FunMaths Roadshow Hubs Conference

On 7^th July 2010, a one-day conference was held at Ness Gardens in Cheshire, bringing together representatives from a number of FunMaths Roadshow Hubs throughout the UK and from other organisations who hope to set up Hubs in their own areas. 

After a ‘Round Robin’ to allow delegates to introduce themselves to each other, there was a keenly contested Dragon Quiz, devised by Martin Bamber of the Further Maths Support Programme, a brainstorming session to provide fresh ideas for the FunMaths Roadshow, a maths trail around the Botanical Gardens, a Question Time session and a brilliant display of Mathematical Juggling by Colin Wright.

For more information and your nearest Hub click on request a visit.

FunMaths Roadshow Updates

The Maths Outreach team are currently trialling a replacement for activity 10, based upon a dissection of a circular disk. We will soon be asking Hubs to trial it as well. We have also begun to trial a wooden version of activity 25, and hope to issue a template so that schools can build their own.

Working with the SSAT

Following on from a successful visit to Altrincham Grammar School for Girls last year, there was a repeat session on 15^th July 2010 with Box 3 in Spanish and Box 4 in French, and an additional 5 activities in German. The participants came from Language Colleges in the North West, ranging from Lichfield to Southport.  The event will be showcased by Gail Wickstead and Simon Mazumder from the school at the SSAT Annual Languages Conference to be held in October.

Working with the Royal Institution

On Saturday, 12^th June 2010, the Maths Outreach team again hosted a Masterclass sponsored by the Royal Institution of Great Britain and the UKMT.  Around 80 children attended, roughly half of whom had attended a Masterclass in the NW during the past year and the other half of whom had performed well in the UKMT Intermediate Challenge.  The opening session was of two Boxes of the Roadshow, together with the new Number 10, set out in the Mountford Hall of the Guild of Students.  The main sessions were led by Colin Wright of Denbridge Marine and Ken Eames of the London School of Tropical Medicine.

Working with the FMSP

A very successful maths enrichment day took place under the direction of Martin Bamber from the North West Further Maths Support Programme. Year 10 pupils from about 12 Secondary schools took part in a day which included a mathematical fair, and the mathematics of building rollercoasters.

Forthcoming Events

In September 2010, the BSA holds its annual Festival of Science in Birmingham, and the Roadshow will be there during the family weekend, on Saturday 18^th and Sunday 19^th, with local teachers and pupils involved in the presentation. 

The Autumn term will also see MEM’s annual series of Masterclasses. For more information, go to www.maths.liv.ac.uk/~mem

Local News

Maths Trails

The Maths Outreach team have been working in partnership with The Whitby and Neston High schools to create maths trails at Chester Zoo and the National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port. The trails project was funded by the North West Gifted and Talented Excellence Hub. Year 9 G&T pupils from the two high schools have written trails which have now been tested by pupils from 4 local primaries. The trails are now available for schools to use when they visit these major tourist attractions.

Maths Knowledge Network

Building on the success of the trails project and funded by the NCETM, we have established a Maths Knowledge Network between the University of Liverpool and the schools in the Ellesmere Port and Neston Education Improvement Partnerships. Our relationship with the schools in Ellesmere Port has now entered its fourth year and continues to go from strength to strength. We are now investigating funding possibilities for our next project: BIG Maths and an inter-schools quiz.

MEM Challenge & Senior Challenge

The prize-giving evenings for the Challenge competitions run by Mathematical Education on Merseyside took place in May. This year’s entrants faced a Cluedo-themed competition, with 7 or 8 questions to crack, as well as the obligatory whodunnit! The standard of entries was excellent, meaning that the winners had to produce near-perfect entries.

Outreach Visits

As well as the above special projects, we continue to visit schools across the country and also work with partner organisations. Recent visits and events have included collaborating with Aimhigher Cheshire and Warrington to visit schools in their area, and participating in MAESTRO’s Festival of Science, held at Liverpool John Moores University.

Contact Us

To contact us, email is usually the best medium - see the links above.