Further Maths Conference 2010
The Sixth Form College, Solihull hosted its annual Further Maths Conference on Wednesday with prominent mathematicians from across the country and more than 140 Year 10 and 11 students from local schools, together with Year 12 students who are already at the College.
The event, designed for students who are interested in and inspired by Mathematics, included speakers and group activity work, making the Mathematics fun and challenging for all who attended.
The visiting students came from Arden, Alderbrook, Hall Green, Light Hall, St Peters, St Martins, Small Heath, Sutton Coldfield Girls’ Grammar and Tudor Grange Schools. They were educated and entertained by a variety of speakers.
Among the stimulating visiting speakers was Adam Boddison, Centre Manager for the Coventry and Warwickshire Further Maths Centre. He explained the mathematics behind magic tricks, although he left some of the secrets of his magic skills a mystery!
Ruth Fairclough, a lecturer in Mathematical Sciences at the University of Wolverhampton, ran a workshop called Monty Hall, which involved exploration of a the impact that statistical problems have on everyday life situations.
Other students enjoyed a practical mechanics session with Ted Graham, lecturer in Maths Education at the University of Plymouth, who showed the relevance of Mathematics to practical hands on situations involving, amongst other things, the mystery of which way a bicycle moves.
Alan Catley is a speaker from Tynemouth with a national reputation. He demonstrated how Mathematics is used to solve real world problems in industry.
Leading sessions from the Mathematics department at The Sixth Form College, Solihull Paul Armstrong and Head of Matematics Alan Harper delivered workshops on Group Theory and Sorting. Jeanette Pickard, from Tudor Grange School, introduced students to matrices and transformations in a hands-on computer session.
Mathematics is well provided for at the Sixth Form College. At present, there are over 800 students studying Maths-related A level courses at the College, either Mathematics, Further Maths or Statistics.
Alan Harper, Head of Maths at the College, said: "This is the fourth year we have run this conference at the college and once again it was a great success. We are grateful to all the speakers for giving up their time to be here. The theme was "Maths Matters" and the range of informative, enthusiastically delivered workshops demonstrated a range of ways in which Maths really does matter to us all, as well as being a key to future employment. There was an excellent turnout from students who conducted themselves very well. We are sure that they all had a thoroughly interesting and enjoyable afternoon."
