The first Oundle Mathematics Enrichment Conference (OMEC)

The inaugural Oundle Mathematics Enrichment Conference (OMEC) event was hosted in Oundle School’s recently extended SciTec building this summer, and attracted over eighty pupils from eleven local schools.

The event was aimed at the most capable mathematicians in Years 9 and 10 and sought to extend the mathematical experience of all participants. Alongside the pupil seminars, the twenty visiting teachers met together for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) training sessions presented by the creator of the Autograph software and the Head of Teaching and Learning at Thomas Deacon Academy on topics including ‘Getting the Best from Dynamic Software’ and ‘Common Misconceptions at GCSE’.

Pupils participated in three seminars covering topics in Modular Arithmetic, Prime Numbers, and Similarity. All topics built on knowledge that pupils would have from their school experience but extended their use into more challenging contexts. The afternoon session was a Mathematical Treasure Hunt which took place in the grounds of SciTec and was hotly contested between the teams and was enjoyed by many teachers too!

Aims

To extend the mathematical experience of of the most capable mathematicians in Years 9 and 10.

Resources

This was a day event hosted by Oundle School.

Impact

Oundle’s Head of Community Partnerships, commented, “It was tremendous to see so many schools represented and the very strong mathematicians that they bring. We hope that Oundle will be able to host more such events and are grateful to our partners at Thomas Deacon Academy for supporting the delivery of CPD training sessions. It helps to be able to offer something for teachers to benefit from as well as the pupils.”

Head, added, “I am delighted by the success of this inaugural conference and excited by the learning and partnership opportunities it opens up now and into the future.”

Frequency

The aim is to make this an annual event.