Annual Report 2002-2003

The Annual Report for 2002/2003 includes the following sections:

President's Report
Council
Conferences Committee
Publications Committee
Primary Mathematics Challenge
Professional Development Committee
Branches Committee
Publicity and Membership Committee
Editorial Happenings
Library Committee
Teaching Committee
   093  Teaching and Learning Undergraduate Mathematics
  118   ICT Subcommittee
  120   Managing a Mathematics Department Subcommittee
  121   Primary Subcommittee
  122   Geometry 2002 Subcommittee
  123   Spreadsheets 14 – 16 Subcommittee
  124   Problem Pages 11 – 16 Subcommittee
  126   Monitoring Current Developments Subcommittee
  127   Mathematics Across the Curriculum Subcommittee
  129   Post-16 Subcommittee
  130   Key Stage 3* Curriculum
  131   Mathematics For World Faith Festivals
Problem Bureau
Joint Mathematical Council
The Advisory Committe On Mathematics Education (ACME)
The Post-14 Mathematics Inquiry
The British Mathematical Olympiad Committee
United Kingdom Mathematics Trust (UKMT)
Organisations For Economic Co-operation & Developement / Programme For International Student Assessment (OECD-PISA)
QCA Meeting With Subject Associations
Court Of The University Of Bath
Court Of Loughborough University
Membership Recruitment
Communications Director
Headquarters
Rules and Regulations
The Council (April 2002 to April 2003)
Report Of the Council : Year Ended 31 December 2002
Statement Of Council Responsibilities

Accounts

PRESIDENT'S REPORT

Barry Lewis – President 2002-2003

I can remember vividly the morning I came into the office after a few days away. I found a message from Steve Abbott asking me to return his call. Not urgent I thought - I'd agreed to give the closing lecture of the conference in Lancaster, and I assumed he was chasing me for an abstract to go into the programme.

The office by the way, was the Maths Year 2000 office, and since that's where this story begins, let me give you a little more background. Most of my professional life has been spent in publishing and advertising. I started life as a Project Officer for the Overseas Development Authority, working in exotic and exciting places such as Ankara, Kuwait, Kuala Lumpur, Nairobi ... just saying them again makes me feel jealous. While I was in Kuala Lumpur - my final posting - I took over responsibility for a scheme to develop a new generation of GCSE mathematics textbooks. Now, you may well ask, what qualified me to undertake such a task? The answer is absolutely nothing, and according to the then prevailing culture of Civil Service, that perfectly qualified me to undertake such a task - a reminder, if one were needed, that ‘Catch 22' is always with us. Towards the end of this project, we decided to return to the UK: by now we were a family and boarding schools didn't attract us.

Business, perversely, does not discount knowledge and experience, and so I found myself a wonderful home at Collins Publishers, managing their educational and reference publishing. Kate Harris, a colleague at Collins, and now the Managing Director of OUP tells a story about me that I deny emphatically. She claims to have come across a disconsolate visitor in reception who was awaiting my return to the office. She asked him if she could help, and he explained that he'd come to discuss printing in invisible ink with me. Barely able to contain herself, she made a hasty departure. “ Only Barry Lewis” she declared later in telling the story to astonished colleagues.

I left soon afterwards, some would say, not a moment too soon, but I was keen to set up my own business. I'd decided that there was a real gap in existing marketing to young people - it was mostly too expensive and more importantly, ineffective. Young people spend most of their waking hours in education - at least some of them do - so it seemed very sensible to use this as the means to reach them. I persuaded Professor Sir Wilfred Cockcroft to chair the company and from first off we never looked back. In ten short years we had businesses in UK, Europe, North America and Australia. Bill had taught me all I don't know about mathematics and despite this, remained a friend. I can still hear his booming voice and the side-splitting jokes. There was the tutorial in which he wandered off into a description of this new part-time university that was being launched (the OU). Then he said, “ If anybody wants to know more, they can ask Barry - he's been doing a part-time degree for the last three years. ”

But the time came to move on and I announced that I wanted to spend more time with my money. Fat chance! Maths Year 2000 was in prospect and I jumped at the opportunity this offered. One wise friend described it as giving a child the keys to a sweet shop. The London Mathematical Society had kindly offered us office space so there I was, sitting in one of the many elegant rooms in De Morgan House in Bloomsbury Square, wondering what excuses I could make to Steve about the promised abstract for his programme. So thinking quickly on my feet, I strung some words together and phoned him back. And then the thunderbolt: would I be the next President? I had no hesitation and said yes immediately. I think Steve was surprised by this, as he asked if I wanted time to think about it – “ Oh no ”, I thought, “ they're regretting it already !” Nothing that's happened since has caused me to regret that instinctive decision, quite the reverse.

What was totally unexpected was the people who I have had the honour of working with. There's an old saying that if you want something done, ask a busy person to do it. The proof of that is in the Council, its Committees and the Standing Council of our Association. That people with such demanding professional lives still have the stamina and the resources to carry out the important tasks that they do is truly inspiring, and I consider it to be one of the great lessons and joys that I take with me from the last year. Let me give you some examples - invidious I know, but I can't resist the opportunity of sharing my admiration. Doug French worked tirelessly on your behalf - whenever an issue lit up our collective mathematical radar screen there was Doug drafting an incisive letter to the press, or co-ordinating, editing and perfecting the formal response. He did all the legwork: more often than not, I got the by-line. Robert Barbour, whose attention to detail is phenomenal, and if that suggests a man driven by trivia, then think again. Our Association needs clear aims and aspirations to be effective: time after time I witnessed at first hand Robert carefully analyse an issue to find the best means to pursue it - not easy when it is one of the growing number of many complex tasks that we take on. Michael Fox has the daunting task of squaring the circle - making sure that every pound of subscription is used wisely and correctly monitored and reported in the accounts. That he does this with such humour and finesse is a joy to behold.

Throughout the year, I have been very involved with the website, so it is right that I should acknowledge the standing start that Peter Thomas gave me. He handed over a coherent and extensive structure that he had maintained and built - an incredible achievement. The site continues to grow and develop: we have introduced a new design for the site and introduced some important new features. For example, there is a searchable index to the Gazette that goes back to 1930 - searches may be made about articles or notes by author, title and date. We hope to extend this to other journals in the near future. We also have a new section on our Mathematics Library, held at the University of Leicester. This too is searchable and accompanying information provides the access details.

Paul Harris and I got very friendly over the year as we shared a car on the way to Council meetings. That had a double benefit - engaging conversation during the journey and reduced travel expenses. I was very pleased that a chance remark to Paul about lectures led to so many invitations to visit different branches - Exeter, Liverpool, Leeds, Brighton, Cardiff and still a few more to come.

The Conference this year was particularly successful, both in terms of the number of delegates (about 250) and the events that made it up. But that's no surprise given the team who organised it - Martin Bailey, with several conferences behind him, and Alan Camina and Mark Cooker of UEA, who all put so much into the detailed planning and actual delivery. The lectures, the large number of sessions and all the other events were outstanding. If you came, I know you'll come again; if you didn't, don't miss out next year in York.

Behind all these specialist areas of activity is the steady and supporting hand of our headquarters staff. The volume of work that crosses their threshold is enormous - enormous because of the range and depth of our activities. That it is all done so professionally and seamlessly is a tribute to them and in particular, Marcia Murray.

For sheer dedication, single-minded determination and infectious good humour, there is nobody that comes close to Bill Richardson. His task is onerous, his touch is light, but his reach is awesome (as my daughter would say). I could not have asked for better support or guiding hand and coming as I did from outside, that was especially important.

I think this has been an important mathematical year; a Secretary of State with a real interest in mathematics; the Smith Inquiry into post 14 mathematics. It was a good time to be President of the Association and I enjoyed it immensely. Whenever I attend Council meetings, I deliberately sit opposite the roll call of previous Presidents. Quite what I did to join their number I honestly don't know, but I wouldn't have missed the opportunity for anything.

Barry Lewis – President

COUNCIL

Before I proceed to the detailed report of Council activities, I wish to record the sadness felt by Council and the wider membership at the deaths of two members of Council. Neil Bibby and Michael Mudge were both long-standing members without office. Neil was in his final year as a member and Michael would have done one more year after this. However, this was not to be. Both died suddenly in September 2002 and the task of informing members of Council and others was an extremely painful one. This was the first time, since I joined the Council some ten years ago, that such an event has happened and I still miss them both. (The last occasion when a member of Council died was when Rita Nolder died and that was over ten years ago.)

As normal, Council has had four meetings since the last AGM. Meetings were held early in June, September, December and March. In addition, Standing Committee met three times. The Council meetings have been generally well attended and a great deal of business is accomplished. As was pointed out last year, there is some tension between allowing thorough discussion and getting through the business in a reasonable time. The extent to which this was managed is for others to judge rather than the Chair. I should, on behalf of the Association as well as for myself, publicly express appreciation to the members of Council for the time they give up to attend meetings. It should be remembered that, in most cases, members of Council will also be participating in other meetings or staffing stalls at exhibitions or generally be working to promote our Association in the mathematical community. In addition, there was an extra meeting whose sole purpose was to discuss the best way of making our submission to the Smith Inquiry.

It seems to me that the Association is still in a period of change. John Day continues to recruit new members at a goodly rate although we must now give greater attention to retention. A recent project has been to send membership information (together with a letter from our incoming President and a copy of the specially-produced mini- Gazette ) to as many final year university mathematics undergraduates as we could identify. The results of this campaign have yet to emerge. Continuing Professional Development is still of crucial importance to the Association. Ros Hyde continues to work hard for us. As stated last year, we were about to appoint a Communications Director (as with Ros, in a part-time capacity). The appointment was made and Julia Dingle began work in September. In the ensuing months, Julia has worked hard to get to grips with various government agencies and other subject associations. In addition, she has been in charge of a number of one-day conferences taking Gifted and Talented as their theme. I am very pleased that both Ros and Julia are at this conference.

Our Headquarters staff continue to work hard for the Association. There have been no changes in personnel since the last AGM. Lisa Hall has settled in very well. Linda Medhurst, Ann Goddard and Sally Bryan make up the rest of the quartet in the downstairs office. In the upstairs office, or racing up and down the stairs, works Marcia who does far more to promote the Association then we have any right to expect. On behalf of all the members, thank you very much.

Finally, I have the sad and happy task of reporting the comings and goings of Council members. At this stage, Council bids farewell to David Hodgson and Sue Sanders. David joined the Council as the Chair of the Publicity and Membership Committee during the session 1999-2000. During his time in office, he has done much to promote the Association but changes in his work pattern have meant that he can no longer continue on Council and the Association is the worse for that. As far as I can recall, Sue Sanders is the only member of the current Council who was in place when I joined it. I first met Sue at MA conferences. She was even more striking in those days with her long, blonde hair. I obviously made a big impact with her, acquiring the name Bill Elgin!! Over her time on Council, Sue held a number of positions: she was the Chair of Teaching Committee which was followed by being Chair of Council and, finally, the triple of Presidential years. The level of commitment shown was extraordinary and the Association owes her a huge debt and we wish Sue and David well in their various current and future activities.

So to the replacements: we welcome two new members without office to fill the gaps so sadly left by Michael and Neil, they are Jane Imrie (whose field of activity is FE) and Mohammed Basharat (aka Bash, who is second in department in a sixth form college). There is a bit of chair swapping with Charlie Stripp (a member without office for three years) moving to the Chair of Teaching Committee to replace Doug French (who becomes a member without office). At this point, I wish to thank Doug for the time and energy he has put into moving things forward in Teaching Committee. After a short gap, we also welcome back Tony Gardiner to Council as Chair of the Publicity and Membership Committee. The position of President designate 2003-2004 will be held by Professor Adam McBride.

Bill Richardson (Chair of Council)

CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

The Annual Conference this year was held at the University of East Anglia from the 12 th to 15 th April. Over 230 delegates attended for all or part of the Conference.

The theme of the Conference was Maths Matters . In all, a total of eighty presentations were offered organised into nine sessions over the four days of the Conference. Together with the magnificent Publishers' Exhibition, there was a plethora of exciting activities. A quiz, ceilidh and a lecture from Susan Howson on ‘ Doughnuts & The International Banking System' were held in the evenings, together with formal receptions and the annual dinner with after-dinner speaker Caroline Series.

A most entertaining Opening Lecture was delivered by Johnny Ball, who spoke “ The Holy Grail - Has Arrived” , and got the Conference off to an excellent start. The tenth Hilary Shuard Memorial Lecture was given by Derek Haylock on Stretching Them Sideways , looking at opportunities for GAT pupils in primary schools, and Simon Singh admirably closed the Conference with his presentation on Cryptography in the Classroom , enlightening us about his work on the enigma project. Barry Lewis delivered the Presidential Address to complete his year in office. All of these sessions were well attended, stimulating and entertaining.

The Conference was a great success thanks to all the hard work put in by the organising team both before and during the Conference. The Annual Conference is an ideal place to share ideas, meet and make friends, and recharge your mathematical batteries. It is certainly excellent value for money and I would encourage all members of the Association to come to Conference soon and better still, bring a friend! You'll go back after the Easter break feeling refreshed, better informed and more enthusiastic.

We look forward to seeing you at future Conferences; the next one is at York University from the 13 th to 16 th April 2004.

Martin P. Bailey (chair)

PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE

One concern explored by the Committee is that Mathematical Association publications are not easily recognisable because of the many styles and designs that have been used over the years. Research is currently underway to try and define a house style for the Association.

During the year, a poster competition was organised based on the themes of the 2003 Annual Easter Conference. This proved a very popular venture creating a brilliant response. The winners all received a £10 book voucher, donated by Heinemann, and their designs will soon be published.

New publications that have been launched this year include The Changing Shape of Geometry , Problem Pages 11 – 16 , Student Problems from the Gazette , a set of five A-level posters , a set of six Posters from Mathematics in School , Fun Stickers and Super Stickers . In addition to these, Continued Fractions , Senior Mathematical Challenges and Scottish Primary and Secondary Mathematical Challenges have been offered for sale to complement the Association's own publications.

Future publications in the pipeline include Leading and Managing a Mathematics Department , Maths for World Faiths, Spreadsheets 11–13 and a Pre-school Mathematics Booklet.

During the year, the following members have served on the Publications Committee: Paul Metcalf, Peter Bailey, Cathleen Brunt, Mary Ledwick, Ian Evans, Sue Waring, David Hodgson, Colin Abell, Bill Brakes, Bill Richardson, Susie Jameson and Doug French. Thanks are given to Lisa Hall who continues to be the member of staff who serves the Committee.

Paul Metcalf (chair)

PRIMARY MATHEMATICS CHALLENGE

'A chance to celebrate mathematics'

The November 2002 PMC had increased numbers of schools and pupils participating with 1598 schools (up 36% on previous year) and 62000 papers sold (up 38% on previous year). Over 1000 pupils were invited to take the PMC Finals in February 2003; 145 of these were awarded PMC medals. In all, over 53000 PMC certificates were sent to schools for presentation to pupils.

The MA Office received some excellent feedback comments from pupils and teachers. Here are a few of them.

It really made me think

I spotted the red herrings easily

They tried to trick me

That was fun

They are hard but not absolutely impossible -

if you think carefully

This year the papers were excellent

A real variety if thinking skills

Challenging Very fair Simple to mark

Everyone had a certificate

Plenty of discussion ensued

Finally we have extension by enrichment,

rather than acceleration

Our target this year is 2000 schools. We will use the remainder of the Nuffield money to promote the PMC with direct mailing to all UK schools this September. In addition, if any MA members can help with access to distribution of PMC fliers to schools in their area, please let the office know.

We are pleased that Colin Abell is joining the Management Team, and that Rudolf Loewenstein, John Place and Margaret Williams have joined the Problems Team. Thanks to all other members of both teams for their work (Robyn Pickles, Trish Morgan, Ruth Cullingworth) and to those in the MA office who work so hard for the PMC.

Peter Bailey (chair)

PROFFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

Adrian Oldknow (chair) and Ros Hyde (PDO)

BRANCHES COMMITTEE

The Branches committee held two meetings during the year, one at the end of the Annual Conference in Reading in April 2002, and the other at the Association's Headquarters in October 2002.

The Association has a number of active branches, each of which puts on an excellent programme of meetings and events for their local members. Typically, these include talks for sixth-form students on a wide range of mathematical topics; talks and discussions for teachers; and mathematical quizzes for students. However, for each branch to continue providing its programme of events, it requires the support of as many members as possible. Therefore I urge all members to attend the meetings organised by their local Branch and, if possible, get involved with the running of the Branch.

The new Branch in Northern Ireland has now been set up. There is also an initiative to set up a new East Midlands Branch jointly with the ATM, and there has been some interest in restarting the Lancaster Branch (also jointly with the ATM). No Branches have closed this year.

Paul Harris (chair)

PUBLICITY AND MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

The Association was represented at BETT in January and The Education Show in March. This provides an opportunity to meet members and also allow teachers to see our full range of publications and discuss all things mathematical.

The two specialist events that we attended were the annual conferences of NAMA and MEI. We are very well received in these smaller, more specialised events.

Student membership continues to be an attractive proposition for those in training. We are gaining members from many different routes into teaching.

David Hodgson (chair)

EDITORIAL HAPPENINGS

My first task, as always is to thank, on behalf of the membership, all of the Editors, Assistant Editors, Production Manager, Advertising Manager and Reviews Editors ……… although many people are involved in producing the seven journals, there is a great deal of work to do. It certainly is a great commitment and we are very lucky to have such dedicated, painstaking and professional folk making sure that our journals continue to be the quality publications we now expect. Thank you.

Secondly, I need to thank all those wonderful people who have been authors this year, both well-established names and new names. You are the life-blood of the journals. It is your copy that allows the editors to produce journals that are balanced, informative and topical. Thank you.

Next I need to inform you of some changes. As MA News readers will have seen on the front cover of the June 2003 issue, four ‘retiring' editors were presented with awards at the Annual Conference this April. I'll take you through the changes – it may look like a three-card (well two Ransom's and a Ransome) trick, with a touch of musical chairs thrown in for good measure, but stick with it, there is a pleasing completeness to it! Are you ready? Steve Abbott (Editor of The Mathematical Gazette ) handed over to Gerry Leversha last year, John Bradshaw (Joint Editor of Mathematics in Schools ) has handed over to Peter Ransom, Geoff Fowler (Editor of Mathematical Pie ) has handed over to Wil Ransome, and Peter Ransom (Editor of MA News ) has handed over to Barbara Cullingworth.

I'm afraid that SymmetryPlus has once again had production problems. Please do accept my sincere apologies - and those of the Editor too. The situation should not occur again.

Now it is YOUR chance. All of the Editors invite you to submit copy (new authors please don't be shy, the editors will give advice and support to those who need it). Let's be honest here, if we don't get copy we won't have journals. We have journals covering the age range from 0 to 160 so if you are in that age range yourself, please feel very tempted to submit something!

Susie Jameson (Editor in Chief)

LIBRARY COMMITTEE

Under new Regulations introduced in 2002, the Library Management Committee became the Library Committee under the Chairmanship of Mike Price, the appointed Librarian of the Association. Professor Roy Davies, the former Librarian, and George Rousseau were both thanked by the Chair of Council for all their past work and contributions to the Library Management Committee.

The Committee met on two occasions, with Marcia Murray as Secretary and Selina Lock as the new representative of the University of Leicester Library. The other members of the Committee are Mike Dampier, Howard Fay and Mary Walmsley. Barry Lewis, the Association's President 2002-2003, attended the Committee's last meeting, following a visit to the Association's Library and the Special Collection of older mathematical books.

The sorting of the backlog of acquisitions was completed in 2002. Duplicates have been transferred to the Association's headquarters, and offered to visiting members. Some duplicates were offered to delegates at the last Annual Conference. New acquisitions have been welcomed from Douglas Quadling and further donations will follow from this valuable source.

Additional Association funding – around £1000 in 2002 and £1000 in 2003 – has helped to advance the electronic cataloguing of books in the stacks to around 2500 records. In addition, the University has catalogued all the books in the Special Collection – around 300 records – as part of an externally-funded project. Around 5000 books remain to be catalogued electronically and external funding of around £15000 is being sought to complete this work.

The Wittgenstein material remains on loan to Trinity College Cambridge, now as an additional manuscript A407 in their printed catalogue (but not recorded on their website). Detailed scholarly appraisal of this material has not been forthcoming thus far, although the Archivist at Trinity has confirmed the potential value of these papers.

New publicity about the Association's Library has been added to the Association's website, including links to the University's website. A printed leaflet providing the same information is being produced. Plans for further publicity include the addition of illustrations and a brief history of the Association's Library, which is now over 120 years old. In addition, a printed catalogue of the Special Collection is planned for publication in 2003, the fiftieth year that the Library has been housed at the University of Leicester.

The Committee has most recently turned its attention to the collection of periodicals, which grows through Association journal additions, exchanges with other journals, and private collection donations. The exchange arrangements and the current state of the journals collection will both be evaluated. The current generous space in the stacks allocated to this part of the Association's Library should not be taken for granted, particularly given the University's own plans for future expansion, including new building work.

Mike Price (chair of Library Committee)

TEACHING COMMITTEE NEWS 2002 - 2003

The role of Teaching Committee is to keep under review all matters relating to the teaching and learning of mathematics at all levels, to advise Council on responses and representations to outside bodies and to generate appropriate material for publication or dissemination in other ways. We meet three times a year in York and hold an Open Meeting each year at Conference. Much of our work is done by sub-committees, which are either set up to carry out a particular task or have a standing brief in relation to a particular area. We now have sub-committees representing primary, 11 to 16, post-16 and undergraduate mathematics and one responsible for ICT together with those working on various projects. Typically a sub-committee working on a specific project has about six members, meets once a term on a Saturday and aims to produce a publication over a period of two or three years. Other sub-committees consist of a number of people who conduct their business by e-mail and only meet together on rare occasions. Reports on the rich variety of current activity of our sub-committees appear in this issue of Teaching Committee News.

The year 2002 was the centenary of Teaching Committee and has been marked by the publication of The Changing Shape of Geometry , a collection of articles about geometry taken from the Association's publications over the past 100 years together with ‘Desert Island Theorems' contributed by a wide range of distinguished mathematicians and educators. The book is a massive achievement and we are immensely grateful to Chris Pritchard who has given such an extraordinary amount of time and effort to it as editor. We are very pleased that Cambridge University Press, in conjunction with the Mathematical Association of America, has published the book and we hope that sales across the world will be high. I do urge all members to purchase a copy if you have not already done so.

It is very pleasing that the Primary sub-committee has established links with Tim Coulson, Director of the National Numeracy Strategy, following a meeting where a group of representatives met with him at the DfES in London. It has been agreed that there will be regular meetings about once a year to discuss matters of mutual concern in the same way that the 11 to 16 sub-committee will maintain the links we have established with Carole MacIntyre of the Key Stage 3 National Strategy. We continue to be represented at the twice yearly meetings with mathematics subject associations held by QCA and that is a valuable forum for representing our views about current issues.

The repercussions of Curriculum 2000 on AS and A level mathematics have been a major area of concern during the year. The Association has had a big influence on the form of the new criteria published by QCA in December. Whilst there are no simple solutions to the problems that have been created we are broadly happy with what has been announced as a way forward in the medium term. We are pleased that

the government has recognised the general difficulties faced by mathematics by setting up the Post-14 Inquiry chaired by Professor Adrian Smith. A copy has been posted on the website: www.m-a.org.uk.

As Chair of Teaching Committee I should like to record my thanks to all those who serve either on Teaching Committee or on its sub-committees or both, in some cases. Many people give generously of their time and put much effort into working for the Association in this way to support mathematical education. We are all too conscious in education with the pressures on time, morale and energy so these voluntary contributions are recognised and greatly appreciated.

Finally, since I have now reached the end of my term of office as Chair, and the end of a long period of membership, I should like to extend my thanks to everybody who I have worked with over many years on Teaching Committee. It has been an immensely rewarding experience and I have greatly valued all the contacts and friendships that have been established. Charlie Stripp is my successor as Chair. I wish him well and hope that he enjoys the challenges it entails as much as I have.

Doug French - Chair of Teaching Committee
February 2003

REPORTS FROM SUB-COMMITTEES

093 Teaching and Learning Undergraduate Mathematics
Chair Adrian Simpson

TALUM works through two main subgroups: 'Content' and 'Learning and Assessment'.

The Content group has been considering the role that logic plays in students' mathematical reasoning. In particular, they are currently conducting a research project that examines students' understanding of quantifiers before and after a formal introduction to the topic. This is being conducted at three different higher education institutions.

The Learning and Assessment group is continuing its work on students' attitudes to their mathematics degrees. It has been conducting research on both prospective teachers and those who with mathematics degrees going on to other careers as to the views of mathematics they have gained.

The sub-committee is also forming links with the post-16 committee to explore ways in which both sides of the transition to university mathematics can be kept informed of changes.

TALUM gratefully acknowledges the financial support it receives from the MA, LMS and ATM and looks forward to continuing its work this year.

118 ICT
Chair Adrian Oldknow

Two members of the sub-committee have left over the course of this year, Karim Derrick and Jean Flower. Meanwhile, Robin Nagy from City of London School has joined.

The SC was asked by the TTA to produce a guidance document on the use of ICT in (secondary) mathematics teaching for use by NOF trainers, ITT providers and others. Members of the SC, and others, provided initial written contributions. A writing group of 11 people was formed from members of the SC enhanced by others from ATM, NAMA and the KS3 strategy. It is now published on the MA's web-site as a downloadable Word document, and should shortly be available on the TTA web-site. It was also distributed to about 4500 subscribers on a CD included in the latest edition of the ATM's Micromath journal.

Due to a fruitful collaboration between SC-118, the KS3 strategy and others, draft lesson plans in Number, Algebra, Geometry, Data-handling and Modelling have been produced. Following trialling and further editing, it is anticipated that these materials will be made available via the KS3 strategy's web-site.

A consortium including SC-118 has successfully bid for a DfES contract to develop and provide on-line CPD materials for ICT in KS3 mathematics. Work is currently under way to develop materials, recruit and train on-line tutors, and to trial materials in a number of schools. Contact Ros Hyde if you are interested in becoming an on-line tutor. We expect to be working closely with the KS3 mathematics strategy on just how the programme will be “rolled-out” to schools starting in September 2003.

Finally it should be noted that the QCA has reformulated its AS/A-level specifications so that there is to be just a single paper in which no calculators are used, but that graphical calculators are to be permitted in all other examinations. The MA contributed a seminar organised by MEI on January 14th devoted to this issue.

120 Managing a Mathematics Department
Chair Robin Bevan

With the aim of producing a supportive and comprehensive guide for 'Heads of Mathematics', this working group reconvened after a lengthy break forced upon us by other professional commitments. Previous work by the group allowed a full draft of the first three chapters to be produced - a very healthy 17,236 words! The group met in the Autumn - our only gathering of the year; and members are now continuing their excellent efforts in recommending alterations to the draft text. Further new material is currently being marshalled into the next two chapters, and our varied experiences are being brought to bear in the challenge of writing realistic 'case studies'. The year ahead should see a full draft text on the table, ready to be pushed and pulled into shape for publication the year after. Many thanks to all those who have contributed to the development of this worthwhile project: new voices always welcome! ...

121 Primary
Chair Robyn Pickles

In addition to the meetings of this sub-committee with the QCA on a twice-annual basis, there are also meetings proceeding with Tim Coulson, director of the Numeracy Strategy. These have been found to be very fruitful in giving voice to primary teachers at this level.

122 Geometry 2002
Chair Chris Pritchard

The Changing Shape of Geometry has now been published. Notwithstanding some last minute difficulties, the production quality is very high and the finished article looks impressive. It became clear during the project that the Mathematical Association enjoys considerable goodwill among mathematicians both here and in North America. Persuading them to spend a few hours putting together an article for the book proved surprisingly easy.

The collaboration with Cambridge University Press has brought increased professionalism to the task of publishing, and in conjunction with the link-up with the Mathematical Association of America an opportunity to further raise the profile of The Mathematical Association in North America and elsewhere. The logos of MA and MAA appear on the front cover of the book, an unprecedented concession on the part of CUP. The commissioning editor, Jonathan Walthoe has expressed CUP's interest in strengthening ties with MA.: “I am optimistic that this book will do well and I hope there will be the opportunity for further collaborations in the future.”

Chris Pritchard has an outline plan for a sequel, should such a follow-up be deemed appropriate by MA. It would again be on geometry, using material from MA journals arranged into seven or eight shorter chapters with interspersed contributions from MA ‘friends and family' and perhaps running to 400 pages. It could be in preparation from early 2005 onwards and published in 2007.

123 Spreadsheets 14 – 16
Chair Dennis Almeida

This committee is involved in the preparation of resources on the use of Excel in mathematics teaching. Much work has already been done: new members are extremely welcome to come and contribute.

124 Problem Pages 14 – 16
Chair Stephen Drape

The work of this sub-committee in producing a book of problems is now nearly complete, with publication imminent.

126 Monitoring Current Developments
Chair Doug French

Sub-committee 126 exists to bring together all the different strands involving liaison with government agencies and links to members through the e-mail response network and to provide a means of reporting back to Teaching Committee and to Council. It has been agreed that this will be subsumed into the work of the new 11 to 16 sub-committee which will work closely with the primary and post-16 sub-committees on matters of mutual concern.

The aftermath of Curriculum 2000 has been a dominant issue throughout 2002. A group of four - Doug French, Jennie Golding, Charlie Stripp and Peter Thomas - in consultation with other MA members have co-ordinated the MA's policy and responses and have met with QCA and served on working groups. Following the weak interim measures proposed by QCA late in 2001, a new position paper was produced and later revised to accompany the press release dated 15.8.02. following the publication of the AS and A level results, which will be found on the web site under Current Issues. QCA prepared a new set of Draft Criteria which were broadly along the lines of the MA's position paper and these were consulted upon during October. At the same time other more general difficulties had become evident resulting in two reports by Mike Tomlinson, but QCA finally published its decisions on the Criteria in the week before Christmas.

The other dominant theme of the year is the broad issue of assessment and the ill effects of the excessive emphasis given to tests and targets. A position paper on assessment dated 7.9.02., which can be found on the web site, indicates the view that there is too much emphasis on summative assessment and that this is massively compounded by the targets set for schools. We propose that targets should be abandoned and that national and school performance should be monitored with a much lighter touch, and that this should be accompanied by a major shift of emphasis from summative to formative assessment. Julia Dingle, as Communications Director, has been involved in meetings with other like minded subject associations and the DfES on this issue.

The MA has been represented at the two regular meetings with QCA of mathematics subject associations (MA, ATM, NAMA and AMET). Besides keeping us informed of recent developments these have provided a valuable forum for discussing our concerns and we are pleased both that there is complete unanimity amongst all the associations about assessment, and that concerns are being listened to sympathetically by QCA. The troubles with Curriculum 2000 and a new man at the top are having some influence, but the DfES and the politicians will take a lot of convincing that all is not well.

A small group - Doug French, Mary Ledwick and Robin Bevan - met Carole Macintyre of the Key Stage 3 National Strategy at the DfES in August to discuss a broad range of issues. Whilst being broadly supportive, we expressed concern that the Strategy was interpreted as being very prescriptive in some quarters and Carole emphasised that this was not the intention - there is considerable scope for flexibility. We again expressed concerns about the effects of tests and targets in undermining the good work that the Strategy is doing. We also expressed concerns about the quality of some material that is being produced and the excessive quantity of booklets, folders and videos.

127 Mathematics Across the Curriculum
Chair Cathleen Brunt

The work of this committee in preparing a publication with a view to raising awareness as to the links with other subjects, provide resources and links with other subject associations, is well in hand.

129 Post-16
Chair Peter Thomas

The sub-committee addresses issues in non-university post-16 mathematics education and develops materials to enhance provision. Its seventeen members, from schools, colleges and universities, meet once a term in London.

In 2002, Charlie Stripp stepped down as chair; we are very grateful for the committed and energetic leadership he has given the sub-committee over the last three years. Our thanks are due also to David Forster who resigned, after three years, as secretary and to Barbara Cullingworth who resigned, after several years, as a member. We also express our gratitude to IMO 2002 Limited for a donation of £1500 from towards the work of the sub-committee and to Trinity College, Cambridge for a donation of £2000 towards our Further Mathematics Campaign.

We have been busy helping to develop the MA's response to the AS debacle and the subsequent drop in A2 numbers. Several of our members have been involved in discussions with QCA; the central proposals in the QCA consultation document in the autumn of 2002 on Criteria for GCE Mathematics were those advocated by the MA. We have also discussed the green paper on 14­ – 19 education, the range of course available post-16 and the funding of Further Mathematics.

In our Assessing Assessment project, we are collecting examples of good and bad practice in recent post-16 examinations. We would welcome further contributions. In a project led by Clare Parsons, we are developing Posters for the A Level Classroom. It is hoped that the first five posters will be published early in 2003; they will be on exponentials, logarithms, kinematics, sampling and skewness.

Work is also in progress on Mathematics – What use is it? which we hope to publish in early 2004. It will provide examples of where GCE Mathematics content is used outside the classroom. Further examples, especially for core content, would be welcome. We are grateful for the help of The Institute of Mathematics and its Applications with this project.

We organise a Post-16 Forum at the MA Annual Conference. That in 2002 was well-attended and largely taken up by Curriculum 2000. Several other sessions at the conference were led by members of the sub-committee.

In 2003, we shall review our booklist for sixth-formers, Read any good maths books lately? We shall also consider several new projects including work on Curriculum 2007, liaison with higher education, student misconceptions, the International Baccalaureate, pre-GCSE mathematics and resources for ASGCE Use of Mathematics.

130 Key Stage 3* Curriculum
Chair Tony Gardiner

This sub-committee was proposed at the 2002 Annual Conference and established by
Teaching Committee some time later. Its intended purpose was to try to devise a draft specimen "star-curriculum" - intially for KS3 (since government agencies who should have been doing this over recent years were conspicuously
refusing to).

A paper entitled, “Making better use of mathematical talent” is now complete, building on the original idea and also forming a submission to the ‘Post-14 review of mathematics'. Along with a general exploration of the issues in working with high attaining young mathematicians, it gives specific suggestions as to how they can be supported in their normal mathematics lessons. It is hoped to make the publication available on the MA website shortly.

131 Mathematics for world faith festivals
Chair Geoff Tennant

The MA already has a publication ‘Chrismaths', which contains ideas for mathematical activities based around Christmas. The purpose of this committee is to generate activities based around the celebration of other major world faiths.

As yet a committee of one, I have had a lot of help from contacts through the Leicester Council of Faiths, and some wide reading has both generated ideas and reinforced the premise that there is no publication on the market fulfilling quite this purpose. It is hoped to have a draft publication within a year: any offers to join me gratefully received!

Contacting Sub-committees

Sub-committees have pages on the MA website which can be accessed through www.m-a.org.uk . The sub-committee's e-mail address is tc- nnn @m-a.org.uk , where nnn is the three-digit number of the sub-committee.

Postal correspondence for sub-committees should be addressed to the chair at ‘The Mathematical Association, 259 London Road, Leicester, LE2 3BE'.

Other sub-committees during 2002

125 Becta communications has now been dissolved. For further information about their work, please contact the Secretary of Teaching Committee.

MEMBERSHIP

March 2003

Officers

Chair Doug French University of Hull 01482 465406 tc-chair@m-a.org.uk

Vice-Chair Charlie Stripp MEI and Exeter College, Exeter 01392 662469 tc-vicechair@m-a.org.uk

Secretary Geoff Tennant University of Leicester 0116 252 3730 tc-secretary@m-a.org.uk

Treasurer Janet Jagger Leeds 01937 573322 tc-treasurer@m-a.org.uk

Elected Members Ex-Officio Members

Cathleen Brunt St John Fisher School, Harrogate Robert Barbour Secretary of The Association

Jane Imrie Newark Anna Dunlop Representative of Branches Committee

Mary Ledwick Clitheroe Tony Gardiner Chair of Publicity and Membership
Chris Pritchard McLaren High School, Callander Committee

Ray Steele Trinity and All Saints College, Leeds Susie Jameson Editor-in-Chief

Jennie Golding Ranelagh School, Bracknell Marcia Murray chief executive of The Association

Others members during 2002

Elected Members Ex-Officio Members

Peter Thomas Secretary to Teaching Committee David Hodgson Chair of Publicity and Membership

Committee

PROBLEM BUREAU

This, my second year, has seen twenty-eight problems submitted. All the problems have been more or less based on school mathematics, but have been enormously variable both as regards content and difficulty.

I have hugely enjoyed the really challenging ones, and have been pleased to occasionally find neat solutions while sometimes having to be satisfied with finding a solution at all; probably nine of the problems submitted fall into this category.

Many of the other problems submitted have more obviously been designed to help with the enquirer's teaching (maybe in general, maybe with a particular problem), and I hope that I have been able to offer useful advice and have elucidated the relevant principles. These problems have come from A Level-type situations all the way through to primary school.

While the former type are always welcome and help to keep me young, anyone with problems in the latter category should feel free to seek help in confidence. It is what I am here for - though perhaps I should make clear that this is a problem-solving service, not a distance-teaching service. And of course there is no guarantee that I can solve any problem! Indeed, I have one outstanding at present that has so far defeated me - and one or two others where I am grateful for other people's solutions. Please send any requests via Headquarters.

Graham Howlett

JOINT MATHEMATICAL COUNCIL

The Joint Mathematical Council (JMC) is the body which brings together representatives of many mathematical organisations within the UK. The list of all such bodies is too long to include, but as well as the MA there are representatives from the ATM, IMA and LMS as well as advisers and other Associations. The geographical coverage is good with members from Wales and Scotland as well as England. As was reported last year, the current Chair of JMC is Professor Celia Hoyles of the London University Institute of Education and two prominent members of the MA Council are also office bearers: Sue Sanders is the JMC secretary and Adrian Oldknow its treasurer.

The JMC meets three times per year (November, February, June) in the Royal Society. Meetings start late in the morning, the main, routine business is intended to be fitted in before lunch with, if possible, much of the afternoon being given over to a topic for discussion. I attended nearly all the meetings since April 2001 and I am considerably more comfortable than I was when I first attended. It is useful to know of other Associations and the work they do and to be able to meet a wider range of individuals than usual.

A lot of time was spent in discussions of the work of ACME and of the post-14 mathematics review. Sir Christopher Llewellyn-Smith, the Chair of ACME, spoke at the February meeting and the JMC has followed the work of ACME with great interest. For those who want to observe the work of ACME more closely, there are abbreviated minutes on www.acme-uk.org.

Some time was spent on two types of conferences. The British Congress on Mathematics Education (BCME) has been less successful recently so it has been decided that in 2005 it will be held at Easter and that as many participating societies as can manage will join in rather than hold their own event. Plans are well in hand for this very promising venture. There was also discussion on ICME. The next of these is in Copenhagen in 2004 and there is also a suggestion that the UK offer to host it in 2012.

There were two major ad hoc presentations. At the November 2002 meeting, Professor Glyn Jones of the University of Coventry led a discussion of ‘service teaching of mathematics'. The major cause for concern in this was that many non-mathematical departments were now delivering mathematics courses rather than using mathematics departments and this was resulting in serious contraction in some places. At the February 2003 meeting, Charlie Stripp gave a presentation on the work he was doing for MEI in providing a distance-learning facility for schools who were not offering any Further Maths A level (FM). The impetus for this was a result of the dramatic reduction over recent years of the uptake of Further Maths. There followed a lively discussion on the Further Maths problems.

Finally, in the next report, details of the new chair of JMC will be given as Celia Hoyles will step down at the AGM in November 2003.

Bill Richardson (MA Council representative)

THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON MATHEMATICS EDUCATION (ACME)

A National Infrastructure for Mathematics CPD : The major achievement of the year was the announcement on 13 March 2003 by Charles Clarke MP, Secretary of State for Education and Skills, at a DfES/ACME conference on international best practice in CPD for mathematics, that the Government would be establishing a National Centre for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching. This was one of ACME's key recommendations in its first self-initiated report on CPD for teachers of mathematics. ACME will be working closely with the Post-14 Mathematics Inquiry (see below) to ensure that a National Centre, together with a network of local centres, becomes a reality. ACME's CPD report was sent out in December 2002 to stakeholders in the mathematics/education communities and summaries of the key recommendations were mailed to secondary and FE mathematics heads - electronic versions of both report and summary were made accessible on the ACME website (www.acme-uk.org), to which a hyperlink was created from the Government's National Numeracy Strategy website.
The Post-14 Mathematics Inquiry : The Government announced in July 2002 that it would be undertaking an inquiry into the state of post-14 mathematics. ACME invited the Inquiry Chair, Professor Adrian Smith, to its meetings to help gauge the consensus of the mathematics community on the key issues covered by the Inquiry. ACME's Chair, Sir Chris Llewellyn-Smith, was in turn invited to join the Inquiry Steering Group, and ACME member and JMC Chair, Professor Celia Hoyles, became closely involved with the Inquiry as a designated expert. ACME organised two consultative workshops for the Inquiry (held in April and May 2003), designed to explore possible models for a 14-19 mathematics education framework.
Other ACME activities : In May 2002 ACME submitted a response to the Government's 14-19 Green Paper, which was explicitly supported by key mathematics organisations. A meeting to discuss mathematics education post-16 with Dr Ken Boston, incoming Chief Executive of the QCA, was held in October 2002 – a follow up meeting in November 2002 took place between ACME and QCA on the consultation response to proposed changes to the Mathematics A-Level curriculum. Meetings took place in November 2002 with Professor David King, Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government, and in January 2003 with Ralph Tabberer, Chief Executive of the TTA. A key meeting with Charles Clarke was held in February 2003.

Sue Sanders (MA representative

THE POST-14 MATHEMATICS INQUIRY

The government set up the Post-14 Mathematics Inquiry with Professor Adrian Smith with a brief to produce a report by September 2003 that is to include advice to the Secretary of State on the National Centre for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching. The Association submitted an initial response to the Inquiry in February. This identified three closely-interrelated key issues which have to be addressed if mathematics education is to be more successful:

1. The recruitment and retention of mathematics teachers is a matter for very serious concern. Radical and sustained measures over many years are required following an analysis of the underlying causes of this very real crisis facing mathematics.

2. The quality of teaching and learning of mathematics needs to be greatly improved. The content of the mathematics curriculum is broadly acceptable and does not require substantial change. The problem is not what is taught, but how it is taught, or, much more to the point, what is learnt.

3. The current system of assessment and all the accompanying targets and league tables are having substantial ill effects on the teaching and learning of mathematics. A radical shift away from the current dominance of tests, examinations, targets and league tables is essential if standards in mathematics are to be improved.

A small group, consisting of Barry Lewis, Doug French, Jennie Golding and Jane Imrie met with Professor Smith on 31 st March to discuss the issues and we were asked to respond further on specific issues with an emphasis on practical measures that can be recommended. The initial response, together with subsequent short responses on specific issues, will be found on the website.

Subsequently there have been two day conferences in London organised by ACME devoted to the issues being investigated by the Post-14 Inquiry. The Association was strongly represented on both occasions and we were pleased that funding was available so that a large number of teachers could be present. The first conference at the Royal Society on 2 nd April focused on alternative structures for the future with input from Mike Tomlinson, who is chairing the government's working group on the future of 14 to 19 education, and speakers on mathematical education in various countries in Europe and on the International Baccalaureate. The second conference at the Institute for Education on 13 th May focused on ways forward with speakers on mathematics for students in specialist, intermediate, foundation and vocational strands. Doug French and Helen Russell, on behalf of the Association, gave the presentation on the intermediate strand.

At both conferences there were discussion groups to discuss the issues with feedback at the end, but, whilst everybody has no difficulty in identifying the very real problems, there is a shortage of good ideas on ways forward, although there is a strong consensus that government policies, particularly those related to assessment, are a considerable barrier to progress. It remains to be seen whether the Inquiry will be prepared to be bold enough to challenge these policies, but there will still remain the seemingly insuperable problems of recruiting and retaining good mathematics teachers.

Doug French (MA Response Co-ordinator)

THE BRITISH MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD COMMITTEE

The full BMOC now meets only once a year in September to receive news of the work of the British Mathematical Olympiad Subtrust. The pinnacle of the competitions, the International Mathematical Olympiad, was hosted by the United Kingdom in Glasgow in July 2002, a tremendous organisational task and, by general agreement, a significant success. The UK team of six came away with two Silver and two Bronze medals, putting us a little disappointingly 27 th out of 84 teams. Geoff Smith, having taken over the leadership of the UK team for the 2002 IMO, has instituted a fuller training programme for prospective team members, which begins each September. The selection process for the 2003 IMO in Japan has continued through the British Mathematical Olympiad Round 1 (c 650 candidates, down a little on usual), BMO2 (100 participants), and training for 20 selected students at Trinity College, Cambridge in April. Look out for the BBC2 programme In Search Of Genius in October, featuring the UK IMO 2002 squad.

Philip Coggins (MA representative

UNITED KINGDOM MATHEMATICS TRUST (UKMT)

The number of pupils taking the UKMT challenges continues to increase, to the extent that the offices have been forced to move to larger premises to cope. Nearly half a million pupils are now taking part.

This April, nearly a quarter of a million pupils took part in the Junior Challenge (for 11 – 13 year olds). In February just over 200,000 pupils sat the Intermediate Challenge (for 13 – 16 year olds) and in November just over 60,000 pupils sat the Senior Challenge (for 16 – 18 year olds).

In each challenge the top 40% receive gold, silver or bronze certificates and, in addition, the highest-scoring entrant in each school/college gets a special certificate.

The top 800 entrants in the Senior Challenge went on to take the BMO (British Mathematics Olympiad) round 1 and the top 100 of these were invited to sit BMO round 2. After the training week, the Olympic squad of 8 were selected, 6 of whom will be representing the UK attending IMO 2003 in Tokyo this summer.

Susie Jameson (MA representative)

ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION & DEVELOPMENT / PROGRAMME FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ASSESSMENT (OECD-PISA)

The English Steering Committee was stood down over a year ago.

Work to support the practicalities of the survey continued, through a national expert group, which I was invited to join. The group evaluated items and selected a sub-set, which were included in the Field Trial that took place in March 2002.

Subsequently, the research consortium selected a further sub-set for inclusion in PISA 2003 that has recently taken place in schools across the land.

We will not be called again until the results are known in 2004.

Roy Ashley (MA representative)

QCA MEETING WITH SUBJECT ASSOCIATIONS

QCA holds twice-yearly meetings with subject associations – MA, ATM, NAMA and AMET. At the last meeting in November, the MA was represented by Doug French, Cathleen Brunt, Robyn Pickles, Charlie Stripp and Julia Dingle. These meetings provide QCA with an opportunity to keep us informed about developments and they provide a useful forum for exchanging views about current issues. Inevitably, matters relating to assessment are dominant and this has been compounded over the last year by the questions about the revision of the AS and A level criteria, following the disastrous consequences of Curriculum 2000. We were surprised and pleased at the November meeting that QCA was prepared to take a show of hands on issues related to testing at Key Stages 1, 2 and 3, which resulted in a consensus from the associations that tests in their present form should be abandoned.

At the time of writing, we are concerned that the future of these regular meetings is being called into question and that only two representatives from each association have been invited to a meeting in June to consider their future.

Doug French (MA representative)

The new Vice-Chancellor, Professor G M Breakwell, presented her first annual report. The main points likely to be of interest to members of the MA were: -

Professor K W Morton of the Department of Mathematical Sciences was awarded the Gold Medal 2002 by the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, in recognition of his work in numerical analysis, especially in the solution of partial differential equation arising in computational fluid dynamics.

Professor Christopher Budd of the same department won a National Teaching Fellowship from the Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. He is currently using his Fellowship funding to teach mathematics and science undergraduates how to become effective communicators of their subject to the general public.

The centre for Power Transmission and Motion Control in the Faculty of Engineering and Design received the Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education. The centre is the UK's leading research group in the area of fluid power systems engineering and has secured over £3 million of external funding to expand its research activities.

The University's Library and Learning Centre is still one of only two Library Services in the UK to provide 24-hour access and its quality of service has been commended by the Library Association.

Robert Macmillan (MA representative on the Court)

Loughborough was placed first in the HEFCE performance indicators for research, for number of PhDs as per academic staff cost, and for grants and contracts per academic staff cost. These show excellent value for money from Loughborough's research.

For teaching quality, the THES August 2002 table placed Loughborough fifth, based upon Quality Assurance Agency assessments.

Loughborough has focused provision on teacher education in three shortage subject areas – Sport Science, Design & Technology and Science, and was rated sixth based on TTA reports.

Loughborough's engineering education was very highly rated by employers, providing “value added” second to none, and has forged very strong links with Ford and BAe systems.

Loughborough's new Innovation Centre is already full – housing 22 small enterprises – after only six months from opening. It is the region's largest business incubator unit.

An assessment of the impact of Loughborough on the local region of Charnwood, estimated student-spend in the town at £26 million.

Loughborough aims to be research-led in the future and is well placed to achieve this, with one major development being the purchase of a very large site adjacent to the existing campus (providing an additional 164 acres) including a large suite of impressive buildings, formerly the British Gas Research Centre (more recently known as Advantica).

David Green (MA representative on the Court)

During 2002, The Mathematical Association promoted membership to all UK primary and secondary schools, via direct marketing mailings in the Spring and in the Autumn. A total of some 60,000 individual mail packs were sent out last year, each including a letter and a membership application form. Primary schools also received details and an application form for the Primary Mathematics Challenge, held in November 2002.

The results of these mailing campaigns were very encouraging indeed. During 2002, over 950 new MA members were recruited in total, of which 570 were directly attributable to the mailings. Each of the mailing campaigns recouped its costs within a few months of being sent out, in terms of annual subscriptions paid by these new members or PMC packs sold. Before the regular mailing campaigns to schools commenced in 2001, The Mathematical Association recorded around 500 new members in total each year. In 2003 we hope to recruit more than 1,000 new members, well over 500 from the mailing campaigns planned for this year.

John Day (Marketing Consultant)

This post was advertised in March 2002 for someone to work freelance for the equivalent of 40% of a full-time post. Interviews were held in Leicester on 29 th April and I was very pleased to be offered the opportunity of working for the MA.

Prior to my official start in September 2002, I attended several meetings in Leicester and York which enabled me to begin to get to know members of Council and Teaching Committee and to understand better what the MA hoped would be achieved through the appointment.

I was asked to organise a series of five one-day conferences over the 2002/03 academic year on the theme of Teaching Mathematics to Gifted and Talented Pupils in Years 6 – 10, with Dr Tony Gardiner as the main speaker.

Within the period covered by this report, three of the conferences took place; in Manchester in November, London in February and Warwickshire in March. 172 delegates in total attended to be inspired by Tony Gardiner and Tony Burghall. Feedback from the events showed that the vast majority of delegates found the conferences inspiring and were motivated to return to the classroom putting some of the ideas into practice. With almost 70 delegates at two of the three venues, we were at maximum capacity.

The focus of my post is to play a key role in the Association's representation at meetings with Government organisations and other professional bodies. Between October 2002 and March 2003 I attended one meeting each with DfES, QCA, GTC, and Becta. I attended the TTA Annual Meeting, the BETT show in London, the MA's Annual Conference in Norwich and two meetings of the Subject Associations Working Group (SAWG). Reports have been produced on all of these meetings and various follow-up actions carried out.

SAWG has become well established this year as a stable and coherent group of seven subject associations who are working together on issues of common concern, including assessment and the impact of the way in which test results and league tables are used. Members also network informally to keep each other informed of opportunities to bid for projects and access funding.

My work apart from the MA, enhances my role. I work with the DfES and Hull City Council, both giving direct contact with schools (primary, secondary and special), LEAs, LSCs and other educational bodies. I work in the further education sector as a trainer. As a secondary school governor, I am very involved with a mathematics department and have worked directly with year 9 and 10 pupils.

Julia Dingle (Communications Director)

In my report last year, I wrote that I hoped the next year would be just as busy as the last, and I am very pleased to confirm that these hopes were realised. It has been a very busy twelve months for all of us and particularly for Sally Bryan who administers membership, the success of the marketing campaigns having increased her workload. Primary Mathematics Challenge grew during 2002 and we also administered a series of successful one-day Gifted & Talented Conferences. Thanks to Lisa Hall who has kept these databases up to date on a daily basis, thus ensuring a smooth operation for the events. Preparations for our Annual Conference in Norwich began way back in June 2002 when speedy actions from Martin Bailey, Barry Lewis, Alan Camina and Mark Cooker meant that I was able to start on the publicity materials much sooner than in previous years. I feel we continue to improve the MA presence at exhibitions and conferences and Lisa has further developed the exhibition-system that gets the ‘books on the stands'. Linda Medhurst, our bookkeeper, does a fine job in keeping the bills paid; the JIT system* for larger businesses and PSA* for officers and other Association helpers! I must not forget Ann Goddard either, because increased membership and exposure means that we increase our book sales, which is Ann's department. She is always on top of her workload and should there be a lull in business, she is immediately there offering her assistance to colleagues. Of course, all work and no play makes for a dull life indeed, so I'm pleased to report that there is often laughter and cheerful banter to be heard in the downstairs office, and, as a consequence, I think we have a happy workforce.

* JIT the art of the invoice payment being sent just in time and PSA meaning Pay Straight Away or else!

Membership, including direct subscriptions, to December 2002 is 5694.

Office Manager - Marcia Murray, Bookkeeper - Linda Medhurst, Membership Secretary - Sally Bryan, Clerical Administrator – Lisa Marie Hall, Sales Administration - Ann Goddard, Clerical Assistant - Anne-Marie Brown

Marcia Murray (Office Manager)

Herewith, notice of changes to the Regulations for the Library, which were agreed at the meeting of Council on 8 June 2002. The new regulations can be viewed on webpage http://www.m-a.org.uk/association/organisation/regulations/ Please contact Headquarters if you require a hard copy of the page. [Phone 0116 221 0013 Fax 0116 212 2835]

Legal and administrative status
The Mathematical Association was founded in Great Britain in 1871. The Association is registered as a charity under number 313281.
Constitution and objectives of the Association
The objectives of the charity are to improve the teaching of mathematics and its applications and to provide a means of communication amongst students and teachers of mathematics for this purpose, and to take such measures as may appear expedient to advance the views of the charity on any question affecting the study and teaching of mathematics and its applications. Such measures include the provision and maintenance of the library, publication of periodicals and other items and the holding of meetings and conferences.
Branches and Corresponding Associations
With the approval of the Council, Branches of the charity may be formed. The Council may also approve the designation of other Associations as Branches, or as Corresponding Associations.

During the year there were 15 established branches of the charity and 2 designated branches. The income and expenditure of the established branches is included in these financial statements.
Trustees
The trustees who served during for part or all of the year were:

Mr B. Lewis, Dr S. E. Sanders, Mr P. Metcalf, Mr S. Abbott, Mr W. P. Richardson M.B.E., Miss S G Jameson, Ms P. M. Morgan, Mr M. Bailey, Mrs R. Pickles, Mr R. Barbour, Mr D. French, Mr D. Hodgson, Dr. W. Brakes, Mr C. Stripp, Prof. A. Oldknow, Dr. P. Harris, Dr A Barnard, Ms A Gould, Mr M. Fox, Mr N. Lord (appointed April 2002), Miss R. Cullingworth (appointed April 2002), Mr K. Cadman (appointed April 2002), Professor Sir Christopher Zeeman (appointed April 2002).

Mr N. Bibby and Mr M. Mudge served as trustees until their deaths on 12 September and 27 September 2002, respectively.
Members and officers
The charity consists of personal members, including honorary members, and institutional members.

An elected Council monitors the business of the Association. There are three Officers (Chair, Secretary and Treasurer), elected annually (to each office) who are not allowed to hold office for more than five years; there is a President, President Designate and Immediate Past President, who each hold office for a period of one year; seven Council members each act as the chair to a particular committee, who may serve one term of four years within that office and there are nine members without office, who may serve two terms of three years. The Association's members, at the Annual General Meeting, elect all members of Council, with the exception of the President, who is elected by Council.
Risk Management
The trustees have examined the major strategic, business and operational risks that the charity faces and confirm that systems have been established to enable regular reports to be produced so that necessary steps can be taken to lessen these risks.
Reserves Policy
It is the policy of the Association to maintain sufficient general funds to cover management, administration and support costs, and to enable it to respond to any further approved projects, which arise from time to time.
Review of the financial statements for the year
The charity achieved a surplus of £56,019 for the year (2001 £93,907).

The charity is mindful of its responsibility to improve the financial standing of the organisation and Council has already put in place a rigorous policy towards the management of its resources and finances, which is now beginning to reap benefits. The long-term future of the charity depends upon its ability to maintain and strengthen its membership base as well as ensuring that sufficient funding is secured to support its various undertakings.

The Council has agreed the following transfers to Designated Funds during the year:

.  £10,000 to the Buildings Maintenance Fund for the upkeep and maintenance of the headquarters' building.

.  £45,611 to the MA Development & Special Projects Fund.

c) £5,000 to the Life Membership Fund.
Auditors
A resolution proposing the re-appointment of PKF as auditors was proposed and agreed at the Annual General Meeting.
Principal address
The principal address of The Mathematical Association is

259 London Road, Leicester LE2 3BE United Kingdom.

By order of the Council
MR W. P. RICHARDSON M.B.E.
Chair of Council, 13 April 2003

Law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the Council to prepare financial statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the financial activities of the charity during the year and of its state of affairs at the end of the year. In preparing those financial statements, the Council is required to:

.  select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

.  make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

.  state whether applicable accounting standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and

.  prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis, unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Charity will continue in operation.

The Council is responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy the financial position of the Charity and which enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the applicable law. It is are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The Council is responsible for ensuring that the Council's report and other information included in the Annual Report is prepared in accordance with applicable law in the United Kingdom.

EXPENDITURE