STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2019 - 2020 The Association of Teachers of Mathematics
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The Association of Teachers of Mathematics
STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT PLAN
2019 - 2020Strategic Development Plan 2019 - 2020
Contents Page
1. Our Aims …………………………………………………………….…..… 3
2. Our Guiding Principles …………………………………………………... 3
3. Introduction ………………………………………………………….….… 3
4. Honorary Secretary’s Report ………………………………………..….. 4
5. Business Administration ………………………………………………… 5
5.1 Office Staff …………………………………………………………. 5
5.2 Editor …………………………………………………………….…. 7
6. General Council ……………………………………………………….…. 8
7. Branches ……………………………………………………………….…. 9
8. Membership …………………………………………………………….… 10
8.1 Our Membership Commitment …………………………………... 11
9. Business Groups ……………………………………………………….... 12
9.1 Continuing Professional Development ……………………….…. 12
9.2 Marketing, Membership and Web …………………………….…. 14
9.3 Editorial …………………………………………………………….. 17
10. Financial Sustainability ………………………………………………….. 19
11. Single Subject Association ……………………………………………... 20
12. Summary ………………………………………………………………..… 21
2|Page1. The Aims of ATM
The Association of Teachers of Mathematics aims to support the teaching and learning of
mathematics by:
• encouraging increased understanding and enjoyment of mathematics;
• encouraging increased understanding of how people learn mathematics;
• encouraging the sharing and evaluation of teaching and learning strategies and
practices;
• promoting the exploration of new ideas and possibilities;
• initiating and contributing to discussion and developments in mathematics education at
all levels.
2. Guiding Principles
The ability to operate mathematically is an aspect of human functioning, which is as universal as
language itself. Attention needs constantly to be drawn to this fact. Any possibility of intimidating
with mathematical expertise is to be avoided.
The power to learn rests with the learner. Teaching has a subordinate role. The teacher has a
duty to seek out ways to engage the power of the learner.
It is important to examine critically approaches to teaching and to explore new possibilities,
whether deriving from research, from technological developments or from the imaginative and
insightful ideas of others.
Teaching and learning are co-operative activities. Encouraging a questioning approach and
giving due attention to the ideas of others are attitudes to be encouraged. Influence is best
sought by building networks of contacts in professional circles.
3. Introduction
The Association of Teachers of Mathematics, established in 1952, is a registered charity and
has a membership of individual teachers, schools and institutions. It is open to all who have an
interest in the learning and teaching of mathematics. ATM seeks to support teachers to explore
strategies that will enable learners to enjoy and discover mathematics.
ATM is governed by its General Council and all profits from subscriptions and trading are re-
invested to support the development of mathematics education in line with ATM's Aims and
Guiding Principles.
Through its membership network, ATM has maintained its position as a powerful and influential
association which responds and speaks with authority on matters relating to the learning and
teaching of mathematics and influences decisions to the benefit of all who are learning
mathematics.
The Strategic Development Plan opens with the aims and guiding principles for the Association
to remind us that these guide us in all that we do.
We want our aims and guiding principles to capture what makes the Association of Teachers of
Mathematics special. These apply to all of us, are part of everybody’s job and apply to every
3|Pageaction we take, every decision we make and how we support and listen to our membership.
They underpin our ability to deliver services and products.
This Development Plan sets out the Association’s plans for the period from 2019 to 2020
building on activity and progress during 2018. It is structured so that the membership of the
Association can understand how General Council, on behalf of the membership, intends to use
its income from subscriptions, publications and conferences to embody and further our aims and
guiding principles.
The document also supports General Council and the employed staff of ATM to best coordinate
their activities to further the interests of the Association.
Finally, the Strategic Plan can be seen as having a readership beyond the Association’s
membership. In this sense it is an invitation to work with us.
In brief the Strategic Development Plan sets out our achievements during 2018, our aims for the
future and the specific work we intend to do to meet these aims.
4. Honorary Secretary’s Report
Year ending 31 December 2018
The question ‘what changes and what stays the same?’ is often used by mathematics teachers
to focus learners’ attention on underlying structures. As I come to write my third and final report
it is interesting to look back at recent developments of the Association with this in mind.
Technology and communication continue to change at a fast rate which has impacted both on
governance and on the ways in which members interact. Over the last year our Executive
Committee and our Business Groups have moved to meeting online. A very different use of
technology is the new Thursday evening activity via twitter #beingmathematical. It was not
obvious that the ethos of an ATM workshop could be achieved so successfully in this medium. I
would like to thank Danny Brown for establishing such a strong way of communicating to a wide
audience what our aims and guiding principles mean in practice. Danny has also set up two new
ATM Branches in Glasgow and Edinburgh, demonstrating that ATM is sustained by the energy
of its members.
ATM has always been a mechanism for teachers to do mathematics together whilst thinking and
talking about pedagogy. When we cleared out the warehouse before the office move, we found
many hand-written, photocopied and stapled booklets that Branches and Working Groups had
written together. The wider context in which teachers work has changed radically for all but a
few. The affordances to get together seem to be shrinking whilst the constraints increase. It is
taking a long time for people to realise that given a serious dearth of mathematics teachers a
very sensible strategy is to look after the ones you have and a good way to do this is to allow
time for professional development. We are conscious that it is very difficult for many
mathematics teachers to get to the Easter conference, and have talked for a while at General
Council about having one-day events. This year we have started to offer workshops based on a
publication. We are extremely grateful to Mike Ollerton, Helen Williams, Anne Watson, Tom
Francome and Heather Davis for taking ATM out on the road.
4|PageAnother abiding concern of ATM is that mathematics is understood to be a rich creative
discipline that is accessible to all. This year saw our inaugural family festival at the STEM centre
in York and we are already planning our next one. Our collaboration with the OR Society who
sponsored the event has been very successful and we look forward to continuing to work
together. We are not alone in wanting to engage the wider public with mathematics and we are
keen to find and work with other groups who have similar values.
Every year is a busy one for our office team and in 2018 they have faced a wide range of
challenges with unswerving commitment to ATM. Anyone who was at BCME will have met
Laura who started as a temp but very quickly became an indispensable part of the team, and we
were delighted when she accepted a full-time post. This autumn we were very sorry to accept
the resignation of Kerry who has managed our office so skilfully and made a huge contribution
to the restructuring of our day to day business. Heather (Chair of General Council) and I talked
to the team about Kerry’s replacement and their main concern was for us to find someone who
“gets ATM.” When we met Sam at interview it was clear that she was just such a person. We
are very pleased to welcome her to the staff team and have every confidence that whilst she will
no doubt make and suggest many changes, she appreciates what it means to be ATM.
Our team is very good at running conferences and in 2019 the jointly badged Easter conference
is being administered by ATM. We know that we have members who want much more joint
working and members who choose to sit out until it is an ATM conference. We try to balance
these and it was an unusual set of circumstances that led to two collaborative conferences in a
row. In 2020 we will be back to an ATM one.
When I took up a place on General Council, the future of ATM was threatened by our weak
financial position. Much of our focus has been on cutting costs and becoming more efficient and
we owe a huge debt (!) of thanks to Sue Pope who retired as treasurer having worked tirelessly
to move us into a far stronger position.
The proposal from the Mathematical Association about the longer-term future of all five of the
mathematical subject associations continues to be on the agenda of the Meeting of
Mathematics Subject Associations. Our experiences of joint working both with other subject
associations, and with other organisations, feed in to our discussions at both General Council
and Executive Committee meetings. One of the useful impacts of this wider debate has been to
raise our awareness of the need to restructure our governance. We rely heavily on volunteers
as an association and we need to make sure that we harness people’s skills and enthusiasm
and use their time in the most efficient way. This will be a key focus of work for the General
Council in 2019.
I believe the greatest strength of ATM is that our founders managed to articulate our aims and
guiding principles. They underpin all our publications and the work of the Mathematics Teaching
editorial team. They enable us to devise and evaluate new activity and they are what we as
trustees are trusted with. Much changes but they stay the same.
It has been a privilege to carry the Honorary Secretary baton and I pass it on to Louise
Hoskyns-Staples knowing it will be in safe hands for the next three years.
Corinne Angier, Honorary Secretary
5|Page5. Business Administration
The Association is well-served by an efficient and effective administrative team based in Derby.
The last piece of the headquarters move jigsaw is finally complete with the dilapidation
expenditure resolved in 2018. The 2019 financial position will now benefit from the freed up
resource.
Our administrative staff undergo annual appraisals which focus on maximising their strengths,
highlighting areas for development together with their associated training needs. These are met
through programmes of professional development, including where appropriate those that are
externally accredited.
This year has seen a change in skill mix and job responsibilities within the team to maximise
experience, play to strengths, harness enthusiasm and support their personal interests where
possible. This will be further shaped and refined during 2019. The objective is to ensure
succession planning, talent management and ‘growing our own’.
Information Technology systems, are maintained, protected and kept up to date. The required
corporate, financial and information governance guidelines are followed. Office management
systems are being streamlined to create headroom to expand other activities such as
performance monitoring and use of social media (which forms part of the skill mix review). The
staff handbook is also due for revision.
An additional Conference service that has become very popular is a payment-by-instalments
option which has helped some of our members significantly.
The functionality of the Conference App has been significantly extended and developed from
2017 (the 2018 British Congress of Mathematics Education conference had no app) and its
technical enhancements are continuously being monitored through to the 2019 Conference;
feedback from delegates will also actively be sought. All learning will help to further refine and
improve the Conference App for 2020.
5.1 Office Staff
Samantha Walters, Executive Officer
● Manages the day-to-day operations of the charity overseeing finance,
governance, employment and trading-related activities.
● Produces draft budget forecasts for all cost centres and, in liaison with the
treasurer, maintains effective control over business expenses.
● Line manages all members of staff and their work in relation to membership,
publication sales, conference and financial records.
● Is responsible for ensuring all duties and liabilities of the charity are met, including
complying with the Charity Commission and Companies House regulations.
Karen Foster, Commercial Officer
● Provides commercial services to enable the effective distribution of publications,
journals and other services.
6|Page● Liaises with Marketing, Membership and Web Officer and the Editorial Officer
Karen Kirkley, Membership and Conference Officer
● Ensures the Association’s duties and liabilities in respect of its members are fully
discharged
● Accounts and database management
● Coordinates the annual conference
● Liaises with the Marketing, Membership and Web Officer and the Continuing
Professional Development Officer
Laura Bandell, Digital Marketing Administrator
● Is responsible for Social Media engagement activities
● Manages the website
● Produces design and graphics.
● Leads on Conference App
Val Hitchcock, General & Accounts Administrative Assistant
● Assists the Executive Officer and wider Office Team
● Administers the accounts system and CMathsTeach
● Processes membership applications
● Liaises with the Branches Officer
Vacancy, Office Assistant
● Supports Office with all administrative tasks including answering calls
● Responds to the Admin inbox
● Packs and dispatches all publications
5.2 Editor
Tony Cotton, Editor
● Editor of Mathematics Teaching Journal
7|Page6. General Council
The General Council comprises the Honorary Secretary, Treasurer, up to eighteen elected
members and up to four co-opted members. The main function of the General Council is to
oversee the Association’s charitable business activities and ensure that appropriate
arrangements have been made to ensure that functions are exercised effectively, efficiently and
economically and comply with such generally accepted principles of good governance as are
relevant to it including safeguarding, financial propriety and regularity.
For the period April 2018 to April 2019 the General Council members were:
Corinne Angier (Honorary Secretary) Ian Benson
Sandie Blakesley Anne Crosby
Heather Davis (Chair of General Council) Chantelle Dyson
Julian Gilbey (Treasurer) Sylwia Glazewska
Pete Griffin Anne Haworth
Louise Hoskyns-Staples Gordon Laing
Jeffery Quaye Hayden Rissbrook
Andrew Roberts Suja Sivadasan
Greg Thomas Natthapoj Trakulphadetkrai
The General Council meets on three Saturdays each year. The members of the General
Council are the trustees of the Association. General Council organises its work through three
main business groups:-
• Continuing Professional Development (covering Conference, Courses, Branches,
Working and Standing Groups)
• Editorial (Publications and Journal)
• Marketing, Membership and Web
The Executive Committee consists of Treasurer, Honorary Secretary, the Chair of General
Council, the Editorial Officer, the Continuing Professional Development Officer, Marketing, the
Membership and Web Officer, and the Executive Officer. It also has three meetings a year
alternating with those of the General Council to provide additional scrutiny in the corporate
running of the Association.
The Executive Committee has fully embraced virtual online meetings; the ease of adoption,
convenience and cost-effectiveness serve to enhance our business's productivity. However,
virtual meetings aren't ideal for every situation, so knowing when and how to utilise this
technology is vital. We are also in the process of piloting a model of online Business Group
meetings and shorter face to face ones for the General Council.
The General Council is investing time in considering its own optimal delivery structure to ensure
it remains fit for purpose and relevant. This critical governance analysis should provide traction
to underpin our effectiveness so we are better placed to shape future thinking and respond to
the challenges that lie ahead.
General Council is mindful of its responsibility to take a long view of the wellbeing of the
Association. The factors General Council is taking into account are:
8|Page• Membership growth through recruitment and retention
• The opportunities afforded by adopting new technologies
• Efficiency savings and cost containment plans
• The need for good governance which is fit for purpose
• The move to a Five Year Strategy; the road ahead
The latter will detail how ATM plans to interact with its environment, deal with change and keep
evolving over time to stay relevant to its membership.
Mathematics teaching continues to strategically evolve to embrace different concepts such as
Computational Thinking in Mathematics Education. Within all of this, supporting teachers'
changing professional development needs remains central, and we are currently exploring
potential new directions in this area. These technical professional aspects need to be
considered alongside the national shift in the role and perception of charities, the increasing
expectations on membership organisations and the way we are held to account.
In response, ATM need to have clear governance and a comprehensive longer term strategy in
place to be able to deliver our vision of the future and the change we want to see and be.
7. Branches
ATM branches provide vital networking opportunities for teachers to meet, share ideas and
good practice both formally and informally. Branch meetings are a friendly opportunity for those
delivering mathematics, to come together as a community, sharing ideas that worked across all
phases, chatting with those you might normally message on social media. Teachers do not
need to be ATM members to attend branch meetings: all meetings are open and inclusive for
any teacher or student.
ATM has twenty-four branches with twenty-two based in the UK and two international ones.
Seven of these Branches are jointly badged with the Mathematical Association and/or other
organisations (e.g. Liverpool Mathematical Society).
As Branch meetings are the ideal opportunity to share best practice we consequently have a
desire to grow the Branch approach. Our recent expansion into Scotland with two new
Branches in Glasgow and Edinburgh has been greatly welcomed. Moving forwards we intend to
review our geographical distribution of membership to ascertain gaps in Branch provision for
future development and to focus on re-energising those less active Branches.
In partnership with our Branch Leaders we will also determine additional levels of support our
existing Branches may want or need to enable them to further thrive.
A list of current operating branches with their locations and contact email addresses is available
on the ATM website.
9|Page8. Membership
Membership is measured in mid-February 2019 and compared with the two previous years:-
Membership Category 2018 2017 2016
Personal United Kingdom (UK) 912 856 834
Personal Overseas (OS) 48 53 52
E-Membership 373 308 274
Concessions UK (Inc. unwaged & retired) 91 90 96
Concessions OS 2 7 8
NQT 128 120 6
MAST 8 7 78
Student UK 186 298 269
Student OS 3 3 2
Large Institutions UK (Inc. LEA, Universities & Corporate) 35 39 42
Large Institutions OS 4 3 5
Large Institutions E-membership 4 2 2
Library Subscription UK 56 64 68
Library Subscription OS 129 146 163
Primary/Middle Schools UK 56 60 68
Primary/Middle Schools OS 4 4 6
Primary/Middle Schools E-membership 8 9 6
Secondary Schools UK 101 107 107
Secondary Schools OS 14 16 14
Secondary E-membership 13 15 10
Cluster Membership 4 7 -
Total Members in February 2183 2214 2110
Individual membership has steadily risen by 9% (1314 to 1427) compared to February 2018 and
an increase of 13% when viewed against the same period in 2017. NQT membership is up by
7% (127 to 136) but for students is down by 36% (301 to 192).
Overall membership numbers are slightly lower by 1% than last year (2214 down to 2183); this
is however a 4% increase on 2017.
The biggest financial impact is Library subscriptions which combines a 12% reduction in
numbers (210 down to 185) with a high monetary value category of membership. There are
other more modest drops in the other institution categories. Some of the fluctuation can be
considered a General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legacy issue.
Our objective is to attract new members, retain current members and keep them engaged,
utilising best practice from other successful membership organisations. However, our immediate
discretionary effort will be reframed around larger organisations during 2019.
10 | P a g e8.1 Our Membership Commitment
Our Association’s charitable business activity takes place within a difficult financial
environment, with an ever-increasing need to provide value for money whilst maintaining
focus on growth and personalised membership expectations.
We intend to place more emphasis on long-term member engagement alongside member
acquisition. The timing of this is right as our members’ digital expectations continue to increase,
looking to access targeted content anytime, anywhere and on any device.
Measurement of member engagement will be a key goal and will need to be across all channels
to provide a complete picture of member interactions. This will include increased use of
analytics on the website; whilst we are using an analytics tool; these need to be reviewed in
operational meetings. The limiting factors here are time and resources.
#beingmathematical is an ideal example of a different kind of engagement facilitated through
social media; simple and effective it also promotes ATM to a wider audience.
Increasing member benefits is becoming a bigger challenge as member expectations are
increasing. Many of the services and benefits offered to members are seen as a minimum
expectation of membership and we need to look at how we can offer more services or benefits.
Our members rightly expect their online experience to be interactive and engaging. There is an
increasing challenge of meeting the digital expectation of millennials. This generation are using
their smart phones every day to access information and collaborate on social channels using
the latest and best funded websites and mobile apps. The user experience they get from these
channels is driving up their expectation for their digital engagement with our membership body.
We have to rise to meet this challenge.
A further challenge is to deliver personalised content to our members via our website and other
channels. A much greater level of personalisation is required to support the desire for deeper
member engagement. Greater use of analytics will be required to enable more advanced
personalisation based on members’ behaviour or engagement history.
We need to monitor our social media channels more frequently and begin to quantify a return on
investment from our social media activity.
During 2019, we will enhance our processes and strengthen our relationships with the
membership in order to ensure that we are listening and acting on feedback. This feedback will
inform the decisions we make.
11 | P a g e9. Business Groups
9.1 Continuing Professional Development
Purpose
• Organise the ATM Annual Conference
• Promote, develop and support Branches
• Support and liaise with Working and Standing Groups
• Oversee development and organisation of one day courses, events and
conferences
• Identify and manage new opportunities for Continuing Professional
Development
Lead Members Link ATM staff members
Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai - CPD Conference - Karen Kirkley/Sam Walters
Andrew Roberts - Branches Branches - Val Hitchcock
Ian Benson - Working & Standing Groups Working & Standing Groups - Sam Walters
Professional Services
• Recommend session contributors and advise on type of sessions at the
conference
• Link with Branches to offer support and encourage development
• Promote and assist in the formation and development of Working and Standing
Groups as needs are identified
Achievements during 2018 - 2019
A successful 2018 Maths Festival with the MA at the National STEM Learning Centre
Developed and ran a successful series of 2018 CPD Day Courses with new courses
being added
Great progress made on the preparation for the 2019 joint ATM/MA conference.
Successfully secured a single largest sponsorship (£5,000) for the conference.
The establishment of ATM’s first Branch in Scotland, Glasgow, with groundwork
completed for the second in Edinburgh due to launch early in 2019.
12 | P a g eAims and Outline Plans for 2019 - 2020
1. To jointly organise and run a successful 2019 Maths Festival.
• Attempt to measure/capture ‘better public engagement with mathematics’ as a
result of parents and their children attending the Festival
2. To organise a successful series of 2019 CPD Day Courses that will generate:
a) income for the ATM and b) classroom impact for practitioners.
• Explore additional income-generating CPD Day Course opportunities
• Attempt to measure/capture any classroom impact for practitioners as a result of
them attending our CPD Day Courses
3. To jointly organise and run a successful 2019 conference jointly badged with
The MA that will generate: 3a) income for the ATM and 3b) classroom impact for
practitioners
• Attempt to measure/capture any classroom impact for practitioners as a result of
them attending our conference
4. To continue planning for the 2020 conference
• Review evaluation from the 2019 conference and consider if new initiatives /
events could be added to enrich delegates’ experience at the 2020 conference
5. To improve Branch engagement, continue to support new/existing Branches,
review dormant Branches and identify gaps in Branch provision.
• Continue to determine forms of support Branches need from the GC to allow
them to organise successful Branch events
• Explore ways to provide Branches Leaders opportunities to meet and discuss
issues directly with the General Council
• Improve Branch information on ATM website
• Embed consistent financial reporting as per audit requirements.
• Re-energise dormant Branches
• Refresh Branch Pack for Leaders
6. Working groups rely on face to face meetings three times a year, interspersed
with periods of collaborative work often leading to publication of a booklet or a
film. In 2019 we will continue to explore how new Working Groups might follow
from the conference programme; how their work might be supported through
modern collaboration tools; and consider ways to attract investment in the
Groups’ activities.
13 | P a g e• To facilitate an ATM response to the PISA 2021 challenges to English schools:
in particular to prepare an offer to teachers on pedagogy and concepts for
computational thinking in school mathematics.
• Continue to update information on https://www.atm.org.uk/Working-Groups
Budget for 2019 Conference £85,030
Branches £500
Working and Standing Groups £300
9.2 Marketing, Membership and Web
Purpose
• Raise awareness and profile of ATM
• Facilitate membership growth (recruitment and retention)
• Increase the sales of publications
• Monitor the effectiveness of web based activity
Lead Member Link ATM staff members
Greg Thomas Marketing - Karen Foster/Laura Bandell
Membership - Karen Kirkley
Website - Laura Bandell
Professional Services
• Coordinate services to members
• Recruit/retain members with catalogue, flyers, events, web, courses and CPD
• Support increase of publication sales through presence at events, via web,
catalogue and advertising
• Ensure an efficient and effective web presence and web based office systems
Achievements during 2018 - 2019
In 2018, a number of changes were made to adjust our strategic marketing approach
aimed at raising our profile, growing membership and increasing sales.
14 | P a g eExtensive marketing of the new CPD courses. Some of these were tailored
specifically around selected publications to increase sales and promotional
opportunities.
Successful working partnership with the Cuisenaire Company to mutually advertise
events and products and developed further with the introduction of an associated CPD
course utilising Cuisenaire products which has proved very popular and facilitated
additional marketing activities.
A fruitful partnership was developed with the National STEM centre to deliver a new
family-targeted Maths Festival in York supported by intensive marketing.
Individual membership has risen by 9% compared to February 2018 and an increase
of 13% compared to 2017 with NQT membership up 7%. More work to do around
institutions.
Some of the email address list ground lost post-GDPR, from 14 000 down to 3000, has
been regained with current figures around 4100; we are utilising Mailchimp with its
easy hit rate monitoring and other e-marketing in accessing external media to identify
named contacts.
Two small targeted pilots were initiated towards the end of 2018 around free student e-
membership to assess impact as a loss leader. The aim is to recruit and retain
students through NQT into full personal membership as they progress through their
career.
Twitter followers have risen from 13 100 to 18 700, a fantastic increase of 43%.
Facebook Group members have risen to 4700 with more a modest increase of 4.4%.
The creative #beingmathematical sprang into being with an enthusiastic following
continuing to grow.
During 2018 ATM has attended or sent marketing information to 64 events with the
help of Outer Circle colleagues.
Twelve membership e-newsletters produced with increasing open-through rates and
click rates for links and excellent feedback on the ATM Calendar.
Established a customer/client/member ‘quotes’ database for marketing application
Facilitated increased footfall at conference stall and marketing opportunities through
discounts, promotional campaigns with Golden Ticket and other prizes.
15 | P a g eWorked with the Branches Leaders to market the launch of the Scotland Branches.
Glasgow successfully operational with the groundwork complete for Edinburgh in
2019.
Created own digital design in-house to reduce outsourcing costs and support staff
development.
Aims and Outline Plans for 2019 - 2020
1. Attract new members, retain current members and keep them engaged
• Utilise best practice from other successful membership organisations
• Share more inspirational stories from professionals and students. Help
potential members understand what the organisation is really about.
• Create membership recruitment plan, analysing trends across segments.
Identify opportunities and set internal membership sales targets.
• Concentrate effort on shaping member survey to compile useful intelligence
about members’ needs and wants to inform future activities.
• Evaluate and assess impact of a free student membership offer
2. Ensure the professional body membership is appropriate for 21st century
audiences and relevant to new generations.
• Expand the range of online CPD services (include international opportunities).
• Further encourage debate on Twitter. Carve out a specific planned Twitter
programme during 2019 with measurable metrics.
• Enable those looking to engage to find the relevant streams - refresh Facebook
and rejuvenate both Instagram and LinkedIn
4. Keep members more fully engaged, better understand our member groups
aim to move away from a one size fits all approach.
• Conduct bespoke segmentation for existing membership and potential markets
to target for future member expansion: demographic, geographic, life stage,
behavioural, psychographic characteristics, product or service and competition
including establishing criteria for evaluating segment attractiveness.
5. Take a coordinated approach to digital marketing development
• Devise a digital marketing operating plan working within available budget,
capacity, skills, experience along with risk and return on investment
assessments.
6. Engage with our members across all channels and in formats that work for
them. Whilst investing effort in digital approaches, it should not be at the
16 | P a g eexpense of face-to-face and print engagement, both of which remain important
to the membership.
• Review range of printed documentation for function, cost and benefit with the
ultimate aim of becoming a paperless organisation at the appropriate time.
7. Reach out to new members in different ways, while remembering that word of
mouth leads are vital and usually the easiest sale.
• Employ more referral strategies providing discounts or special recognition to
members who provide the most leads
8. The ATM Website is the public face of the organisation that we present to the
entire internet. It should be fit for purpose, relevant and pleasing to the eye.
• Research how the big players do it, piggy-back the investment they can afford
to make in their website and replicate their ideas
• Update website skin to make the program more aesthetically pleasing and if
required rearrange elements of the interface, potentially making it easier to
use.
9. Improve and increase our e-commerce/online shopping avenues to allow ATM
to both better serve existing customers (making it easier) and find new
audiences.
• Conduct an overhaul of the (business to consumer) online shop to enable our
customers to browse ATM’s range of services and view photos or images of
the products, along with information about specifications, features and prices.
• Use a successful online store as a comparison to ensure functionality.
• Re-establish Amazon online shop for ATM products.
Budget for 2019 Marketing £14 950
Web £5 800
9.3 Editorial
Purpose
• Consider new proposals for publications, commission new titles and work
collaboratively with the authors to develop those selected through to
publication
• Monitor sales of existing publications to inform publication marketing strategies
with a view to maximising sales and informing the choice of new titles
17 | P a g e• Develop ways in which ATM members and the wider mathematics teaching
workforce could be encouraged to create new ATM publications
Lead Member Link ATM staff members
Gordon Laing Publications - Karen Foster
MT Journal Editor - Tony Cotton
Professional Services
• Act as editor and publisher and liaise with designer to bring materials to
publication.
• Liaise with authors over contracts and royalties
• Ensure an efficient and effective web presence and web based office systems
• Ensure the efficient and effective provision of the journal of the association
Achievements during 2018 - 2019
Journal
• Streamlined the publication process
• Appointed new editorial board in Liverpool to diversify range of articles
• Continued to develop new articles and increase international contributions
• Produced special issue exploring mathematics and the living world
• Recorded number of visitors to weekly blog
• Appointed Artist in Residence
Publications
• On teaching and learning with awareness
• Variation in mathematics
• Tables Together
• Thinking mathematically every day Y3 - Number, Geometry and Statistics
• The Proving Ground e-book
• 2019 Calendar
Developed more resources for members and open resources (e.g. Working with Rods
and Why, Enjoying Origami and Problems from a 'traditional' ATM workshop)
A number of books have had updated covers added. These include Thinkers and
Talking Mathematics
18 | P a g eAims and Outline Plans for 2019 - 2020
Journal
1. Ensure the continued efficient and effective provision of the Association’s
journal.
• New editorial board to work efficiently and effectively
• New processes developed with new editorial board
• Revenue increased through advertising
• Closer links forged with British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics
Publications
2. Create new publications:
• Maths Puzzles Book by Bob Vertes
• GCSE book by Mike Ollerton
• Smile Book to be completed
• Algebradabra, Dietmar Küchemann
• 2020 Calendar
• ICT working group - times tables app
• Thinking Mathematically Everyday (others in series)
3. Enhance current and future publications:
• Continue to increase number of shorter publications more competitively priced
• Increase publications aimed at primary and EYFS teachers
• Continue to develop more members-only resources.
• Currently working on a publication linked to OU materials and also Chains by
Bob Vertes
Budget for 2019 Publications £17 000
Journal £55 200
10. Financial Sustainability
The new financial year continues to see a challenging financial environment for the Association.
The main risk to the achievement of strategic objectives this year is the financial challenge the
Association is facing. Achieving an in-year break-even position and continued financial
sustainability remains the top corporate priority.
19 | P a g eCollectively the General Council and the three Business Groups will come together to identify
and deliver plans to achieve financial balance in 2019 and to reduce any impact into 2020.
Additional external lay expertise is also being sourced to simultaneously support and challenge
the Association’s activities.
A Financial Recovery Plan (FRP) will be developed to deliver financial balance in 2019 and aim
to replace lost reserves over the next few years. The focus is on four key themes:
● Transactional schemes aimed at getting the best value from contracts
● Improvement schemes focused on improving the efficiency of our offer
● Better management and control of invoices
● Expenditure controls and managing the balance sheet
An important part of this work will continue to be to ensure that our plans and services deliver
high quality services, products and value for money for the membership.
The development of a FRP for 2019 and subsequent delivery should provide a strong basis for
continued progress in 2020. This plan will include improved processes for financial recovery,
strengthened monitoring, highlight reporting and escalation, strengthened governance and
clearer line of sight to General Council and the Executive Committee.
11. Single Subject Association
Discussions about a Single Subject Association have been taking place for some time between
the Association of Mathematics Education Teachers (AMET), the Association of Teachers of
Mathematics (ATM), the Mathematical Association (MA), the National Association of
Mathematical Advisors (NAMA) and the National Association for Numeracy and Mathematics in
Colleges (NANAMIC). Currently with five associations, many teachers and others are not sure
which one to join. The idea is for one new single charity to represent the whole sector.
Naturally this is not a simple, straightforward decision as it touches core values that are deeply
embedded within ATM. There are also significant inherent operational risks that would require
mitigation.
The next stage is for each organisation to commit to moving forwards and then produce a ‘due
diligence’ report to establish whether it is in the best interests of their members to proceed with
transferring memberships, funds and other resources to the potential new charity. Should such
a report conclude that it is in the best interests of the organisation, then a suitable proposal will
go to the relevant trustees for their approval before it is presented to the members of the
organisation for their consideration.
20 | P a g e12. Summary
This strategy sets out our aims and guiding principles along with our strategic objectives and
priorities for the next year. In looking to the future we realise we need to take a longer-term
view with our planning and intend to move towards a rolling five-year strategic programme.
We have a good reputation and track record of delivery, but we recognise that things are
becoming increasingly challenging. The business analysis completed as part of developing our
strategy has confirmed that some of our services and products are more sustainable than others
in the current climate and we will work with our membership to consider the impact of this.
However, it is also recognised that delivering our strategy will require making some tough
decisions about our priorities and where we should target our energy and resources to be able
to invest in the future.
Practical assumptions have been made about income and about funding our services in future
years and we are putting plans in place to ensure that our Association remains sound and
stable.
Our strategy cannot be delivered alone and the success of ATM is dependent on its
membership, the outer circle and the trustees to work together for our collective success.
We will continue to review and refresh our strategy each year, within the new five-year
framework once established, to ensure that it remains up-to-date in response to operational
changes, our environment, new policy directions and the requirements of our membership.
21 | P a g eYou can also read
