Annual Report 2004-2005

The Annual Report for 2004/2005 includes the following sections:

President's Report
Chair's Report From Council
Branches Committee
Conferences Committee
Professional Development Committee
Publications Committee
Editorial Happenings
Primary Mathematics Challenge
Library Committee
Teaching Committee News 2004-2005
Reports from Teaching Subcommittees
   093  Teaching and Learning Undergraduate Mathematics
  118   ICT Subcommittee
  120   Managing a Mathematics Department Subcommittee
  121   Primary Acting
  123   Spreadsheets 14 – 16
  127   Mathematics Across the Curriculum Subcommittee
  129   Post-16
  131   Mathematics For World Faith Festivals
  132   11-16 Subcommittee
  133   Mathematics resources for non-specialist teachers
Contacting Subcommittess
Membership: March 20
Innovations Unit Project
The Advisory Committe On Mathematics Education (ACME)
The British Mathematical Olympiad Committee
United Kingdom Mathematics Trust (UKMT)
Court of Loughborough University
Problem Bureau
Publicity and Membership
Headquarters
Rules and Regulations
The Council (April 2004 to March 2005)
Report of the Council : Year Ended 31 December 2004
Statement of Council Responsibilities
Income and Expenditure Account : Year Ended 31 December 2004
Mathematical Association: List of Bodies and our Representatives 2004/2005

PRESIDENT'S REPORT

Professor Adam McBride - President

In the Jim Gray Room at MA Headquarters in Leicester are boards listing all the Presidents of The Mathematical Association. They present an awesome sight containing, as they do, the names of many of the greatest mathematicians of their day. It was therefore both a privilege and a great honour to be invited to follow in their footsteps.

It seems to have become the tradition for the President's contribution to the MA Annual Report to include a potted biography. Perhaps the aim is to attempt to answer the question "Why am I here?" in the mind of the President!

My mathematical education began at Daniel Stewart's College in Edinburgh, where you could enrol in Class 1 of the Junior School and emerge from Form VI of the Senior School thirteen years later. I was interested in numbers from an early age and loved to attack challenging problems. One of the earliest I can remember concerned the time taken by a train to pass through a tunnel. In Y7 (in the English system which I shall use in deference to the majority of likely readers) we were using Holmes' Comprehensive Arithmetic and extracting square roots of 10-digit numbers by hand! In the January of Y9, we got a new teacher fresh from Moray House College of Education. His name was Alex Balfour and he set us a weekly puzzle, which we could tackle on a voluntary basis. This was long before any of the competitions, with which most of us are now so familiar, had been invented. The puzzles fired my imagination and, as a reward for solving the greatest number correctly, I received a prize. It took the form of Riddles in Mathematics by Eugene P. Northrop (3s 6d in old money), a book I still use to this day. After leaving school, I lost touch with Alex for nearly 40 years but we were brought together again by email in 2003 after his note 87.37 appeared in the Gazette. I had two other splendid teachers, Bill Craig and John Baird, who helped to put me well on the road to becoming a professional mathematician.

I was an undergraduate at the University of Edinburgh. My intended career then was school teaching. However, early in my final year, it was suggested that I should consider doing a PhD. The idea of going to Trinity College, Cambridge was floated, but I decided to stay in Edinburgh and work with Arthur Erdelyi on Fractional Calculus, in the setting of generalised functions such as the Dirac delta. What sense might be made of a derivative of order ½ or an integral of order 2+3i is not immediately clear, but it turns out that such things have their uses. At the beginning of my third year of postgraduate study, I was asked to be a Demonstrator, a rank which no longer exists, in the Technical Mathematics group which taught engineering students. I was given just nine lectures to teach material on complex variables to third year students which would normally be taught in about twenty-four lectures to mathematicians! This was certainly a challenge but I succeeded.

Around this time, I saw an advertisement for a lectureship in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. I thought I would give this a go as Glasgow is not far from Edinburgh; I could commute and perhaps one day I might move back to a job in Edinburgh. However, I am still at Strathclyde 34 years later and I am currently Head of Department. I have loved almost every minute of it. (Just don't mention things like Quality Assurance which bring me out in a rash!) I have done my fair whack of research but my first love is still teaching and the interaction with students which accompanies it.

My day job has always kept me busy, but it wasn't long before I started to get involved in other mathematical activities, mainly for school pupils but also for teachers. In 1976, I was one of the people who launched the take-home problem-solving competition Mathematical Challenge in Scotland, under the guidance of Professor Edward Patterson from the University of Aberdeen who remained in charge for an amazing 25 years. In 1979, colleagues in Strathclyde Region (which had no connection with my place of employment!) initiated residential courses for sixth formers which ran until the early 90s. These were great fun and I had the chance to lead many challenging sessions on problem-solving. During the 80s I served on the Scottish Mathematical Council and then as Convener of the Mathematics Panel of the Scottish Examination Board, as it then was. In the latter role, I chaired a working party which revised the Certificate of Sixth Year Studies (which in turn has been replaced by the Advanced Higher). In the early 1990s I was the first President of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society (EMS) to serve for two years, as result of a change in the constitution. Prior to that I had been EMS Treasurer for twelve years, during which the value of the Society's assets had risen from £5385 to over £62,000.

In 1991 a new part of my professional life began. The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) first took place in 1959 and the UK has been competing since 1967. It was decided to put the selection and training of the UK IMO team on a more organised foundation through the formation of the British Mathematical Olympiad Committee (BMOC). Various bodies were asked to nominate people to serve on BMOC and I was one of two EMS representatives. (The other was David Monk, who gave me my first mathematics lecture as an undergraduate and whose impeccable teaching style has had a great influence on my own.)

In a way, this was all rather scary as I couldn't do most of the IMO problems myself. So, how was I supposed to train all those young mathematical whiz-kids? The recurrent theme of challenge came into the picture yet again. Suffice to say that this was the start of a wonderful experience. I served as Leader of the UK IMO team on four occasions. The high spot academically was 1996 in Mumbai, India when we came 5th out of seventy-six countries. However, each IMO has its own special memories. The crowning glory was in 2002 when I was instrumental in bringing the IMO to Glasgow and having 479 students from eighty-four countries staying in the student village of my own University of Strathclyde. I was in charge of a world-class team of sixty problem solvers and co-ordinators who put on a terrific show, which, by common consent, was possibly the best ever. My involvement with the IMO has given me tremendous pleasure and I have made many friends all over the world.

Being President of the MA continued this side of my professional life. During my presidential year I have tried to do my best to further the aims of the Association. I have enjoyed travelling to far-flung parts such as Brighton and Norwich to talk to the branches based there. I have been involved in trying to set up meetings with government ministers to discuss various issues, many emanating from the Smith Report. Unfortunately, in this regard I seem to have the opposite of the Midas touch, as every meeting I was due to attend was cancelled, on one occasion less than 24 hours before the appointed time. (My successor, Sue Singer, has already had more positive outcomes than I had!)

Like all organisations, the MA will always have to face fresh challenges. (There's that word again!) However, it has much to feel proud of. For instance, the Gazette is a superb publication, with articles that many people can actually understand and enjoy (as opposed to most research journals where very few people understand any of the papers). The Gazette is one of the last outposts of triangle geometry, which is very apt, given the MA's origin as the Association for the Improvement of Geometrical Teaching.

With Sue Singer as President, Barry Lewis as Chair of Council, Bill Richardson as Secretary and many other willing and talented colleagues, the MA can face the future with confidence. As I said at the start, it has been a privilege and an honour to serve the MA as President and I wish the Association well in the years to come.

Professor Adam McBride – President

CHAIR'S REPORT FROM COUNCIL

On reading through the report given a year ago, I find much in common in how I feel about the year just ending. The year has been a good one for us. With the huge range of activities in which the Association is involved, not all enterprises are equally successfully but, on balance, we have done well.

Council has had four meetings since April 2004. The meetings were held early in June, September, December and March. In addition, Standing Committee met three times. The Council meetings have been well attended and a great deal of business is accomplished. There was time at meetings to discuss many internal and external issues including the long-awaited recommendations of the Smith and Tomlinson Enquiries. It was very pleasing that Celia Hoyles accepted our invitation to attend the meeting in March 2005.

The membership continues to rise. We made an offer of one year's free membership to a sample of secondary PGCE students and about 20% accepted it. It will be interesting to see how many are prepared to pay a subscription in December 2005! Continuing Professional Development is on-going. John Leigh has been very busy in his role as Senior Professional Officer and we all hope that much good will emerge.

As always, our Headquarters staff continue to work hard for the Association. I reported last year that the Association had appointed a new Membership Secretary. The transition has not been as smooth as we would have liked and I very much hope that things will settle down very soon. The servicing of the BCME conference has added to the normal stresses and strains and we should be very grateful to the staff who needed to put in that bit extra to get things done. I must put on record my own thanks as well as those of the rest of the Association to Marcia Murray. She has continued to work tirelessly and well above and beyond the call of duty and we need to recognise the magnificent work that she does (and the margin is too small).

Finally, I turn to the comings and goings of Council members. At this stage, Council bids farewell to three of its members: Susie Jameson, Sir Christopher Zeeman and Robert Barbour. Susie has been on Council for at least 10 years. During that time she did an excellent job as Chair of Conferences; she was a member without office for a year or two and then became Editor in Chief, a post she held for the last five years. Susie has found it increasingly difficult to get time off to attend meetings but has worked very hard by e-mail and by telephone. I thank her and wish her well. Sir Christopher comes to the end of a three-year spell in the presidential positions. Before he joined Council, I had never met him. I had heard him lecture and, along with many others, held him in great awe. Since working with him in the MA, this awe has increased and I thank him for all he has done for the Association and hope to keep contact with him.

Finally, we say farewell to Robert. Robert joined the Council in 1998 as a member without office and became the Secretary in 2001. During that time he has led on several initiatives but I shall remember him mostly for the quiet way in which he raised issues and generally kept things moving steadily in an appropriate direction. His career has (as in the case of others) moved him away for the classroom and from mathematics. Our loss is certainly a gain for somebody 'out there'. As three members are going, we are joined (or rejoined) by three fresh faces: Mary Ledwick, a teacher in Lancashire and member of Teaching Committee, joins as member without office; Alan Camina, from the University of East Anglia, joins as Chair of Conferences; and, Peter Bailey, from the Midlands and head of the Primary Mathematics Challenge, rejoins Council, on this occasion, as Editor-in-Chief.

I have enjoyed my five years and look forward to continuing to work for the MA in a new role.

Bill Richardson (Chair of Council)

BRANCHES COMMITTEE

Again, this has been a fairly active year with many of the Branches putting on varied and exciting programme for their members. A number of Branches are experiencing difficulties due to a lack of members who are willing to help with organising branch activities. I would encourage members who live within the area covered by a Branch to get involved with organising that Branches activities as it an enjoyable and rewarding experience. In addition, all Branches would welcome new members from the general membership of the Association.

If anyone is interested in starting a new Branch, I am able to give advice on possible activities and speakers. In addition the Association can help with finances by giving a start-up grant and help with advertising the new Branch to Association members who live within the area covered by the Branch.

During the year the Branches Committee met twice, once at the end of the York conference in April, and once at the Association's Headquarters in Leicester in November. At these meetings the committee discussed issues that are of importance to the branches and exchanged ideas about meetings and activities. During the year the President, Professor Adam McBride, visited a number of Branches and gave interesting talks to them.

Paul Harris (Chair of Branches)

CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

The Smith enquiry into mathematics, the Tomlinson report on 14-19 provision in education and the recent white paper by the government in response makes this an exciting time for mathematics education. Throw in a general election, and the whole heady brew becomes an intoxicating mixture. There is a branch of thinking that believes in a theory of 'synchronicity' - come the time, come the idea, come the institution, come the people..

It was therefore perfect timing (or, as the synchronists would argue - inevitable) that the whole of the mathematical community should come together for a combined conference under the umbrella of the British Congress of Mathematics Education (BCME) and the sixth such conference to date. And then there was the title, 'Routes of Unity'. This is a resonating title, drawing together the crowning achievement of complex numbers (the roots of unity) with the principle that separate organisations with the same aspirations and objectives can tread cooperative paths (the routes to unity) that frequently converge and then powerfully meet.

And that was the combined conference held at Warwick University actively supported by everybody:

Over 500 delegates attended the conference: on offer were two key note lectures, individual organisation fixtures and 169 sessions - an amazing programme of lectures and workshops that embraced all aspects of mathematics, mathematics education and practice. What was delightful was the opportunity to combine a taste of the new with the reassurance of the tried and tested: not only in the content of the programme but in the new friends and different perspectives gained. A truly refreshing professional and social experience.

Professor Celia Hoyles - Chief Adviser for Mathematics in England - opened the conference with an authoritative account of the current challenges we all face in engaging students in mathematics. Not only as a route to qualifications and employment, but as a way of looking at the world and the patterns and relationships that give it coherence. This eloquent summary was packed with insight, clarity and power.

And so to some MA events. Professor Adam McBride gave his presidential address, that was based on a bizarre set of outlandish numbers that he unveiled right at the start. Each of these had a particular significance - sometimes mathematical, sometimes autobiographical, and sometimes just the pure joy of its unsuspecting significance and impact. Delivered with the style we all know and the humour that infused the lecture hall, this was truly inspiring and entertaining.

Some hours later, the annual dinner began with a reception hosted by the Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education. The evening never looked back. The culmination was the after dinner speech of Rob Eastaway, full of humour and human mathematics.

Mike Askew of King's College, London gave the closing lecture. His was an anecdotal approach to models of teaching and learning in mathematics - delivered with the panache and power of a communicator who understands that serious destinations can always be reached through enjoyable routes.

Amongst the many gems, what about this?
Task: draw a rule 2.4 cm long.
Response: the neatly written phrase, exactly 2.4 cm long,
"Be kind to people".
Indeed there are many routes to unity!

The MA through the Chair of Council and headquarters not only helped plan this hugely successful conference but provided the infrastructure for the website and for delegate registration and help throughout. We also ran a stand with all the current publications on display. My thanks to them for their seamless and professional help.

And so to next year's conference; this will be held at Loughborough University, 10th - 13th April 2006. The theme is, 'Sailing Through Mathematics' and we promise it will be nautical, but nice. Come and join us.

Barry Lewis (Chair of Confernces)

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

The activities of the committee, always focussed on the principle objective "to promote and support the professional development of teachers," have been many and varied. As we move to the future, the committee plans to keep a watchful eye on the post-Smith and post-Tomlinson era, with a view to being well placed to further the Association's aim to improve the teaching of mathematics and its applications. The writers believe that this will mean that the committee, with other colleagues, continues to strive to influence policy development. We are therefore pleased to note that the past year has seen us working with a range of bodies including The Teacher Training Agency, The KS3 Strategy, The Department for Education and Skills, The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency, a CPD working group of the Joint Mathematical Council (JMC), The Specialist Schools Trust and the Subject Associations Working Group (SAWG). There follows a summary of activity over the period.

Becta (2004/5): The contract for the financial year to April 2005 was signed in September 2004. Originally invited to submit a proposal within a set, Whitehall cutbacks finalised the contract at half the amount. We work with the ATM on this project.

Part of the contract is focused on delivering materials for the Becta 'ictadvice' website, including supporting online newsletters and content. We look forward to the release of the 'content'; a pair of inset packs in the near future:

We are pursuing ways in which these packs can be used by the MA and expect a response regarding copyright issues in the near future.

December saw an online 'Ask an Expert' on using interactive whiteboards in the mathematics classroom and March saw a second with a focus on dynamic software.

The MA and ATM (with support from colleagues in AMET and NAMA) have established, and shared with Becta, a database of a 'National Pool of Expertise' available to provide a variety of forms of support to teachers, schools and LEAs. Our vision that this 'National Pool', led by a team of ten fully ICT-equipped maths specialists, will be well placed to support/complement the commitment to a national CPD infrastructure with a focus on the subject, hopefully working with the National (and Regional) Centres as they evolve.

February saw a one-day event for the identified 'Pool of Experts' (in using ICT in Mathematics) collated by the MA for Becta. March saw a one-day event for teachers (Head of Department or teacher responsible for ICT in mathematics). This event was supported by the Yorkshire and Humberside SETPOINT; which took responsibility for and covered the costs of marketing, administration and venue. We are hopeful that the development and expansion of this partnership will prove fruitful.

BETT Awards 2005: The committee was represented at the judging process for Mathematics KS3/4 BETT Awards at which the key role/responsibility was to produce, in agreement with other judges and the allocated moderator, a shortlist of products, selected from those entered, for recommending to the next stage of the judging process.

Day Conferences: During the year, school 'clusters' approached the professional officer for support in terms of CPD provision for mathematics. Responding to this need, conferences have been provided on the island of Guernsey (October) and in Devon for the 'South West Independent Training' group (April). The Guernsey conference was the primary "Beyond the Numeracy Strategy", whilst the Devon offer, incorporating the same, also provided a KS3 ICT input to respond to the needs of the purchasing group.

'Beyond the Numeracy Strategy': Developing the MA profile in primary schools, October 2004 saw two, one-day conferences, targeted at teachers of mathematics in primary schools successfully organised and delivered; one in the North East of England and one in London. The conferences went 'Beyond the Numeracy Strategy' to develop, creativity, excitement and enrichment in the primary mathematics classroom. It is planned to run a series of three conferences in the summer term of 2006.

DfES KS3 Offer (Nominally 2003/4-Actually 2004/5): Following the new remit from Charles Clarke for Becta, with the consequent merger in terms of the responsibility and management of contracts that impact on ICT in Mathematics, the DfES KS3 Offer was incorporated under the Becta umbrella. Work has progressed throughout the period since April 2004, successfully meeting the terms of the contract. The contract provided for a revision of "ICT and Mathematics: a guide to learning and teaching mathematics 11-19" (produced originally by the MA for the TTA), for the development of CPD materials and for the development of a database of ICT mathematics experts. An exciting late addition to this work was the opportunity to work with Intel to explore new break-through approaches to teaching and learning the most difficult, challenging key concepts of Key Stage 3 Mathematics. One outcome of this element has been the development of tools to assist in the mathematics classroom that are freely available from the IntelSkool site.

DfES Mathematics "Embedding ICT @ Secondary" (Nov. 2004): Funded by the ICTiS division at the DfES the MA was asked to help plan, staff and promote the national mathematics event. Approximately 200 people registered for the day and enjoyed a range of activities and workshops focussed on the appropriate use of ICT in mathematics teaching. The respect held by the DfES for the role of the MA is perhaps indicated in the opening slide of Russell Prue's presentation, which had a large MA logo as its centrepiece suitably dominating the DfES logo and presentation information.

Expert Group DfES Standards Unit: The initiative to transform teaching and learning in the 'Learning and Skills' sector continues to make good progress. The report at the January 2005 meeting, at which the committee was represented, was once again most encouraging. Discussion is currently focused on the best strategy for national dissemination. The resource that will be produced to support teachers and lecturers looks potentially very useful. It will contain materials in various forms such as a DVD Rom (and/or a set of CDs), an introductory book, files of materials including exemplars of 'sessions' of various length, a professional development file and video clips.

Higher Level Teaching Assistants (HLTA): Mathematics: The committee is being kept informed of a proposed pilot (September 2005) to consider the value in training specialist mathematics (and science) HLTAs. The committee is represented on the mathematics advisory group. The pilot is a development of the existing HLTA scheme, introduced nationwide in April 2004. The pilot specialist maths and science HTLA programme will include elements of subject knowledge.

ITT Induction Pack: TTA funded Induction Pack for ITT for mathematics. A project started in March 2003 to run to March 2006. Progress continues as intended, guided by Ros Hyde.

Online CPD (ESTUICT - Enhancing Subject Teaching using ICT) - Provided by 'The Mathematics Consortium' (The MA, UCC and New Media): The committee continued to support this initiative, launched at BETT 2004, throughout the period. The first schools electing for this CPD opportunity registered and an induction event was planned and staffed in York in June. Unfortunately, take-up for the ESTUICT offer was poor in all subjects resulting in the DfES looking at how best to ensure the materials get wider dissemination. The decision is to re-launch the materials, a process that will be phased over the summer and autumn terms 2005, with the primary schools' materials released first, followed by KS3 subjects. It is likely that the materials will be released via the National Education Network and hosted on Regional Broadband Consortiums. We continue to work to stress the value of the face-to-face element of the CPD integral to the materials and are working with the DfES to explore the MA role in this.

Promethean Interactive Whiteboard: Promethean have made available, at no charge to the MA, an ACTIVboard48 on long-term loan. This is a large, portable interactive whiteboard. This and the data projector bought with 2.5 years remaining of a 3-year warranty, at a discount, also from Promethean, are available for MA business, by prior arrangement with HQ. It is worth noting that conference centres charge for the use of data projectors - fees at one venue in Birmingham for example are £200 per day up to an image 3m by 2m and £370 for a larger one. (The MA's projector will give an image up to 6m by 4m approx.)

Specialist Schools Trust: The committee continues to work closely with the Trust to look at ways of supporting schools, particularly those with a mathematics element to their improvement targets (now a total of some 1130 schools from the 1910 with specialist status). 'The Specialist Schools National Conference' in late November was well attended, as was the 'DfES Welcome Conference (Newly designated Specialist Schools)', in July. Much interest was evident in the Mathematical Association's stand.

Adrian Oldknow (Chair of Professional Development)

John Leigh (Senior Professional Officer)

PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE

The year has been another busy one for the Publications Committee which has wrestled with new designs and investigated new partnership arrangements as well as published some excellent books and extended the range of materials to include posters, stickers and mathematical games.

In particular, the Publications Committee has been looking into a new house style for the Association's publications which, after much consideration, has resulted in the adoption of a more modern yet versatile design for our front covers. The new style allows each book to have individuality whilst maintaining a uniformed look.

Barry Lewis and myself are presently in communication with Hodder Headline to explore cooperative ways of working. It is hoped that their considerable expertise in marketing will enable the Association's resources to reach a much wider audience as well as supporting us in developing procedures and protocols for future publishing.

Thanks to the excellent work of the many volunteers of the Association, the range of publications continues to grow. New titles introduced this year include Hurdles and Strategies in the Teaching of Algebra by Tony Barnard, Three Dimensional Theorems by Sir Christopher Zeeman and Mathematical Textbooks from Six Centuries by Mike Price, Mary Walmsley and Michael Dampier.

We have also extended our list to include a range of mathematical resources including games from 'Playbreak' and 'Eduplay', a video by Chris Budd and further books including Mathematical Challenges V from the Scottish Mathematical Council, Early Years Handbook from the Curriculum Partnership and A Toolkit in Data Handling by the Royal Statistical Society.

New books, which are very near to publication, include Puzzles from Pie edited by Wil Ransome, Leadership to Count On edited by Robin Bevan, Raising the Profile by Lynne McClure and Assessment for Learning in Mathematics, edited by Doug French. Work is proceeding on a number of new projects including a new set of A level Posters to complement the popular set released last year.

The Publications Committee has also taken a serious interest in geometry and practical activities for use in the mathematics classroom - watch out for some exciting developments in this area in the near future, including some materials on the subject of paper folding.

My grateful thanks to the hard working committee including Colin Abell, Peter Bailey, Ian Evans, Susie Jameson, Richard Kirby, Mary Ledwick, Bill Richardson, and Sue Waring. A special thank you also to Lisa Hall who continues to be the member of staff who serves the Committee so well.

Paul Metcalf (Chair of Publications)

EDITORIAL HAPPENINGS

This is my final report as Editor-in-Chief. I have greatly enjoyed my tenure and know that I leave things in very safe hands.

Once again, I must firstly 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 and website, 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 would like to thank all those wonderful people who have been authors this year, both well-established names and new names. They are the life-blood of the journals. It is their copy that allows the editors to produce journals that are balanced, informative and topical.

There have, as always been a few changes in the Editorial team, so I thought it might be useful to publish an up-to-date list. In alphabetical order (of Journals) the current editorial team comprises:

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)

PRIMARY MATHEMATICS CHALLENGE

"Evil but I enjoyed it"

Last November, more than 110 000 pupils from 3179 schools took the PMC. The MA provided over 77 000 certificates for presentation in assemblies! 588 high-scoring pupils were invited to take the PMC Finals in February this year, and 262 medals were awarded. As usual we received some wonderful feedback. Here are some of the comments.

Comments from pupils:

I suddenly realised what I thought was the obvious answer, wasn't!

Difficult but fun!

What is a cantankerous crocodile anyway?

A lot of it was logical when you thought about it

I really like puzzles like these

It was tough but I'm glad I did it

You had to use your head. I liked all the funny names

....Sneaky! That was fun! Brilliant - I love maths

Comments from teachers:

Worthwhile experience for the class

Made them think. They loved the silly names

Interesting questions - had staff and pupils puzzled. Another lovely selection of problems

It is a super activity

Excellent source of problem solving

Delighted with the certificates

Pupils couldn't stop talking about it afterwards

Another great paper! Looking forward to next year.

Some schools reported that they thought that the November PMC paper was harder than previous papers. The Problems Team will try to ensure that as many PMC pupils as possible get a 'positive experience' from taking the PMC by setting some easy problems at the beginning of next November's paper.

Invicta Education (Leicester) has agreed to be the official sponsor of the PMC for the next three years. We have already benefited from this with work on updating the design of our paperwork and on promoting the challenge. This is an exciting development for the PMC and will further increase the number of schools involved.

Thanks to all members of the PMC teams and MA staff who work so hard. We look forward to Anthony Carter, Meryl Hargreaves and Lesley Jones joining the Problems Team in 2005.

Peter Bailey (Chair of PMC Management Team)

LIBRARY COMMITTEE

The Committee met on two occasions and now comprises Mike Price (Librarian and Chair), Mary Walmsley (now formally recognised as the MA Archivist), Marcia Murray (Secretary), Evelyn Cornell (University of Leicester Library with responsibility for Special Collections), Mike Dampier and Howard Fay. Barry Lewis (now Chair of Council) attended the second meeting.

New acquisitions of books and periodicals - mainly 20th century - have come from the libraries of Mike Price and the late Canon Donald B Eperson, and are being processed. Exceptionally, in November 2004 the MA acquired the entire mathematical library of John Hersee, a towering figure in the MA since the 1970s. Suffering from Parkinson's disease, he could no longer care for his remarkable collection, which he lovingly built up over a fifty-year period. The collection comprises around 500 older mathematical books from the 17th to the 19th centuries; around 500 more books from the late 19th and 20th centuries, and various long runs of mathematical education periodicals; and a superb collection of around 200 manuscript exercise books - a specialist interest of John - from the 18th and 19th centuries. This is the largest and most valuable donation to the MA Library in over fifty years. The whole collection is currently accommodated on shelves and in crates in the MA archive room at Leicester, which has now been fittingly designated the John Hersee room. This room has been refurbished to include some fine bookcases, which can accommodate all the older books. It will take around two years to process the collection in all its parts, to include valuation, insurance, transfers to the University Library, conservation, special storage for the manuscripts, and cataloguing. This process is complicated by the fact that the University Library is engaged in a major building programme, 2005-2007, which will involve the temporary removal of both the MA's Special and Stack Collections within a phased programme. Duplicates from donations are accumulating at MA HQ, including some recent withdrawals of stock from the Stack Collection, where multiple copies of relatively common late-19th and 20th century textbooks have unnecessarily accumulated. It is planned to offer duplicates in exchange for donations to the Library fund at the next annual conference in Loughborough, April 2006.

Electronic cataloguing of the MA Library now extends to over 3600 records. The backlog of books and periodicals in the Stack Collection has been eliminated. There remain around 5000 records on index cards and it is planned to send these to the USA, late in 2005, for 'retrospective conversion scanning' at a cost of around £3000. Putting the whole of the MA Library contents on the database - and thereby on the Internet - will be a major step forward in relation to both publicity and access.

Regarding publicity, a new book about the MA Library was published early in 2005: The Library of the Mathematical Association. Mathematical Textbooks from Six Centuries by Mary Walmsley, Michael Price and Michael Dampier. The 32 pages of text include a history, a brief 'tour' of the Stack Collection, and a complete list of books and periodicals in the Special Collection. In addition, there are fifteen coloured plates illustrating the Library's character by featuring books from as early as 1533 to as late as 2001! A display of some of these books was presented in two large cases on the ground floor of the University Library over the summer of 2004.

Finally, a new periodical exchange arrangement has been set up with the Association of Teachers of Mathematics, to continue the runs of Mathematics Teaching and Micromath from the first issues.

Mike Price (Librarian, Chair of Library Committee)

TEACHING COMMITTEE NEWS 2004-2005

The role of Teaching Committee is:

We meet once each term and hold an Open Meeting each year at Conference. Much of our work is done by subcommittees. These are either set up to carry out a particular task or have a standing brief in relation to a particular area. There are subcommittees representing primary, 11 to 16, post-16 and undergraduate mathematics and one responsible for ICT, together with others working on various specific projects. Typically a subcommittee 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 subcommittees consist of a number of people who conduct their business by e-mail and meet together more rarely. Reports on the rich variety of current activity of our subcommittees appear in this issue of Teaching Committee News.

This year, Teaching Committee made a successful funding proposal to the Gatsby Charitable Foundation to fund research into why secondary mathematics teachers leave teaching. The problem of the supply of mathematics teachers was highlighted by the report of the Smith Inquiry. Government initiatives to address the problem are directed mainly at attracting new teachers into the profession, rather than looking at the retention of existing teachers. The research is quite small-scale, but it is hoped its findings might inform larger scale government research into the issues it raises. The research is being carried out by Claire Tikly of the University of London, Institute of Education, managed by a steering committee of Teaching Committee members and a representative from the Gatsby Charitable Foundation.

Work funded by the DfES innovations unit on Developing Learners' Appreciation of Mathematical Thinking, jointly with the Association of Teachers of Mathematics (ATM), and also on producing resources linking Mathematics and Citizenship, jointly with the Association of Citizenship Teachers (ACT), has been ongoing during the past year and has been successful, generating resources and conference sessions. It is hoped articles relating to these projects will appear in Mathematics in School over the next twelve months.

Teaching Committee organises the representation of the Mathematical Association at QCA subject association meetings. The last meeting took place on November 1. Topics discussed included:

ICT in mathematics, National Strategies, Inclusion, Curriculum and Assessment 3 - 14, GCSE Mathematics, GCE Mathematics, Free-Standing Mathematics Qualifications, Application of number, Transfer and Transition. QCA's briefing papers relating to these issues may be downloaded from the MA website, where teachers are invited to respond directly to QCA.

In the coming year, Teaching Committee will be particularly concerned with responding to the challenges of the Smith report in the light of the government's response to the Tomlinson Inquiry and the 14-19 White Paper. The White Paper's emphasis on acceleration is of particular concern, since it seems to contradict recommendations of the Smith Inquiry. Another major topic will be the National Centre for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching, which will begin to be established in the coming year. The 14-19 Pathways in Mathematics, especially the two-tier and dual/double Mathematics GCSEs will also be high on our agenda.

Thanks to all who give their time to work for the Association through Teaching Committee and its subcommittees. In particular, I would like to record thanks to Jan Jagger and Chris Pritchard, who are stepping down after several years of dedicated service on Teaching Committee.

Charlie Stripp (Chair of Teaching Committee)

Reports from Teaching Subcommittees

093 Teaching & Learning Undergraduate Mathematics Chair Adrian Simpson

TALUM undertakes research into the learning and teaching of mathematics at undergraduate level, and looks to have an input at national level. More recently much fruitful work has been done in collaboration with the post-16 group, a report of which can be found below.

118 ICT Chair Adrian Oldknow

Activities over the course of the last year include:

The DfES Mathematics Roadshow in Birmingham in November. The mathematics 'roadshow' or national mathematics event 'Embedding ICT in Secondary mathematics teaching' was a huge success. Approximately 200 people registered for the day and enjoyed a range of activities and workshops focused on the appropriate use of ICT in mathematics teaching. Funded by the ICTiS division at the DfES the MA was asked to help plan, staff and promote the mathematics 'roadshow'. The respect held by the DfES for the role of the MA is perhaps indicated in the opening slide of Russell Prue's presentation, which had a large MA logo as its centrepiece suitably dominating the DfES logo and presentation information.

Online CPD (Estuict) provided by 'The Mathematics Consortium': the DfES is currently looking at how best to get the excellent materials produced by the MA and colleagues into schools. Watch this space!

Becta/DfES (ICTiS division): the expected contract has been signed. The contract includes providing expertise to support the Becta ICT advice website (www.ictadvice.org.uk) via the Ask a 'Question' and 'Ask an Expert' routes. Also colleagues are busy writing items of 'content' regarding using ICT in Mathematics. The first Ask an Expert, focussed on the use of interactive whiteboards, ran in December. Another will follow in March (the focus is Dynamic Geometry software). Currently work is on-going to 'Build Capacity'; the capacity of teachers in schools to effectively use ICT where appropriate.

The 'Mathematics with ICT in KS3' materials, produced in collaboration by the DfES with ATM and MA, include sets of teaching notes, lesson plans and resources for teachers. This is not yet available in hard copy, but have a look at (www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/keystage3/respub/ma_ict).

Please note that the committee continues to explore the possibility of offering a one-day conference, or series of conferences, covering the use of ICT in the mathematics classroom, with optional workshops to include IWBs. This was the main finding of the analysis of delegate responses taken from the evaluation forms completed at the 2003/4 G&T conferences to the question "What alternative topics would you like to see as a future focus for other one-day conferences/seminars offered by the MA?"

Please note also that a Promethean portable whiteboard (Activboard 48) has been made available, at no charge to the MA, on long-term loan. It is stored with the data projector (Sanyo PLC-SE15) at HQ, and is available for MA business.

120 Managing a Mathematics Department Chair Robin Bevan

This subcommittee has continued to make significant steps towards achieving the primary aim of the group: to produce a manuscript, ready for publication - a handbook of advice and guidance for Heads of Mathematics. The content is intended to help an aspiring Head of Department prepare for leadership, and indeed for interview. A new Head of Department will find advice to 'steer' their work in the first years of appointment; and experienced colleagues will have a source of ideas to motivate and assess their progress.

Membership of the committee has remained very stable allowing for the work to be progressed incrementally, without any need to be repeatedly re-visiting material. The efforts and perspectives brought by each member of the team, and their patience with me in the chair, are both considerable! As we approach the end of the committee's work, it is appropriate to offer public thanks to Will Connolly, Chris Pritchard, Jackie Beattie, Debbie Parks, Allister Clark, Carolyn Hume, Jane Imrie and Fiona Hogg.

The text is nearly finished - the main text has been drafted, edited, re-drafted, scrutinised, and passed through another round of 'consistency checking'. Photographs have been added, the text style modified, and contents lists produced. The committee may meet one last time, before Easter . ready to pass the finished manuscript to Teaching Committee for publication.

121 Primary Acting Chair Lynne McClure

The revitalized primary subcommittee will be meeting for the first time at the Warwick conference. We intend to act as a focus point for:

On the immediate task list is supporting the web editors in designing an improved primary section of the MA website, and then working towards a new primary publication. If any other colleagues are interested in being involved with this youthful and vibrant group, do contact the chair through the MA website.

123 Spreadsheets 14-16 Chair pro-tem Charlie Stripp

This subcommittee needs resurrecting. Some work has been done, but this now needs to be taken up again and turned into a publication. Please contact Charlie Stripp (charlie.stripp@mei.org.uk) if you are interested in being involved.

127 Mathematics Across the Curriculum Chair Mary Ledwick

The work of this subcommittee, 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 subcommittee addresses issues in non-university post-16 education and develops material to enhance the teaching and learning of mathematics at that level. Its fourteen members meet once a term in London, but much work is undertaken between meetings. The subcommittee has continued to concern itself with issues arising from the Smith and Tomlinson Inquiries and their reports. It has also been monitoring current examinations.

The subcommittee organised a Post-16 Forum at the Annual Conference 2004 which, as well as discussing recent developments in post-16 mathematics, included the launch of a new section on the MA website, Mathematics - What Use Is It? designed to provided materials showing application outside the classroom of topics from GCE mathematics. (The subcommittee is grateful for the support of The Institute of Mathematics and its Applications in this venture.) Also available at the Annual Conference and on the MA website is an updated version of a mathematical book list for sixth-formers which has been prepared by the subcommittee. More recently, the subcommittee has been engaged on preparing for BCME6 where it is organising a Post-16 Forum, and sessions on AS 'Use of Mathematics and Revision Techniques for AS Mathematics'.

In consultation with the TaLUM subcommittee, the subcommittee prepared, a four-page briefing document for lecturers in higher education on Sixth-Form Mathematics Today. This has been published in MSOR Connections and on the MA website. Subsequently, the subcommittee has been gathering student profiles to be added to the new website www.mathscareers.org.uk which has been established by the Council for the Mathematical Sciences. It is also exploring the possibility of providing briefing material for the Institute of Careers Guidance.

An initiative from the subcommittee has led to the MA running a new course, which will take place for the first time in 2005, for prospective teachers of Further Mathematics who wish to develop their subject knowledge. The subcommittee's email support group for teachers of Further Mathematics continues to be active.

Following the success of the first series of five posters for the A-Level classroom which have been published, work is nearing completion on a further five posters which it is hoped will be published in 2005. Their titles are The Cosine Function, The Sine Function, Radians, Continuous Data and Discrete Data. It is also hoped that a new series of articles to provide background and enrichment material on, mainly pure, topics from GCE mathematics will appear shortly in Mathematics in School.

During the year Mohammed Basharat, Stephen Drape, Christine Lawley and Jenny Orton resigned from the subcommittee, we are very grateful for their contributions to its work, in particular to Stephen for his time as secretary. Two new members have joined during the year, Bernard Murphy and Chris Sangwin. The subcommittee continues to circulate its email newsletter about twice a term. If you would like to receive the newsletter or are in any other way interested in the work of the subcommittee, please contact the chair, Peter Thomas, at tc-129@m-a.org.uk.

131 Mathematics for World Faith Festivals Chair Geoff Tennant

Volunteers to help complete the work on a publication looking to provide mathematics resources for the celebration of world faith festivals are invited to contact Geoff Tennant on gdt3@le.ac.uk

132 11-16 Subcommittee Chair Doug French

Over the course of the year this subcommittee has been working in two main areas:

1) Response to current issues: the group has been responding to issues such as the proposed 2-tier system at GCSE, the grade boundaries and Data Handling, as well as the National KS3 strategy and the Smith and Tomlinson reports. Response either involves writing a paper in the name of the MA or meeting with those concerned.

2) Formative assessment book; a book is almost ready for publication providing a resource pack for Assessment in Learning. It provides many varied ideas on tools which can be used and questions which can be asked as well as photocopiable resources and discussion of how to improve the quality of learning for pupils in the classroom. Future work will include an update on the current MA resource for running a Maths Club.

133 Mathematics resources for non-specialist teachers Chair pro-tem Geoff Tennant

This subcommittee is currently on hold awaiting further developments in the Keystage Three Strategy. If colleagues have any ideas as to how the MA can support teachers teaching mathematics without an appropriate degree background, please contact Geoff Tennant at gdt3@le.ac.uk

Contacting Subcommittees

Some subcommittees have pages on the MA website which can be accessed through www.m-a.org.uk. Unless otherwise specified above, the subcommittee's e-mail address is tc-nnn@m-a.org.uk, where nnn is the three-digit number of the subcommittee.

Membership: March 20

Elected members

Jane Imrie (Newark), Mary Ledwick (Clitheroe), Elaine Richards (Accrington), Ray Steele (Leeds).

Ex-officio members

Robert Barbour (Secretary to the MA), Anna Dunlop (Branches Committee), Tony Gardiner (Publicity and Membership Committee), Susie Jameson (Editor-in-Chief), Adam McBride (President of the MA), Marcia Murray (chief executive), Bill Richardson (Chair MA Council)

How to get involved

Most subcommittee chairs are constantly on the lookout for new members to come onto their subcommittees and get involved. The usual commitment is one meeting per term, with work going on between meetings, mostly towards publications. Occasionally, members are also invited to meetings with representatives of QCA, the Keystage Three Strategy, OfSTED and others.

As well as the subcommittees described here, new subcommittees are set up to undertake particular tasks. If you have an idea for an MA publication, or if you feel there is a gap in what is currently being considered, do let us know. Working on a subcommittee represents an excellent chance to get involved with the MA, and looks very good on a CV! To volunteer your services, or to find out more, please contact the secretary to the Teaching Committee, Geoff Tennant, on gdt3@le.ac.uk or tc-secretary@m-a.org.uk

INNOVATIONS UNIT PROJECT

Beyond the Bar Chart Project

The 'Beyond the Bar Chart' team, funded by the DfES Innovations Unit and acting on behalf of the MA and the Association for Citizenship Teaching, has produced some draft materials. These have been circulated to schools, with the request that they be trialled before the end of the summer, with both staff and pupils completing evaluation forms. The intention is then to work on the evaluation over the summer, both in terms of writing about the project, and also refining the materials preparatory to dissemination, aiming at the beginning of next academic year. Anne Diack of the Innovations Unit met with Geoff Tennant in February and made a number of very helpful suggestions, including approaching the Key Stage 3 strategy team and Teachers' TV with a view to helping with dissemination. In the meantime, if colleagues have any suggestions for schools that could be approached to help with the trialling please let Geoff Tennant know.

Geoff Tennant (Project Manager)

Gatsby Project

MA Research into why Secondary Mathematics Teachers Leave Teaching

Aim: The Smith Inquiry report 'Making Mathematics Count' (February 2004) identified a serious shortage of well-qualified mathematics teachers in secondary schools and highlighted the issue of teacher retention, but it offers no evidence to explain why so many mathematics teachers leave teaching, often within the first five years of entering the profession. This research aims to produce a report, with detailed case studies, identifying the key reasons why mathematics teachers leave teaching and suggesting actions which might be taken to improve the retention of mathematics teachers. It is hoped its findings might inform larger scale Government research into the issues it raises. Clare Tikly, of the University of London Institute of Education, has been commissioned to carry out this research. A sample has been established and questionnaires returned. Currently interviews are being set up with a subset of the respondents to provide the detailed case studies.

Charlie Stripp (Project Manager)

Overview of MA Reponses

The welcome conjunction of the publication of the Smith Report and an Education Secretary, Charles Clarke, who had a real interest in mathematics, led the MA to seek a meeting with the Minister. However, despite a useful correspondence two meetings were cancelled at very short notice. Nothing daunted we continued to press for a meeting and in March were finally rewarded with an hour with Derek Twigg, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools, who had inherited the mantle of responsibility for mathematics from Charles Clarke. He was clearly on a steep learning curve, particularly where extension/ acceleration was concerned, but was friendly and apparently genuinely interested and keen to learn. The agenda was the relationship between the Smith Report and the 14-19 White Paper.

The long-awaited Tomlinson Report was published in November and was somewhat disappointing in its lack of direct reference to mathematics. Nevertheless, we prepared a response which was submitted to the DfES and QCA. The Government's response to Tomlinson was a White Paper published in February 2005.

The Government responded in a variety of ways to the Smith Report including commissioning some work based on recommendation 4.4. Keen to generate a real debate on data handling and the position of Ma4 within the National Curriculum the MA produced a position paper which was circulated within the teaching profession and to government. This resulted in a meeting with QCA in April.

Meanwhile in January interested parties in the House of Lords, concerned about the slow progress being made on Smith's recommendations, secured a debate on the state of school mathematics. With only a few days warning of the debate we prepared a short briefing paper for their Lordships. This was circulated to those members of the House of Lords who we understood might speak in the debate. It was, therefore, very gratifying that during the debate a number of their lordships clearly referred to our briefing paper.

Sue Singer (President Designate)

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. 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 have 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.

Since November 2003 Professor Bernard Silverman, Master of St Peter's College, Oxford, has been the Chair of JMC. Two prominent members of the MA remain as office bearers: Sue Sanders is the JMC secretary and Adrian Oldknow its treasurer. As was the case in the previous year, a great deal of time was spent in discussion of the reports of the Smith and Tomlinson Inquiries and of ACME. It seems likely that the outcome of the Smith Inquiry will produce many themes for the future. It also seems likely that the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics will be an important strand for coming meetings.

Although no longer a member of the JMC, Celia Hoyles has attended meetings in her new role as Chief Adviser for Mathematics in England. Her presence has helped greatly in the two-way exchange of information that takes place at JMC meetings.

ICME-10 took place in Copenhagen in July 2004. Given that it was early in July, there was a reasonable, although not huge, number of UK delegates. After many years, Derek Woodrow has now stood down as the UK ICME representative and been succeeded by Sue Sanders.

The BCME 6 conference seemed to go exceedingly well with in excess of 500 participants. It is too soon to have fully assessed the event and decide whether, and if so when, there should be another such gathering. A debriefing meeting of the BCME committee is scheduled and this will be followed by a full report to the JMC.

Bill Richardson (MA Coucil representative)

THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON MATHEMATICS EDUCATION (ACME)

ACME continued to push forward the outcomes of the Post-14 Mathematics Inquiry Report by Professor Adrian Smith , initially seeking a Government commitment to recommendations which specifically mentioned ACME's future role:

a) "to enable ACME to play an important extended role, including taking forward a number of the Inquiry's recommendations, substantial Government funding be made available to ACME." (1.2)

b) "that funding be provided to the QCA (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority) and its regulatory partners to commission, through an open bidding process, up to three curriculum and assessment development studies of variants of these pathway models and approaches, including trialling, feedback and modification and an assessment of the workload implications.. Given the importance of ensuring the widest possible involvement and commitment of the mathematics community to the outcome, the Inquiry recommends that the regulatory authorities work in partnership with ACME and mathematics community representatives from Wales and Northern Ireland, and that the DfES [Department for Education and Skills] and relevant devolved authorities provide appropriate funding to support this." (4.11)

c) "that the DfES channel funding for the NCETM [National Centre for Excellence in Teaching of Mathematics] and the RMCs [Regional Mathematics Centres] through the council, which should be accountable to the DfES for its use. The council should represent the wide range of stakeholders we have identified and the Inquiry recommends that over half of the membership should be appointed on the advice of ACME." (6.17)

The Government's response to the Smith Report, "Making Mathematics Count", was published on 28 June 2004 and supported an enhanced role for ACME to help take forward the implementation of long-term 14-19 mathematics pathways coming out of the 14-19 Tomlinson Review, as well as advice on the establishment of the NCETM and supporting infrastructure for the provision of subject-specific CPD.

In September 2004, Professor Celia Hoyles resigned from the Committee to become the new DfES Chief Adviser for Mathematics and in October 2004 funding for ACME's enhanced role helping to implement the key Smith recommendations was granted by the DfES up until the end of March 2006. ACME's work schedule to fulfil its enhanced role was agreed with the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) in December 2004 and included the above plus providing guidance to the Chief Adviser for Mathematics and DfES/QCA officials on Post-14 mathematics issues.

14-19 Mathematics Curriculum, Qualifications and Assessment

ACME continued with its second policy project, on assessment in 14-19 mathematics and heard further oral evidence from Martin Taylor, Research Officer and Anne Trant, Senior Subject Officer GCSE, Assessment and Qualifications Alliance in April 2004 and Alex Falconer HMI, Post-16, in May 2004. The final report was printed in A5 booklet format and mailed directly to c.5,500 school and college heads of mathematics in January 2005.

In September 2004, ACME was invited to comment on the mathematics parts of a draft of the 14-19 Tomlinson Report, the final version of which was published on 18 October 2004. ACME responded to the final report in December, following consultation within the mathematics community. ACME members attended QCA Post-14 Mathematics Advisory Group meetings on 29 November, 24 January and 14 March and organised with QCA a joint workshop on 'functional mathematics' held on 3 March 2005. The Government's White Paper on 14-19 Education and Skills was published on 23 February 2005 and ACME responded immediately by highlighting potential concerns about the proposals for mathematics. The Government's White Paper on Skills was published on 22 March 2005.

NCETM

ACME helped facilitate and reported on a 19 November 2004 DfES Conference for mathematics CPD stakeholders. On 9 December Charles Clarke, the then Secretary of State for Education and Skills, announced the launch of the NCETM with £15m DfES funding allocated over 3 years - ACME members subsequently provided advice on the selection process for the NCETM. At the request of DfES, ACME scoped, tendered out to consultants, and project-managed a feasibility study on a coordinated, localised infrastructure for mathematics CPD in England which took place between January and March 2005 - the data-gathering for the study included questionnaires to organisations, face-to-face and telephone interviews with individuals and groups, and open meetings with practitioners in three different localities around England. A report was submitted to DfES in May 2005.

Meetings

ACME held twelve 'business' meetings between April 2004 and March 2005, as well as additional meetings as required. Below is a monthly listing of organisations/individuals ACME met with over the year:
May 2004: Termly meeting with DfES officials from the Curriculum and Qualifications Divisions; Mike Tomlinson, Chair of the 14-19 Review, to discuss the place of mathematics in 14-19 education.
June 2004: The Interim Adviser for Mathematics, Anita Straker (former director of the National Numeracy Strategy), Tim Coulson, Director of Mathematics of the National Primary Strategy, Rob Taylor, Head of 14-19 Division, QCA, and Ralph Tabberer, CEO, Teacher Training Agency (TTA) and officials, all meetings to discuss the implications of the Smith Report
September 2004: Professor Adrian Smith and Mike Tomlinson, to facilitate discussion on convergence between their inquiries on Post-14 mathematics issues; Stuart Gardner, Senior Policy Manager 14-19 Curriculum, Learning and Skills Council, to discuss mathematics issues in the Learning and Skills Sector; QCA officials, to discuss ways of working together on commissioning and co-ordinating development of new 14-19 mathematics pathways and other Smith work.
October 2004: Follow up meeting with QCA officials, as above.
November 2004: Termly meeting with the Chief Adviser for Mathematics and DfES officials from the Curriculum and Qualifications Divisions.
January 2005: Maggie Scott, Curriculum and Quality Advisor, Association of Colleges, to discuss mathematics issues in Further Education, Tertiary and Sixth Form colleges.
March 2005: Termly meeting with Chief Adviser for Mathematics and DfES officials from the Curriculum Division. Members/Secretariat attended or made contributions at meetings/conferences/workshops organised by the Council of Mathematical Sciences, DfES Standards Unit, the Nuffield Curriculum Centre, QCA, the Science Council, the TTA, and the Undergraduate Ambassador Scheme.

Other activities

The ACME website (www.acme-uk.org) continued to attract visitors with a doubling of hits from June 2004 onwards following the launch of a monthly electronic update. ACME members held two workshops at the ICME10 Conference in Copenhagen in July 2004 at which they disseminated information about the Committee's work to international colleagues in mathematics education policy.

Following Open Calls for candidates, two new teacher members from the maintained sector (Diane Cochrane and Laurie Jacques) and an HE member with experience in mathematics education (Professor Margaret Brown) were selected to start on the Committee from 1 April 2005. Sir Peter Williams FRS took over from Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith FRS as ACME Chair from January 2005 onwards.

Sue Sanders (ACME)

THE BRITISH MATHEMATICAL OLYMPIAD SUB-TRUST

The July 2004 International Mathematical Olympiad was held in Athens. The UK team of six emerged with one Gold, one Silver and four Bronze medals, to put us 20th equal out of 85 teams, a similar medal count to last year, but perhaps a little disappointing in final position after last year's good performance. Cooperation with the Hungarian squad in training is continuing to be of benefit to both countries. The selection process for the 2005 IMO in Mexico has included the British Mathematical Olympiad Round 1 in December, BMO2 in February for 100 invitees, and the Trinity College Cambridge Training session in April for 20 students, as well as the now firmly established training camps for a squad of possibles for the IMO team. For Year 10 and 11 students, the Summer School was again successful. The mentoring scheme, to help bring on strong students of various ages, has now grown to a healthy size.

Philip Coggins (MA Representative)

UNITED KINGDOM MATHEMATICS TRUST (UKMT)

The number of students taking these challenges continues to rise. This year the numbers were as follows:

As well as the written challenges, UKMT also offer a range of other events and activities for students and for teachers. There is now an established Team Competition each year for teams of four 12 to 14-year olds leading from regional competitions to the big national final. In addition, the popular teacher meetings continue to take place. Students continue to benefit from the mentoring scheme.

The IMO team will be heading off to Mexico in July - all the very best of luck team!
The dates for the challenges in 2005-2006:
Junior Challenge (ages 11 - 13) Thurs. 27th April 2006
Intermediate Challenge (ages 13 - 16) Thurs. 2nd Feb 2006
Senior Challenge (ages 16 - 18) Tuesday 8th Nov 2005

In addition to these three challenges, students who do well are invited to take part in the follow-on rounds, the Junior, Intermediate and British Maths Olympiads and the European Kangaroo.

Susie Jameson (MA Representative)

COURT OF LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY

Report of the Court of Loughborough University held 18 February 2005

The main item of interest to MA members is to record that Loughborough and Coventry Universities have won a joint bid to become a prestigious national Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL).

CETLs have been carefully selected by the Higher Education Funding Council for England and are aimed at rewarding excellence in teaching and learning across all subjects in HE. This particular CETL (funded £4.5m over 5 years) is to help students across all disciplines access one-to-one support in mathematics and statistics using the latest technology and innovative resources. Coventry and Loughborough Universities have a proven track record and are leading the way in offering additional mathematics support for students.

Loughborough University established its Mathematics Learning Support Centre in 1996. Initially developed to support engineering undergraduates, such was its success that it rapidly expanded to offer university-wide provision. Dr Tony Croft, Director of the CETL at Loughborough, who addressed the University Court, said: "The CETL funding will enable us to enhance significantly our current Centre, and allow us to open a second site which will offer superb learning opportunities to students from all parts of the University."

One particular focus will be on supporting students with disabilities by helping to identify learning difficulties such as dyslexia and dyscalculia, and producing and evaluating learning resources that meet a variety of needs e.g. Braille worksheets.

The use of new technologies will be a key factor in the CETL. In addition to creating state-of-the-art facilities, it will also be working with commercial companies to develop software and hardware that will benefit students.

The CETL will not only serve the two host universities but will provide a service across UK HEIs. The sharing of best practice will be a major theme.

On a more general note, the outgoing Vice-Chancellor, Sir David Wallace, reported that Loughborough had attained 10th place overall in the Times Good University Guide and had been placed second for teaching quality (after Cambridge).

David Green (MA Representative on the Court)

PROBLEM BUREAU

I have had an exceedingly quiet year - just five problems have been raised, and I could do them all!! Well - except for one where it seemed to that the problem as set was faulty, which was what led to the enquiry!

Graham Howlett

PUBLICITY AND MEMBERSHIP

The Association has continued to provide a presence at various exhibitions around the country. The largest of these were The BETT Show in London, The Education Show at Birmingham's NEC and The North East Education Show. We have supported many smaller conferences and exhibitions including NAMA, MEI, the Specialist Schools Trust and our own One-day Conferences by providing a bookstall and promotional materials. We have continued our efforts to encourage institutions and individuals to join by targeting PGCE students through their university tutors and by providing packs of sample journals and materials to newly designated Specialist Schools. Several marketing campaigns to UK primary and secondary schools have also taken place but, none-the-less, the future well-being of the Association is dependent on continuing attempts to attract individual members as well as institutional members.

HEADQUARTERS

The twelve-month period just past has been a busy time for HQ. The cycle for us really starts in August/September, commencing with institutional renewals, then the Primary Mathematics Challenge and the various recruitment mailings. Of course, the success of these mailings happily means that membership and orders must be processed. November/December sees personal renewals being sent out, the processing of the PMC results and the preparations for the year-end audit. There is preparatory work for the Annual Conference to be done during these months too. Moving onto the spring term, we go through the process of financial audit, final preparations for the Annual Conference are underway, and the PMC Finals takes place. Phew its mid April, the Conference is over (and a good time was had by all), so we can let out our corsets .but not so fast, because an undercurrent in the form of the all important MA journals ripples away throughout the year, and although each has its own team or person looking after it, there are essential tasks for HQ to perform to assist them. Then there are the various committees and associated activities that require our assistance throughout the year, and just when we turn our thoughts to the long, lazy days of summer, well its time to try to do all the jobs that have been delayed until a quiet moment occurs! Of course, this is a rather simplistic description because involved in all these areas of work are a myriad of tasks that HQ staff undertake. So it really is a case of, 'not only but also ..', and as such I thank all the staff for their continued commitment and support. We don't always get it just as it should be but that's certainly the outcome we aspire to.

At April 2005, the Headquarters Team of Six is:-

Marcia Murray (Senior Administrator)

RULES & REGULATIONS

Rules and Regulations can be viewed at: http://www.m-a.org.uk/association/organisation/regulations/

http://www.m-a.org.uk/association/organisation/rules/

Please contact Headquarters if you require a hard copy of the page.

The Council (April 2004 to March 2005)

REPORT OF THE COUNCIL: YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2004

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 objects 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 13 established branches of the charity and 2 designated branches.

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 + one year 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.

Trustees

The trustees who served for part or all of the year were:
Mrs S Singer, Mr P Metcalf, Dr A D Gardiner, Mr W P Richardson M.B.E., Miss S G Jameson, Mr M Bailey, Prof A McBride, Mr R Barbour, Mr D French, Mrs J Imrie, Mr C Stripp, Prof A Oldknow, Dr P Harris, Dr A Barnard, Ms A Gould, Mr B Lewis, Mr M Fox, Mr N Lord, Mrs R Swinton, Mr K Cadman, Prof Sir Christopher Zeeman, Mr M Basharat, Dr W Brakes, Ms H Russell.

Review of the financial statements for the year

The charity achieved a surplus of £2,454 for the year (2003 £18,209).
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:
a) £10,000 to Buildings Maintenance Fund for the upkeep and maintenance of the headquarters.
b) £30,000 to MA Development & Special Projects Fund.
c) £6,000 to Life Membership Fund.
d) £8,000 to Website Development 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, 1 April 2005

STATEMENT OF COUNCIL'S RESPONSIBILITIES

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:

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 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.

INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT: YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2004

EXPENDITURE