About the event

Join us at the annual King’s Mathematics Teachers’ Conference for a day of exciting speakers and discussions on supporting and engaging pupils in the maths classroom and beyond. Due to the success of previous events, we are expanding the event to a full day for 2024. 

This in-person event in central London is open to mathematics teachers from London and beyond, as well as graduate students interested in maths education.  This is an opportunity to discuss teaching best-practice with peers from across London, and also learn from academic staff from the Mathematics department here at King's.

If the conference is over-subscribed, we will prioritise places to maths teachers at schools that meet the following criteria:
•    State secondary school or college
•    Non-selective secondary school, or sixth form college
•    Higher proportion of students eligible for Free School Meals

Registration for the full event has now closed. Book your place for the keynote talk here.

We will offer places by Monday 13 May, and you will have until Friday 31 May to confirm attendance.  Any places not confirmed by this date will be offered to the waiting list.

Talks & Sessions

10:15 - Registration 
10:30 - Welcome, housekeeping & Icebreakers
10:50 - Talk - Beyond the maths curriculum, with Dr Natalie Evans
This talk and discussion session will focus on how we can integrate materials from Maths Challenges, STEP, MAT and AEA into our teaching, with the aim of supporting the development of problem-solving skills for all students.
11:35 - Discussion - The mathematics of friendship groups, with Dan Abramson, Professor of Practice 
As pupils shift from primary to secondary schools, their attitudes to mathematics change drastically, and mostly for the worse. What do we understand about this? How can we change this? Dan invites you to do some problem solving and help be part of the solution to this recently identified systemic issue.
12:30 - Talk - Primality testing and applications, with Dr Lassina Dembélé
Much like animals using camouflage, some whole or natural numbers can also obscure themselves – passing for prime numbers in some instances. For example, Carmichael numbers cannot be detected using primality tests based on Fermat's Little Theorem. We will explore these amusing behaviours through the lenses of primality testing and discuss some applications.
13:15 - Lunch
14:00 - Registration
14:10 - Talk - Promoting good proof-writing, with Dr Dominic Yeo
Learning to write proofs is a key step towards more advanced mathematics, and is found challenging by many promising students, both at school age and in the early stages of undergraduate study. Dominic will describe some of his work with the UK's international olympiad programme, with particular focus on methods to help the strongest school-age pupils develop fluency and confidence in writing full rigorous solutions to demanding problems.
14:55 - Discussion - Bridging the gap from school to university, with Dr Asuka Kumon
To finish the day, we will explore what new students often find challenging when studying mathematics at university level, and how together we can help to lessen this gap.
15:50 - Networking and exhibition visit
16:30 - Keynote talk and Q&A - The mathematics of paper, with Dr Katie Steckles
The humble sheet of paper has almost infinite mathematical potential. Join mathematician Katie Steckles as she demonstrates some of her favourite mathematical concepts and shares some puzzles using both real and imaginary pieces of paper.
18:00 - Event finishes

Refreshments

Refreshments (tea, coffee and biscuits) will be provided during the event, and lunch will also be provided for teachers attending the full day. 

Accessibility

Sessions during the day will take place in a teaching room on the Strand Campus. The room is fully wheelchair accessible via lift, and there are accessible bathrooms in this building. The keynote talk will take place in the Edmond J Safra Lecture Theatre, on the ground floor of the King's Building. The theatre is fully wheelchair accessible, with designated spaces for wheelchair users. There are accessible bathrooms on this floor.

The nearest step-free underground station is Blackfriars, but a number of bus routes stop outside the Strand Campus. 

If you have any questions or would like any further details, please email nmes-outreach@kcl.ac.uk.