The Primary Maths Podcast

In this episode of the Primary Maths Podcast , Jon and Becky ask whether we need to change the way we teach maths during a heatwave. With classrooms getting hotter and the end of term in sight, they explore what heat can do to attention, working memory, processing speed and classroom engagement. Is it just children being tired and sticky, or is there a genuine cognitive load issue at play? They al...

World Cup Maths, Equity and Oracy in the Primary Classroom In this episode of the Primary Maths Podcast , Jon and Becky talk end-of-year school chaos, transition days, classroom moves, and the strange joy of finding a trolley when you really need one. The main discussion begins with reflections from the East Midlands West Maths Hub summer conference, where the focus was on equity in maths. Jon sha...

In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast , Jon and Becky reflect on the realities of summer term: heatwaves, report writing, and the heroic act of trying to teach when everyone is melting. They then turn to problem solving in primary maths, asking whether it should really be saved for the end of the year, or whether pupils need regular, explicit teaching of the skills that help them tackle unf...

In this aftermaths episode of The Primary Maths Podcast , Jon and Becky take a look back at this year’s KS2 maths SATs papers and ask what teachers and maths leads might learn from them. They discuss why the tests should be seen as end-of-key-stage assessments rather than simply Year 6 tests, explore the balance of content across the papers, and reflect on the importance of flexible mathematical t...

In this lighter half-term Aftermaths episode, Jon and Becky take a wander through some of the unexpected maths hiding in everyday life. First up: Samba the escaped capybara, who, at the time of recording, was still causing confusion somewhere near Hampshire. Is it a capybara? Is it a muntjac deer? Has someone accidentally taken in the world’s largest “stray cat”? Hard to say. Becky then takes us i...

In this Aftermaths episode of The Primary Maths Podcast , Jon and Becky chat about the strange, busy, slightly chaotic stretch of the school year just before half term, from transition days and sports events to staffing conversations and year group changes. They reflect on how different primary teaching can feel from one year group to another, and why every phase, from EYFS and Key Stage 1 through...

In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast , Jon is joined by Paul Milner and Julie Pompa from National Numeracy to talk about number confidence, family engagement and the role schools can play in helping children and adults feel more positive about maths. Paul and Julie share the story behind National Numeracy’s work, including why adult numeracy matters and how confidence can be just as import...

In this Aftermaths episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon and Becky reflect on a very maths-filled week, from Key Stage 2 SATs to International Women in Mathematics Day, with a little bit of football stadium chat thrown in for good measure. Jon and Becky begin by talking about SATs week and the difficult balance teachers face in preparing children well without making the tests feel bigger than...

Becky is back from America, which means Aftermaths is back to its usual rhythm of maths chat, gentle chaos and slightly overconfident linking between topics. In this episode, Jon and Becky begin by looking ahead to Key Stage 2 SATs week, reflecting on the pressure pupils, parents and schools can feel, while also remembering some of the stranger moments from past SATs papers, including giraffes, wa...

In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon is joined by Bryn Llewellyn from Move and Learn, Paula Manser, headteacher at Birkby Infant and Nursery School, and Danielle Laramie, maths lead and assistant headteacher at Birkby. Together, they explore what active learning really means in primary maths and, just as importantly, what it does not mean. This is not about children running around the...

In this Aftermaths episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon is joined by returning guest Ash Morris for a Friday conversation that begins with National Space Day and ends with one of the most talked-about education reports of the week. Ash shares some suitably mind-bending space facts, including moon rocks, sunlight, Apollo, Artemis and why the Moon might be thought of as Earth’s child. Jon also...

In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon is joined by Kate Henshall and Kat Martin from Rethink Maths for a conversation about lesson design, task design and how we help children move beyond simply completing work towards deeper mathematical thinking. Kate and Kat share their own experiences of maths at school, including how conceptual understanding, representations and manipulatives tran...

In this Aftermaths episode, Jon and Becky dig into one of the biggest ongoing challenges in primary maths: problem solving. Despite being one of the three core aims of the curriculum, problem solving is still too often treated as something we “do at the end” rather than something we explicitly teach. Drawing on classroom experience, research, and a classic article by Mike Askew, they explore the d...

In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon is joined by Cat Eadle from The Dyscalculia Network and Baroness Deborah Bull to explore one of the most overlooked areas in maths education: dyscalculia. Dyscalculia affects around 6% of learners, yet many teachers will go through their entire career without hearing it mentioned in training. So what is it? How does it present in the classroom? And...

In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon and Becky explore the mathematics behind space travel, inspired by the recent Artemis mission and the return of astronauts from their journey around the Moon. Starting with the sheer scale of the challenge, they unpack the numbers, distances, and precision required to send humans into space and bring them safely home again. The conversation compare...

Hello and welcome to this interview episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, the show where we talk all things primary maths. I’m Jon Cripwell. In this episode, I’m joined by Paula Fieldhouse for a wide-ranging conversation about financial literacy, parental engagement, and what it really means to prepare children for the financial decisions they will face later in life. We explore what financial lit...

In this Aftermaths episode of The Primary Maths Podcast , Jon and Becky return after the Easter break with a lighter, curiosity-driven conversation that blends real mathematics with everyday life. Jon introduces a fascinating mathematical quirk known as Kaprekar’s constant. Starting with almost any four-digit number and following a simple process of rearranging and subtracting digits, you will alw...

In this Easter special of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon and Becky take a slightly lighter turn while still keeping one foot firmly in the world of maths. Recorded on Good Friday, the episode reflects on the welcome arrival of the Easter break and the importance of slowing down after a busy term. The conversation explores a familiar classroom question: what do we do with seasonal contexts like Eas...

In this Aftermaths episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon and Becky catch up after a short break and reflect on this week’s interview with Professor Lucy Cragg on multiplication and how children learn times tables. The conversation turns to the Multiplication Tables Check (MTC), exploring its origins, purpose and impact since its introduction. Jon shares a short history of the check, from its a...

In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast , Jon speaks with Lucy Cragg, Professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Nottingham, about what cognitive science reveals about how children learn multiplication facts. Lucy’s research explores executive function skills such as working memory, inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility, and how these shape children’s mathematical learn...

In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast , Jon Cripwell speaks with Tom Oakley about one of the most important — and often overlooked — aspects of mathematics education: belonging . Why do some pupils decide that maths “isn’t for them”? Why do confident learners sometimes disengage from mathematics? And what can teachers do to help every child feel like they belong in the maths classroom? Tom...

Episode 60 of The Primary Maths Podcast is an Aftermaths episode where Jon Cripwell and Becky Brown reflect on mathematical thinking in the classroom, the hidden cost of passive maths, and why pupils’ mathematical identity matters as much as their test scores. The episode begins with a lighter moment as Jon points out that it is Friday the 13th again, one of three Friday the 13ths in 2026, the max...

In this international episode of The Primary Maths Podcast , Jon is joined by Will McLoughlin , a maths teacher based in Abu Dhabi, founder of AddvanceMaths.com and current Education Doctorate student researching conceptual understanding, animated instruction and cognitive science. The conversation explores what direct instruction or explicit instruction actually means in practice — and what it do...

In this Aftermaths episode of The Primary Maths Podcast , Jon Cripwell and Becky Brown reflect on the week’s conversation about using storybooks in mathematics and share a range of classroom ideas sparked by World Book Day . The episode begins with Jon and Becky recounting their first in-person meeting as colleagues after a slightly confusing start involving two similarly named hotels in Southampt...

What happens when maths lessons start with a story rather than a method? In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon Cripwell is joined by Hannah Allison from Maths Outside the Box to explore the role of stories in primary maths teaching. Drawing on her background in the arts and her experience as a maths leader, Hannah explains how narrative, character and context can help pupils engage mor...