Professional Update

Catherine Kerr PTC Science/CPD Coordinator

During the whole staff meeting on the 30th August 2013 I presented information about Professional Update – a new procedure required by the GTCS involving all registered teachers. The main focus of the presentation was to reassure staff and to clarify the process including the increased expectation of all teachers to identify their own professional learning needs, the importance of an annual PRD meeting to discuss these and the value of keeping a record of professional learning.  A link to the GTCS Professional Update Frequently Asked Questions site can be found here and includes information about the  aims and benefits, roles and responsibilities and pilot programmes that are going on this year.  A informative Power point presentation on Professional Update can be accessed by clicking the picture at the top of this post.

The Mathematical Association Secondary Education Mathematics Conference

Bronagh  McKeown – Mathematics Teacher

On Saturday 14th September four members of the maths department attended ‘The Mathematical Association Secondary Education Mathematics Conference’ held in Stirling University (www.m-a.org.uk).  The day consisted of a keynote address by Peter Ransom and then the opportunity to visit four different workshops of our own choice.    Below is a summary of the workshops I attended:

Workshop 1

This workshop was entitled ‘A Square Meal’ by Adam McBride and it was both informative and entertaining (bonus!).  The focus was on investigating Magic Squares (a square in which every row, column and diagonal have the same total).  He showed lots of cool tricks that can be investigated by pupils and the algebra behind it all which could be investigated and discussed with high ability pupils.  I found it very interesting and hope to be able to find a way to incorporate some of it into my lessons. Continue reading The Mathematical Association Secondary Education Mathematics Conference