Every school mathematics department has its own way of organising its scheme of work, and of introducing new elements into it. All are under pressure in various ways. This final section offers comments and suggestions, based on others’ experience, to help schools to share ideas and approaches that have worked well.

When? First, Bowland Maths is NOT a complete mathematics course. But it can provide an important part of the maths course that a school uses, strengthening it by covering aspects of the Programme of Study that are often neglected – and/or are difficult to teach. Bowland Maths activities work best when used regularly as a change of focus from the teaching of concepts and skills alone, either to introduce new elements from the Programme of Study and/or to reinforce ones already learned. Bowland Maths is not for “a wet Friday at the end of term”, nor for “after the exams”: Case Study should be planned into the normal scheme of teaching.

Compact or spread out? Each Case Study takes a few lessons to complete. A few of the Case Studies can be done on occasional days, but most work better if they are completed in a sequence of lessons over a week or so – or even on a single “problem solving day”. There are two reasons for this. First, the chain of reasoning that the Case Study develops often depends on continuity. Second, the “classroom contract” of expectations between teachers and pupils is changed in this work – more pupil autonomy and responsibility, with the teacher playing a facilitative, less directive role. It takes time for pupils – and maybe some teachers - to adjust to this.

The overfull curriculum School maths departments are usually short of the time they think is needed to cover the curriculum, so a new element raises the question: “What can this replace?” The simple answer is short but deep: “the Case Studies can replace much of the re-teaching of concepts and skills”. The deeper understanding and multiple connections developed by investigative problem solving helps long term learning and reduces the “six-month fall off” that teachers know well. This issue is addressed in the PD module “The Case Studies and Mathematics”.

How to choose the Case Studies? Given the variety of the Case Studies, teachers' choices will reflect their priorities at different times. Some may want “a real change”; others may want to do computer-based investigations; some may look for a Case Study in which the maths is more obvious; yet others may want a context that is close to real life. The “Portraits of the Case Studies” gives enough information to guide provisional choices, but there is no substitute for exploring the Case Studies themselves. “The Case Studies and Mathematics” PD module also addresses this issue.