A conversation with the AMSP's Core Maths coordinator, and an enthusiastic Core Maths teacher Cat van Saarloos coordinates support and development of Core Maths for the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme (AMSP); Sam Halls-Barker teaches Core Maths in Essex. From the conversation, we find out what lessons are like and pick up some inspiring lesson ideas. We hear all about the support available from the Core Maths community and from a wide array of professional development. Below are links to ...
May 25, 2022•37 min•Ep. 62
A teacher explains why, and how, he's moving from a primary school to a secondary maths department After five years as a primary teacher, Rob Shaw realised he wanted something different. That turned out to be a job as a maths teacher in a nearby secondary school. In this podcast episode he explains how it all came about, and how he feels as the first day in his new job approaches. Show notes Taking part in the discussion are: Rob Shaw, Secondary maths teacher at a school in Plymouth Steve McCorm...
Apr 25, 2022•11 min•Ep. 61
Five suggested number lines for use in KS3 and KS4 maths lessons Becky Donaldson, from the NCETM's Secondary Team suggests five different number lines for use in lessons, including one appropriate for use with students aiming at the higher GSCE grades. Show notes Taking part in the discussion are: Becky Donaldson, NCETM Assistant Director for Secondary Mathematics Steve McCormack, NCETM Communications Director. Useful links This Espresso from Cambridge Mathematics gives more examples of number l...
Apr 21, 2022•21 min•Ep. 60
Simon Hemsworth, who trained as a PE teacher, is now in a role called transition teacher at an Oxfordshire secondary school, a role in which he teaches about ten lessons of KS3 maths every week. To support him in this new role, the school enrolled him on a training programme for non-specialist secondary maths teachers, run by his local Maths Hub. In this episode he discusses his experience with his head of department and the NCETM person who designed the course. Show notes Taking part in the dis...
Apr 05, 2022•19 min•Ep. 59
Two teachers at a school following a programme that concentrates on building firm foundations of early maths understanding explain how it has led to positive changes in the way maths is taught right up the school. Show notes Taking part in the discussion are: Nicky White, Maths Lead and Nursery teacher at St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Bedlington, Northumberland Claire Clark, Year 1 teacher at St Bede's Catholic Primary School Steve McCormack, NCETM Communications Director Useful links Infor...
Mar 09, 2022•18 min•Ep. 58
Five ways to use a number line for maths in Years 1 and 2. The NCETM's Director for Primary Mathematics, Debbie Morgan, suggests a progression of five different number lines to help children build understanding of the relationships between numbers from 1 to 20. In the discussion, she suggest ways for teachers to draw out pupils' reasoning skills, use of language and the beginning of understanding proportion. Show notes Taking part in the discussion are: Debbie Morgan, NCETM Director for Primary ...
Feb 21, 2022•25 min•Ep. 57
GCSE maths teachers will recognise the profile of the disengaged 15-year-old that understands maths easily but hasn’t the motivation to put in the work for a really good grade. This student will often drop maths post-16, or if they don’t, you might lose sight of them as they go to college or join another teacher’s A level group. If you have seen a few of these characters through your doors, you may be encouraged to hear this conversation between Douglas Coates, now a research mathematician at Un...
Jan 24, 2022•34 min•Ep. 56
Mathematics Guidance: Key Stage 3 was published by the DfE in September 2021, but how much have teachers and departments managed to read and familiarise themselves with it? And how can it be used to support teaching in secondary schools? This interview explores the guidance and how it might be used, with Carol Knights who led the writing of it, and Carrie Martin, who is beginning to use it with the schools in her MAT. Show notes Taking part in the discussion are: Carol Knights, NCETM Director fo...
Dec 15, 2021•26 min•Ep. 55
In either a special school or a mainstream setting, no two pupils with special needs have the same abilities or difficulties. A secondary maths lead in a special school explains how she and her colleagues adapt maths teaching so that all pupils can engage and learn, and tells us about a Maths Hub Work Group which focuses on ways to teach maths to pupils with SEND. Show notes Taking part in the discussion are: Sophie Cocker, secondary maths lead at Ravenshall School, a special school in Dewsbury,...
Oct 20, 2021•24 min•Ep. 54
Embedding teaching for mastery in a classroom and across a primary school takes time. In this episode two teachers tell how working with their Maths Hub has gradually led to improvements in maths learning across their schools. Show notes Taking part in the discussion are: Ellie Kelly, Maths Lead and Y1/2 teacher at The Revel C of E Primary School, near Rugby Becky O’Neill, Assistant Principal and Maths Lead at Henry Hinde Infant School, near Rugby, and also Primary Teaching for Mastery Lead with...
Oct 08, 2021•21 min•Ep. 53
The new NCETM Checkpoints resources are designed to support Year 7 teachers in formatively assessing what mathematical understanding their students have brought from primary school. Four PowerPoint decks are already published, full of activities and supported by teacher guidance. The rest will be published over the course of the year. This podcast episode discusses Checkpoints with Becky Donaldson, one of the authors, and Steph Kirk, a teacher using them with her Year 7 classes. Show notes Takin...
Oct 05, 2021•44 min•Ep. 52
Lisa Coe reviews education books, alongside being primary maths lead for a MAT in the East of England. In this interview she talks about the maths books that she has found most useful, what she has learned from them and why she writes a blog to summarise their most useful points. Many of the books she reads are written by secondary maths specialists, and she talks about what these can offer primary, as well as secondary teachers. Show notes Taking part in the discussion are: Lisa Coe, Primary Ma...
Sep 06, 2021•28 min•Ep. 51
The first few lessons with a new class can be the most important. If rules, routines and relationships are established clearly, there's a good chance the year will go smoothly. In this podcast, teachers from three different secondary schools discuss what's worked well for them in the past. Show notes Taking part in the discussion are: Adam Creen, head of post-16 maths at Salesian College in Surrey Dawn Denyer, Assistant Head, St Wilfrid's Catholic School, Crawley, West Sussex Mel Muldowney, math...
Aug 26, 2021•22 min•Ep. 50
Two tech-enthusiastic teachers discuss what’s been learned by remote teaching, and what still limits learning This podcast was recorded in July 2021 in the final weeks of a very disrupted school year. Over the past decade, Andy has been exploring the possibilities offered to maths teaching by ‘digital ink’ (being able to hand-write on a screen). He found this invaluable to his teaching during the two school closure periods, and we wanted to see what Kyle thought about his ideas. Kyle has appeare...
Jul 08, 2021•24 min•Ep. 49
Secondary maths teachers Gemma Scott and Kathryn Darwin both occasionally host the NCETM’s Tuesday evening Twitter-based chat under the hashtag #mathscpdchat. Why do they do it? Aren’t they busy enough as senior members of their maths departments? And why do they think these chats can provide powerful CPD for maths teachers, even those who don’t use Twitter? Show notes Taking part in the discussion are: Gemma Scott, head of maths at an 11-18 comprehensive near Hull Kathryn Darwin, second in depa...
May 18, 2021•16 min•Ep. 48
Steph Elliot is Year 6 teacher and Maths Lead at a one-form entry school in Newcastle. When the country went into lockdown in January 2021, the school started to provide half an hour live input for each class every day. Steph talks about the advantages and difficulties of teaching live online lessons and shares some resources she has created. She also talks about her involvement with Maths Hub CPD through this period. Show notes Taking part in the discussion are: Steph Elliot: Year 6 teacher and...
Feb 11, 2021•21 min•Ep. 47
Show notes Taking part in the discussion are: Louise Maule, Project Lead, Maths4Girls Enuma Afulukwe, Head of Maths, The Hemel Hempstead School Steve McCormack, NCETM Communications Director Episode chapters 00:06 – Introduction and overview of Maths4Girls 02:26 – Why is this necessary? 06:06 – How do schools take part? 11:56 – One school’s experience Useful links Maths4Girls webpage: www.founders4schools.org.uk/educators/maths4girls Twitter: @Founders4School For more information, contact Louise...
Feb 03, 2021•18 min•Ep. 46
Kyle Evans has been teaching live online lessons, at his sixth form college in Hampshire since March, including a blended approach during autumn 2020. Kathryn Darwin’s school opted for an asynchronous approach during March 2020 lockdown but in January 2021 has has moved to a full online timetable. They discuss what works to help teach maths well online, and how to promote interaction with self-conscious students! Show notes Taking part in the discussion are: Kyle Evans: Director of Maths and com...
Jan 21, 2021•20 min•Ep. 45
James Cresswell teaches at a large secondary school in Suffolk where ability-setting in maths is well established, for all year groups. To reduce movement and numbers of contacts during the pandemic, the school took the decision to teach Key Stage 3 in their mixed attainment form groups in autumn 2020. This has been a big change for the department, and James tells us how he has made the most of it. Show notes Taking part in the discussion are: James Cresswell: maths teacher at a secondary school...
Dec 10, 2020•19 min•Ep. 44
Kate Jackson teaches Year 4 part-time at a small, coastal primary school in Suffolk. She is also an NCETM Mastery Specialist and a Forest School leader. She describes herself as ‘on a mission to get children outdoors and loving maths’ and her work in the rest of her week is all about combining these two enthusiasms. In this conversation she explains why getting children outdoors is particularly important during the pandemic, even in the winter months. She explains how you might overcome some of ...
Dec 01, 2020•13 min•Ep. 43
This interview offers a view from the Merseyside classroom of Jack Ndebu, a new teacher of Core Maths, and his experiences with support offered by the Maths Hub network and AMSP. His experiences are complimented by a view of the national picture from Rachel Mathieson, who has been researching the successes and challenges of Core Maths in its first 5 years. Show notes Taking part in the conversation are: Jack Ndebu: Teacher of maths at Rainford High School, Merseyside Rachel Mathieson: Research F...
Nov 11, 2020•48 min•Ep. 42
Show notes Taking part in the discussion are: Nikki Bailey: deputy head, SENCO and Year 1 teacher from Oldfield Primary School, Chester. Gwen Tresidder: NCETM Communications Manager Useful links During the conversation, Nikki mentions Teach Active , the active learning resource package used by her school. A definition of 'active learning' along with further reading suggestions can be found on the Wikipedia page ....
Nov 05, 2020•13 min•Ep. 41
Simon Ball teaches A level and GCSE resit at a sixth form college in central Manchester. The college are reducing numbers of students on site by only having half year groups in at a time. Since September Simon has been teaching half his class online while the other half engage with the lesson from home. He talks to us about this juggling act, what works well, the pitfalls and also some unexpected benefits. Show notes Taking part in the discussion are: Simon Ball: Teacher of A level maths, A leve...
Oct 22, 2020•13 min•Ep. 40
Gemma Scott is Director of Maths at a large 11-18 comprehensive school in east Yorkshire. Restrictions to reduce virus transmission in schools limit teachers’ opportunity to assess student progress in many of the usual ways. Circulating the classroom to help individuals, and marking books, for example, are subject to new restrictions in most schools. Gemma discusses how her department have approached this, and what they are using in place of their usual assessment practices. Show notes Taking pa...
Oct 13, 2020•15 min•Ep. 39
Martyn Yeo teaches Year 4 at a primary school in Warwickshire. In this episode, he discusses the benefits of using manipulatives for teaching maths, and how restrictions on sharing equipment means that he has had to adapt. He discusses the use of online versions of his favourite manipulatives and other ways he has adjusted his usual approach. Show notes Taking part in the discussion are: Martyn Yeo: Year 4 teacher and wider curriculum lead, from Goodyers End School in Warwickshire Gwen Tresidder...
Oct 08, 2020•11 min•Ep. 38
Hisham Alhassan is a secondary maths teacher and Key Stage 5 coordinator at a school in Oxfordshire. In this episode, he discusses the school’s decision not to bring Year 12 students back into the building, some tactics he has deployed for engaging participation during online lessons, and his increased involvement in the maths education CPD community during school closure. Taking on a new role as director of maths in September, he explains how he is planning to approach Covid recovery in a schoo...
Jul 15, 2020•32 min•Ep. 37
Deb Friis is a secondary maths teacher and Research Associate at a research school in Sussex. She also co-leads on secondary mastery for the Sussex Maths Hub. In this interview she talks about what it’s like to be back teaching Y10 students, how research has informed her maths department’s priorities during this period, and their early thoughts about September. She also talks about the difficulties of the GCSE grading process this year. We hope that this interview, with others in the series, wil...
Jul 01, 2020•14 min•Ep. 36
Melissa Molnar is a Canadian teacher who moved to London for experience and never quite left! She teaches Year 1 (though is currently in an EYFS bubble) and leads maths across her school and the larger school partnership. Melissa talks about her thinking behind planning the partnership’s home learning curriculum, the recovery curriculum and about her involvement in creating the NCETM Primary Lesson videos, and how she has used them since. We hope that this interview, with others in the series, w...
Jun 24, 2020•18 min•Ep. 35
Laura Behan talks about working in the EYFS keyworker bubble as the rest of her school opens up to Reception, Year 1 and Year 6. We hear about how the school has organised staff, children and the buildings, and how they are providing learning from home and support for the rest of the pupils. We hope that this interview, and others, will generate ideas and allow listeners to reflect on what works best for their own situations. Show notes Taking part in the discussion, recorded on 10 June 2020, ar...
Jun 11, 2020•18 min•Ep. 34
Craig Tilstone talks about the difficulty of engagement in remote learning in an area with a low socio-economic profile. He talks about the decisions made and steps taken that have improved engagement in maths learning. And he gives an insight into the juggling act of doing all this while schooling his own children from home! We hope that this interview, and others, will generate ideas and allow listeners to reflect on their own practice, remembering that different contexts require different app...
May 26, 2020•15 min•Ep. 33
