Continuing professional development - Bringing maths alive

If you want to boost your confidence in developing mathematical skills and thinking in your practice, check out a one-day workshop being offered by London Metropolitan University.

This focuses on building a confident approach to maths which is embedded holistically in everyday practice. It explores ways to create a stimulating environment by using real and natural resources.

Sarah Cousins, senior lecturer at London Met, is delivering the training in partnership with Andy Lovegrove, an EYFS leader at Ravenor Primary School in Ealing.

She says, 'These workshops build on training that was rolled out successfully in Ealing and empowered practitioners to move maths away from the idea of the "maths" session to embedding it throughout the day and in all spaces to play. It is also about understanding the power of sustained, shared thinking and the importance of language and vocabulary around maths.'

The workshops are being offered by the university at a competitive price to counter local authority training cutbacks.

Ms Cousins adds, 'Ideally we are hoping that between 20 to 30 practitioners will sign up for each workshop, which means we can have four to five groups working together.

'The one-day session is also a great opportunity for people to get together, network and share good practice. In Ealing we found that practitioners were very keen to develop their confidence in the way they could meet the requirements of the EYFS when it comes to numeracy, while others wanted to get more ideas to inform their planning and use of the outdoor environment.'

Delegates can expect to be brought up to date with research and policy developments, and clear links are made between the contents and the revised EYFS. The day sessions include: supporting children to become confident mathematicians; practical ideas for the environment; mathematical mark making; observation strategies and progress checks.

Three dates are so far confirmed at London Met's North campus: 22 November 2011, 7 February 2012, 27 March 2012.

http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/depts/hal/shortcourses/hal-short-courses/early-years-maths-workshop-series.cfm