The NCETM Maths Podcast

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 im...

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 conversatio...

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...

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...

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 approac...

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 Ye...

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...

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 difficultie...

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 Lesso...

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 b...

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 l...

Nick Edwards reflects on how his experience of supporting students through the Grenfell tragedy informed his school’s decision to provide regular video lessons for classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. 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 approaches. Show notes Taking...

The fourth of our conversations exploring how schools and teachers are managing the challenges of providing remote learning in maths, supporting students and looking after their own wellbeing during the COVID-19 school closures. We hope that this interview, and others, will generate ideas and allow you to reflect on your own practice, remembering that different contexts will require different appr...

The third of our conversations exploring how schools and teachers are managing the challenges of providing remote learning in maths, supporting students and looking after their own well-being during the Covid-19 school closures. We hope that this interview, and others, will generate ideas and allow listeners to reflect on their own practice, remembering that different contexts will require differe...

The second of our conversations exploring how schools and teachers are managing the challenges of providing remote learning in maths, supporting students and looking after their own well-being during the Covid-19 school closures. We hope that this interview, and others, will generate ideas and allow listeners to reflect on their own practice, remembering that different contexts will require differ...

Since late March schools across England have been closed to most pupils due to the coronavirus pandemic. This podcast explores how schools and teachers are managing the challenges of providing remote learning in maths, supporting students and looking after their own well-being in an unprecedented situation. Provision of mass remote learning is new to all teachers – where we might normally turn to...

Creating time out of class for secondary teachers to engage in professional development activities, inside and outside their own school, can sometimes be difficult. This episode talks to two headteachers, from neighbouring schools in east London, who make it happen as a matter of policy. For several years, teachers from both schools have been released to take part in Maths Hubs activities, mainly...

Jenny Laurie is a deputy head and maths teacher at The St Marylebone CE School in central London. The school was one of the very earliest to adopt a teaching for mastery approach in maths. When two maths teachers visited Shanghai, they were particularly struck by the collaborative nature of curriculum planning there, and resolved to introduce a more collegiate way of planning at St Marylebone. Ini...

Eugenia Cheng rethinks gender around maths Dr Eugenia Cheng is a research mathematician who teaches maths to arts students at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She was born and educated in England and is an honorary hellow at the University of Sheffield. Eugenia holds a strong commitment to making maths accessible to all, and to this end, is the author of a number of popular maths books...

An audience with the exam boards: the new A level and GCSE 9-1 This year, our podcast with the exam boards focuses on the new reformed A level, first examined for a whole cohort this summer (2019). We also discuss how things are going with the 9-1 GCSE, now in its third year. Representatives from England’s three main exam boards share their thoughts on how students got on, what the implications ar...

Managing maths in mixed-age classes The current National Curriculum, introduced in 2013, divides mathematical learning clearly into ‘year group objectives’. This has led teachers to ask how to manage year group objectives for two or more year groups within one class of children. Many Maths Hubs have responded by running ‘innovation’ Work Groups, to support these teachers, using various different m...

In this first episode of the new school year, we interview three of the people behind the recently published Secondary Mastery Professional Development Materials . They explain how the materials can help departments and teachers develop their maths pedagogy to teach for deep and connected understanding. They offer teachers suggestions for how the materials might be used, where they might start and...

In this podcast, the last of the 2018/19 school year, we find out how a secondary school maths department works together to ensure all maths lessons in Years 7 and 8 are consistent in approach—and it’s a teaching for mastery approach developed by the department gradually over three years. One of the teachers interviewed has just finished the first year of training, with the NCETM and his local Mat...

In this podcast, we visit Spring Bank Primary School in Leeds and talk to headteacher, Sarah Hawes and maths lead, Tracey Baruah. With 40 years’ experience between them, they explain their enthusiasm for what the Mastery Readiness Programme is offering the children in their school. The Mastery Readiness Programme began work with a small number of schools in the Northern Powerhouse in 2018/19. The...

Teaching the hardest topics in GCSE maths Which are the hardest topics in GCSE maths? You will know some by reputation. Some might surprise you. What can you do to make these topics more accessible to students? In particular, how can you unlock a depth of understanding that allows students to use their knowledge flexibly and in unfamiliar situations? The Maths Hub network’s national project, ‘Chal...