, website or software - although most of the time though I suspect we throw what we catch back into the sea as not quite what we’re looking for. However, when I did find a resource that was well produced and unusual I was careful to protect it - my dog-eared Shell Centre ‘red box’ has been a reliable lesson resource and companion for over twenty years.
When I first became aware of the resources being produced by the Bowland Trust my rather cynical reaction was that this would probably be yet another disappointing set of ‘ones that got away’. However it soon became clear as my Y8 pupils started on our ‘Road Accident’ project that this was something new and exciting on the maths landscape. Our five lesson sequence of activities looking at improving road safety for a small town engaged their interest and attention from the start.
It is no coincidence that the timing of the release of the project materials is in line with changes at national level. Many colleagues will be aware of the reviewed KS3 curriculum and the expectation for us as maths teachers to rediscover, for the benefit of our pupils, the spirit of discovery and enjoyment in our lessons. Flexibility and opportunity are at the heart of QCA’s secondary curriculum review - flexibility in teaching subjects, and opportunities for young people to gain the knowledge and skills to succeed in learning and life. The Bowland Trust materials hit these targets right at the centre with their emphasis on analysis, interpretation and communication. The project’s professionally produced 23 case studies provide a rich seam of engaging and accessible materials. For any department wishing to reflect the spirit of the new KS3 curriculum the resources will provide a great starting point. More importantly though, here are materials which may help you rediscover why you wanted to teach maths in the first place. For many maths teachers coursework became a much maligned chore but here are ideas and resources that embody what coursework was intended to do - allow pupils to show how their maths skills help make sense of the world around them.
In addition to the new KS3 curriculum colleagues will soon have to deal with the arrival of functional skills. There will be an expectation that delivery of these functional skills will be within the context of a problem solving approach and develop naturally from situations that are realistic and relevant to our pupils. Here again the Bowland materials will greatly assist maths teachers preparing pupils for functional competency at Level 1 or Level 2.
Naturally for many colleagues and students, the classroom freedoms the project materials present may initially be awkward and uncomfortable. Here the accompanying professional development resources are designed to assist colleagues - ideally working with other colleagues.
