AIMSSEC runs monthly online Global Teacher Empowerment Network (GTEN) workshops for alumni, current students and primary and secondary teachers around the world. In April Mrs Toni Beardon, Ms Caroline Ainslie, and Mr Kwethemba Moyo presented work on Probability and Statistics, with focus on calculating probabilities using Tree diagrams, Contingency tables, and Venn diagrams. The ‘Pigeonhole Principle’ was applied to solve some probability questions. The teachers were kept busy as they were actively engaged in the development of the workshop. Their active participation in the discussions and solution of the problems made the workshop enjoyable for all. This was a two-hour session starting at 18:00 South African time. The workshop enjoyed contributions from participants from countries such as Spain, The Caribbean, India, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and South Africa.

Mrs Toni Beardon (Founder of NRICH and AIMSSEC), Ms Caroline Ainslie (Bubbly Maths) and Ms Cynthia Fries once again raised the AIMSSEC flag at the UK Joint Mathematical Conference in April. Toni and Caroline ran a workshop with teachers and teacher trainers on Learning Maths by Playing Games which unveiled an opportunity for teachers to discover dozens of playful activities designed for learning number sense, shape investigations, and diving into data. The session introduced the AIMSSEC AIMING HIGH website and allowed the teachers to play the games and gain lots of practical ideas for rich mathematical activities in the classroom. This was certainly another one of those events that put AIMSSEC on the map.

The teachers in the photograph are seen in action, playing a version of the well-known Scissors Paper Rock game with 7 actions rather than the classic 3, and a version where they have to step to one side when they lose. The learning objectives for school students include proving that it is a fair game and identifying cycles.