Thursday, September 6, 2012

Save The Fmsp!

A score teachers dear The Further Maths Support Programme, together with it's clear to run into why. It has actively supported us for many years, having a at nowadays comport on inwards our classrooms. Just expect at the uptake of maths together with farther maths H5N1 score inwards England - an incredible success story that tin survive partly attributed to the effectiveness of the operate of the FMSP.
Taken from MEI's Annual Review 2016 - 17

The FMSP makes H5N1 score maths together with farther maths accessible to students who otherwise would non own got the chance to accept it. Imagine a gild inwards which our most talented mathematicians halt studying maths aged sixteen because they alive inwards the incorrect surface area or larn to the incorrect school. It's clear to anyone amongst fifty-fifty a shred of social conscience that the operate of the FMSP is incredibly important.

What's changing?
In answer to the Smith review, the Department for Education announced a novel Level 3 Maths Support Programme (L3MSP), amongst £16 1 K one thousand of funding from Apr 2018. Although nosotros were led to believe that this was exciting 'new money', my agreement is that it volition supervene upon the previous score 3 support. Hence the Core Maths Support Programme together with the much loved Underground Mathematics own got already gone, together with the FMSP (in its electrical flow form) volition larn too.

In MEI's recent newsletter it said that the FMSP volition popular off on to furnish H5N1 score maths together with farther maths back upward for schools together with colleges until the novel L3MSP is inwards place.

So the FMSP, which has been running since 2005, volition survive superseded past times the L3MSP adjacent April.

The novel L3MSP volition back upward Core Maths together with H5N1 score mathematics together with farther mathematics, but volition focus on the DfE's twelve 'Opportunity Areas' (these were selected from areas identified past times the Social Mobility Commission every bit having especially pitiful social mobility). So I retrieve this way that those of us who operate inwards schools exterior of those Opportunity Areas volition run into our score 3 back upward withdrawn, or at to the lowest degree reduced.

This suggests that most of us volition no longer own got access to the FMSP's affordable high character preparation courses on how to deliver H5N1 score topics. This comes at a fourth dimension when nosotros are pedagogy a brand novel H5N1 score curriculum (which, especially for the farther maths specification, requires a slap-up bargain of dependent area noesis development) together with nosotros own got dwindling numbers of specialist maths teachers. This also comes at a fourth dimension when H5N1 score uptake may own got dropped significantly due to the comport on of the novel GCSE. We won't know official numbers for a while, but at my schoolhouse nosotros were surprised that our H5N1 score maths uptake brutal past times 32% this twelvemonth - I for certain promise that this is non illustration of the national picture. Either way, given the electrical flow situation, the timing of these changes couldn't survive worse.

What tin nosotros do?
We're likewise belatedly to salve Underground Maths together with the Core Maths Support Programme, but possibly we're non likewise belatedly to salve the FMSP. We postulate to construct our voices heard! We postulate to construct sure that the Department for Education knows where nosotros stand upward on this.

If score 3 back upward volition cease inwards all but the Opportunity Areas from Apr 2018 thence the Department for Education postulate to survive transparent inwards their communication almost this. Maths teachers postulate to know that this is happening.

I'm hoping that nosotros tin practise something almost this. If I own got to organise an actual protestation exterior the DfE thence I will! Just scout me.

I'm only a instructor - I spider web log independently without income or affiliation - but I retrieve this is worth fighting for.

#savethefmsp