UK Cypriot Nicolas has been shortlisted in the TES awards 2022 in the Secondary Maths category

St Andrew the Apostle Greek Orthodox School Maths teacher, Mrs Nicolas has been shortlisted in the TES awards 2022 in the Secondary Maths category. The TES awards evening will take place on Friday 17 June at the prestigious Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane in Central London and the winners will be announced on the evening.

MATHEMAGICIANS AT WORK AT STA!

This week I found out that I have been shortlisted for a national TES award for maths teaching and I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you a little bit about myself and the work that we do with our children in the maths department to ensure that they excel in this fantastic subject!
Some history first…

I started at St Andrew the Apostle School 7 years ago after working in another school for over 15 years. It was a big move for me in every way and also the best move. I had found my ‘home from home’.

The highlights of working at St Andrew the Apostle School

The highlight of working at our school is undoubtedly the department that I work in and the dynamic Headteacher that I work for who is continually striving to enrich and innovate the school community.

Mrs Warwick has the admirable skill of being able to meet the continual needs of students, teachers and parents and look effortless doing it!

The department I work in has specialist teachers who are professional, kind, supportive and who love teaching mathematics. Mr Dogan, the Head of Department, and Ms Sorgente, the second in charge, work relentlessly to ensure that the department runs like a well-oiled machine, and this is to be celebrated. Active and innovative teaching methods are used in our department which include using mini whiteboards, consistent half termly question level analysis of assessments, strategic chunking of lessons and careful modelling of successful test/exam outcomes. We have used a Triad system to share, develop and innovate maths teaching practice and we have shared this with other departments. Our RET Advisors Mrs Robinson and Mrs McKee are always there to support, develop and ensure that the motto ‘Ever to Excel’ is a real-life experience for students and not just words.

Why teach Maths all day?…

My passion for maths started at a very young age. My Greek Orthodox parents both worked in Tailoring, and I used to relish working out their weekly income on those tiny little brown envelopes as I would get 50p for doing this. This was a lot of money for me, and I learned quick ways of doing the maths to secure that pocket money for my benefit!

I also had the luck of having great Maths teachers who made maths come alive each lesson and I am so grateful for this experience. I have tried throughout my years of teaching to pay this fortune forward to my own students at our school and help them develop the same passion for this subject that it deserves.

I can assure both students and parents that I will continue to do this in my time at St Andrew the Apostle as will my colleagues in the maths department.

Advice for all my students to help you on your learning journey…

Your teachers care about your learning and will work hard for you, so listen, think, try, and remember that maths is your friend for life.

I would like to end by leaving you with my favourite inspirational maths quote –

‘Mathematics may not teach us how to add love and minus hate. But it gives us every reason to hope that every problem has a solution.’

Ever to Excel!