In an ideal world, all children would have access to high-quality, broad maths teaching throughout their school career, but without enough teachers, how will the PM’s plans to extend maths teaching work? With the new year in full swing, a subject close to our hearts took centre stage in the Prime Minister’s first speech of 2023. Rishi Sunak proposed compulsory maths should be taught until the age of 18, instead of the current 16, in the hope of raising numeracy standards across the UK. Unsurprisingly, the PM has come under fire from some critics who argue his focus on older pupils is misplace ..read more

Editor’s note: This post is part of our Cross-curricular mastery series. Here, you’ll find tips and advice to help you make the most of the links between maths and other subjects. Weaving other subjects into your lessons is a great way for learners to see how useful maths is. Your science lessons are the perfect place to start. Maths doesn’t exist in a bubble, it’s connected to the rest of the curriculum. Why not make the most of this by linking maths to other subjects? Maths and science go together brilliantly, so your science lessons are the perfect place to start. Here’s how to consolida ..read more

“The following is a framework to fill with whatever works for you and your school community. Give it a go, start with one small thing tomorrow — or now — and tell a friend.” Do we really need another blog with a focus on well-being? Surely we have read enough tips to know what to do to keep ourselves feeling good and functioning well. Education Support have just released their Teacher Well-being Index 2022. Sadly, the results don’t make for easy reading. So yes, we do need another blog on well-being, but one that encompasses both individual and organisational approaches. I hope this blog wi ..read more

This is the first of a two-part series summarising the discussions that took place during our annual conference. Late in November, Maths — No Problem! held its 2022 Annual Conference, the first in-person gathering in three years. The theme was Maths Mastery in the Post-Pandemic World. About 140 delegates filled the Great Cumberland Meeting Spaces at the Hard Rock Hotel in London to hear prominent speakers including Dr Yeap Ban Har and Dr Sue Gifford talk about the lessons learned during the lockdowns and why the maths mastery approach was more important than ever. The event was a great succ ..read more

To be a well-rounded mathematical thinker, advanced learners should demonstrate all five of the Core Competencies — metacognition, visualisation, generalisation, communication and number sense. After a Maths — No Problem! training day focusing on differentiation, I returned to school all fired up. I had decided to focus on the core competencies of a mathematician within my own lessons and in the lessons I observed. The five core competencies — metacognition, visualisation, generalisation, communication and number sense — can be applied to new and varied situations. Learners can use them to ..read more

How do we keep the class together as we move through the learning while at the same time meeting the needs of all 30 children? If only there was a simple solution. At the same time every year — probably about week 3 of the new school year, I seem to have at least one conversation with a member of staff about how to differentiate a Maths — No Problem! lesson. How do we keep the class together as we move through the learning, while at the same time meeting the needs of all 30 children? If only there was a simple solution. Let’s begin with differentiation itself. The book How to Differentiate ..read more

Are you making these bar modelling mistakes? If so, don’t panic — they’re simple to put right. Here’s how to avoid the common pitfalls and become a bar modelling maestro. It’s hard to teach maths in a primary classroom without coming across bar modelling. This is a powerful visualisation technique that supports the concrete-pictorial-abstract (CPA) approach to learning. When using bar models, there are some pitfalls to watch out for. Here are the most common mistakes and how to avoid them. Assuming pupils have already learned about bar models You plan an amazing lesson and know bar models ..read more

One of the biggest barriers to learning in primary school is that some children don’t make the transition from counting strategies to part-whole strategies. When children are struggling, there are a few key steps I will always go through to try to help. I will make these as generic as possible to try to take in the different contexts we find in schools. Assess to find what knowledge is missing Try to find the ‘big idea’ that’s missing from the child’s understanding or knowledge. In my experience, one of the biggest barriers to learning maths in primary school is that some children don’t ma ..read more

Is your school or classroom providing the best opportunities for maths development? What do you need to focus on? Where can you get help? Working as a specialist leader of education (SLE) was the best move I ever made. Focusing on primary maths, I have been able to visit many schools and work with hundreds of teachers to develop and improve maths understanding. And through this process, I too am still learning. After teaching in the classroom for more than 26 years — from Reception to Year 6 and everything in between — I decided it was time for a change. I was passionate about primary maths ..read more

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