Maths
Able Mathematicians
What makes a good mathematician? What skills do you need in order to be efficient? What do you learn about in maths? Who helps you and how? We asked some of our mathematicians at Bluecoat School. Watch the films to find out their thoughts!
Thank you Megan, Will, Matthew and Hayden for your contributions.
Maths Research
During 2019, Dr Ruth Trundley and Dr Helen J. Williams worked in collaboration with two schools – Great Torrington Bluecoat Church of England Primary School in Devon, and St Ives Infant School in Cornwall – to investigate how variation theory (Marton & Tsui, 2005) might be applied to the teaching of early number in year 1 (children aged between five and six years old).
The project had three aims:
To increase understanding of how variation theory might be applied in relation to younger learners.
To further understanding of how variation might foster young children’s developing mathematics sense.
To develop pedagogical subject knowledge of the effects of conscious (and unconscious) decisions regarding resource-use.
The project ran during the spring and summer terms of 2019, and involved three teachers in three year 1 classes. The mathematical focus was on the move from ‘counting-all’ to ‘counting-on’, which research indicates is critical to numerical understanding (Nunes & Bryant, 2009).
https://www.atm.org.uk/write/MediaUploads/Journals/MT270/Ruth_Trundley_and_Helen_J_Williams.pdf
https://www.bera.ac.uk/publication/learning-from-variation
https://www.bera.ac.uk/blog/what-is-variation-in-early-years-mathematics
Loughborough University: The role of problem format in word problem-solving performance
During Summer 2022, Bluecoat is taking part in a research study carried out by Loughborough University investigating the role of problem format in word problem-solving performance. Please see the letter below with full details.
Parent Guardian-Information Sheet