A set of revision notes covering some of the main case studies used for volcanoes in the A Level Geography Syllabus for students: Mount Pinatubo, Mount St. Helens and Mount Vesuvius. Each case study explains the tectonics behind each eruption, the social, economic and environmental impacts, the short and long-term response and an overall evaluation of the volcanic eruption and management strategies to contain it. The study notes are accessible and contain numerous handy statistics for pupils to remember. Ideal for students to keep throughout the course and to practice exam questions with.

A set of revision notes on Water (Resource Management and Case Studies) for A Level Geography students. In this resource, statistics describing water’s availability and importance are communicated as well as exploring a number of case studies (India, USA, Haiti, Saudi Arabia ) over water shortages in each county, explaining the reasons why (with authoritative statistics) and what each country is doing to manage the problem. Useful for students to have throughout the course and also to help them with exam technique when completing questions which require case studies.

A set of sample learning objectives for teaching a Year 10 GCSE Maths class about Surface Area of 2-D Shapes (drawing and interpreting). Differentiated objectives/outcomes are shown for the topic, literacy links, real world applications of the topic are displayed so that pupils can see the relevance of what they are learning as well as homework, merits and lesson questions pupils should be able to answer. This is an easily adaptable resource which can be changed and formatted to display any topic in the KS3 and GCSE Maths curriculum.

A set of sample learning objectives for teaching a Year 8 KS3 Maths class about Polygons (Classifying and Properties of). Differentiated objectives/outcomes are shown for the topic, literacy links, real world applications of the topic are displayed so that pupils can see the relevance of what they are learning as well as homework, merits and lesson questions pupils should be able to answer. This is an easily adaptable resource which can be changed and formatted to display any topic in the KS3 and GCSE Maths curriculum.

An investigation into the number of factors a number has. This resource gets pupils to devise a formula to work out the number of factors a number has. This investigation should take up a whole lesson, or could be set as a homework task. Topics covered include: factors, multiples, prime numbers, prime factor decomposition, powers and roots. This investigation is particularly useful in getting pupils to become familiar with mathematical notation. This resource is probably more suitable for GCSE students than KS3 pupils, though the investigation is very flexible- the teacher can progress to further stages of the investigation for more able groups.

A short, snappy starter which refreshes pupil’s mental arithmetic skills and provides a healthy mix of challenge and competition. This starter is suitable for all maths classes in secondary school and those in KS2. The task is this: Using digits from 1-9, make an addition with two 3 digit numbers to make another 3 digit number. Each digit from 1-9 can only be used once (carrying is allowed). . This could be done as a competition to encourage group work where pupils (in teams) are set a certain amount of time and must come up with as many different additions as they can. This starter is also useful for generating discussions as the pupils may notice certain patterns in the answers (i.e. the digits of the final answer always add up to 18) and the commutative law of addition (3 + 5 = 5 + 3).

A selection of 8 starters on probability related to real life which are suitable for KS3 and GCSE students. The starters encourage students to think laterally, being similar to brainteasers. Topics covered include: experimental probability, listing outcomes, sample space diagrams, relative frequency, tree diagrams, probability scales and permutations/combinations. Each starter begins with a problem or statement which the children must decide is true or false through investigation, giving reasons why this is the case. This exercise would be perfect for encouraging discussions as students may present a wide variety of explanations.

This resource handily introduces compound interest to more able KS3 groups and GCSE in the form of adding interest to a bank account. Other topics covered include percentages and decimal multipliers. This resource is an investigation (with teacher notes and accompanying worksheets) which gets students to investigate whether how often interest is added to a bank account effects the total amount of interest. The problem is so: I invest £1,000 in a savings account at an interest rate of 3.1% p.a. for one year. What interval at which the interest is paid will get me the most money? The students can then be guided to calculating the total amount of interest when it is added, daily montly etc. before being guided to an overall formula to solve the problem.

This investigation (includes teacher notes and worksheets) is suited to very able KS4 groups and those in KS5 studying Maths. It covers the topics of convergence, subject of a formula and even can be expanded to iteration for more advanced learners. Pupils are given a starting value of a sequence, which they multiply by 3, add 10 to then and finally divide by 4 to generate the next term in the sequence. They then multiply this value by 3, add ten to it and divide by 4 to get the next term and so forth, generating the sequence in an iterative manner until the sequence converges. The goal of this investigation is to find a relationship between the initial starting value of the sequence and that which it converges to. This can be explained in a satisfying algebraic way using subject of the formula although pupils may offer other alternative explanations.

This resource is intended for sixth form and university students and is an example of a first class essay, for which the topic was Mathematical Modelling. The essay is annotated with commentary (in red) which describes why the essay was a first and the steps the author went through in completing the essay as well as some general hints and tips. This could be used as part of a study skills workshop for students or just a general seminar on what constitutes good essay writing. An example of an activity for this resource could be to omit the commentary and ask the students themselves to annotate the essay and comment on why they think it was a first, before then resupplying them with the essay but this time with the commentary. This may be a useful way of assessing students’ perceptions of what it takes to get a first in an essay.

A handy list of tips and tricks to help students write an essay at any level to the best of their ability. Suitable for KS3/4 and college students.

This handy template can assist students in looking for jobs and help them develop skills which will be useful for future job searches. Best suited for KS4 pupils (as part of PSHE/Citizenship).

Of most use to college and university students and those in KS4, this essay provides clear and simple instructions on how to be critical (evaluate) in an essay, providing 3 main frameworks from which to do so.

A very helpful resource which introduces students to the concept of paraphrasing in an essay. This simple and easy to understand resource is intended to act as a starter resource on paraphrasing which breaks down the steps used in order to paraphrase, explaining it fully. This guide may be useful for KS4 students, those at college or in the early years of university.

A useful template for creating covering letters, which could be used as part of general studies or careers education (PSHE/citizenship) and help pupils create their own covering letter, perhaps for a volunteer position or applying for an actual job.