The NCETM Maths Podcast, from the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics, invites teachers, maths experts and anyone with a passion for teaching maths to talk about topics that shine a light on great maths teaching. With ideas for classroom activities, inspirational stories of careers in maths, and lively debates on contemporary topics, the NCETM podcast has something for everyone. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Episodes
Wednesday Mar 09, 2022
Wednesday Mar 09, 2022
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
- Information about the NCETM Mastering Number Programme
- Opportunities for schools to work on teaching for mastery through the Maths Hubs Programme.
Monday Feb 21, 2022
Monday Feb 21, 2022
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 Mathematics
- Steve McCormack, NCETM Communications Director
Useful links
- In the introductory remarks, Debbie refers to the DfE's guidance for teaching maths in primary schools (2020)
- Debbie also refers to the ready-to-progress criteria contained in the DfE guidance
- For help with planning maths in Key Stage 1, go to the NCETM's primary curriculum prioritisation resource.
Monday Jan 24, 2022
Monday Jan 24, 2022
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 Université Paris Saclay, and his A level teacher, Tom Rainbow. Doug explains how maths came alive for him post-16, and what it was that inspired him. And he poses a great little maths problem (from John Mason) for you and your students to try!
Show notes
Taking part in the discussion are:
- Tom Rainbow, Maths Education Support Specialist with the AMSP (Advanced Maths Support Programme)
- Douglas Coates, Research mathematician, Université Paris Saclay
- Gwen Tresidder, NCETM Communications Manager (introducing the discussion)
Episode chapters
- 00:06 – Introduction and meet Tom
- 03:16 – How Doug came to take A level maths and what he has done since
- 07:23 – How differentiation brought maths alive for Doug
- 10:30 – Doug explains his hatred of memorisation and calculating, but love of thinking, logic and solving problems
- 11:27 – How important is ownership of the mathematical process?
- 11:50 – Can a textbook create the conditions for proper mathematical discussion and thinking?
- 12:30 – Tom muses about providing for students that want something more mechanistic
- 14:19 – Use of technology vs. written techniques
- 15:36 – Tom recounts teaching about a straight line crossing a circle
- 20:29 – Did A level maths prepare Doug well for his degree?
- 24:50 – Doug explains his research area – Ergodic theory
- 27:40 – Doug’s maths problem about a bicycle (originally from John Mason and published in the book ‘Thinking Mathematically’)
Useful links
- Tom tweets as @CoreMathsTom
Wednesday Dec 15, 2021
Wednesday Dec 15, 2021
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 for secondary
- Carrie Martin, Senior Network Leader of Maths, Cabot Learning Federation, SW England
- Steve McCormack, NCETM Communications Director.
Episode Chapters
- 01:57 The structure of the guidance
- 02:25 The introductory section
- 03:42 The sample curriculum framework
- 05:40 What’s in the main body of the guidance
- 07:47 Making links to KS2
- 09:50 Ideas for use in the classroom
- 10:30 Using the guidance to review your KS3 curriculum
- 12:48 How the guidance is being used in Carrie’s MAT
- 14:25 Using the guidance without using the suggested sequencing of topics
- 22:10 Tips for navigating the guidance
- 23:04 How the guidance helps busy KS3 teachers know about KS2 maths.
Useful links
Information about the KS3 Guidance on the NCETM website
NCETM KS3 Mastery Professional Development Materials
NCETM exemplified Key Ideas: in PowerPoint files useful for the classroom
NCETM Checkpoints: Year 7 classroom activities to assess prior learning from KS2
Wednesday Oct 20, 2021
Wednesday Oct 20, 2021
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, West Yorkshire
- Beth Goodliff, NCETM Communications Manager.
Episode chapters
- 01:02 – The characteristics of the pupils at Ravenshall School and how these shape teaching
- 01:46 – Pupils’ starting points in the maths classroom
- 02:44 – Semi-formal classroom settings and finding ‘mathematical moments’
- 03:26 – What a maths lesson might look like, and cross-curricular maths activities
- 06:59 – Sophie’s experience of moving from a mainstream maths PGCE to teaching maths in a special school, and engaging with her local Maths Hub
- 10:16 – Making elements of teaching for mastery work in a special school
- 12:41 – The manipulatives and resources used
- 15:04 – Training other teachers in the school to teach maths
- 17:16 – Taking part in, and leading, a Work Group exploring maths teaching in special schools
- 22:02 – Plans for the Work Group this year
Useful links
- West Yorkshire Maths Hub
- Information about teaching for mastery on the NCETM website
- Information about the Maths Hubs Network across England and all the CPD opportunities Maths Hubs offer
Friday Oct 08, 2021
Friday Oct 08, 2021
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 Origin Maths Hub
- Steve McCormack, NCETM Communications Director.
Useful links
Information about teaching for mastery on the NCETM website
Information about the Maths Hubs Network across England and all the CPD opportunities they offer.
Tuesday Oct 05, 2021
Tuesday Oct 05, 2021
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
Taking part in the discussion are:
- Steph Kirk, Year 7 teacher and Curriculum Lead from Trinity Academy St. Edward’s in Barnsley
- Becky Donaldson, NCETM Assistant Director for Secondary
- Gwen Tresidder, NCETM Communications Manager
Episode chapters
- 00:42 – What is a Checkpoint?
- 02:50 – Steph Kirk – intro to her and her school
- 06:25 – Becky Donaldson – intro
- 07:52 – Steph: using Checkpoints in her classroom
- 12:30 – Becky: writing the Checkpoints activities
- 15:20 – What ‘algebra’ looks like in primary
- 16:20 – Checkpoints for CPD
- 17:53 – Steph: mapping Checkpoints to her own SoW
- 19:03 – ‘Dots’ Checkpoint 4, from Arithmetic procedures with integers and decimals (see below)
- 24:15 – ‘Arithmequick’ Checkpoint 15 from Expressions and equations
- 25:05 – The distributive law (The distributive law is addressed in Core Concept 1.4 of the NCETM Secondary Mastery Professional Development Materials)
- 27:07 – Unitising (Read more about unitising here: What is unitising, and why is it important? | NCETM)
- 34:58 – Shape balance, Checkpoint 2 from Expressions and equations
- 40:33 – Join a professional discussion about Checkpoints
Useful links
Becky tweets as @donaldson_maths and Steph tweets as @steph_mathsive
Checkpoints webpage, where you can download the PowerPoints and sign up for the seminars
Teachers can join a professional discussion about using the Checkpoints activities in our Basecamp community
NCETM Secondary Mastery Professional Development Materials
NCETM Primary Mastery Professional Development Materials
Steph mentions using double-sided counters and algebra tiles. Using mathematical representations at KS3 | NCETM offers more guidance with using these resources and others.
Monday Sep 06, 2021
Monday Sep 06, 2021
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 Maths Lead for the Inspiration Trust
- Gwen Tresidder, NCETM Communications Manager.
Episode chapters
- 00:58 - Lisa’s summer reading (novels)
- 02:10 - Lisa’s work as Maths Lead for five primary schools
- 04:08 - How Lisa started reviewing books
- 07:30 - ‘How I wish I’d taught maths’ - Craig Barton
- 09:11 - ‘Visible Maths’ - Peter Mattock (and also 20:40)
- 11:21 - What secondary books can offer primary teachers
- 12:11 - ‘Mathematical Tasks’ - Chris McGrane
- 13:54 - How Lisa finds the time to read
- 16:13 - Cover-to-cover, or dipping in?
- 17:02 - ‘Mathematical methods’ - Jo Morgan
- 18:33 - How reading fits in with other CPD
- 20:46 - Recommendations for new teachers or trainees
- 23:04 - ‘Thinking deeply about primary mathematics’ - Kieran Mackle
- 25:36 - Lisa’s next reads
Useful links
Lisa tweets as @Elsie2110. Her blog is at elsie2110.wordpress.com
Lisa talks about the following books:
A Little Life. Hanya Yanagihara. 2020
Mathematical Tasks: The Bridge Between Teaching and Learning. Chris McGrane. 2020
A Compendium of Mathematical Methods. Joanne Morgan. 2020
Thinking Deeply about Primary Mathematics. Kieran Mackle. 2020
Also, Kieran Mackle’s podcast: Thinking Deeply about Primary Education
Teaching Math With Examples. Michael Pershan. 2021
The Future of Teaching And The Myths That Hold It Back. Guy Claxton. 2021
Thursday Aug 26, 2021
Thursday Aug 26, 2021
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, maths teacher at North Bromsgrove High School in Worcestershire
- Steve McCormack, NCETM Communications Director
Useful links
- Mel tweets as @Just_Maths
- Dawn tweets as @mrsdenyer
- Adam tweets as @robotmaths
The free website mentioned by Adam, created by Simon Singh, can be found at parallel.org.uk.
You may also be interested in our feature with suggestions of resources and CPD opportunities that may be worth considering at the start of a new school year.
Thursday Jul 08, 2021
Thursday Jul 08, 2021
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 appeared on the podcast previously: Remote teaching returns 1 – Kyle Evans and Kathryn Darwin | NCETM
Until March, Andy Lumley was teaching at Cheadle Hulme School in Stockport. Kyle Evans teaches and leads maths at Barton Peveril sixth form college near Southampton.
Show notes
Taking part in the discussion are:
- Kyle Evans, Director of Maths and computer science at a large sixth form college near Southampton
- Andy Lumley, Learning Technology Lead, MEI
- Gwen Tresidder, NCETM Communications Manager.
Episode chapters
- 01:46 – Andy explains what he thinks technology can (and can’t) offer
- 02:56 – What is ‘digital ink’ and what does it offer
- 03:45 – Digital ink for teachers
- 06:26 – Digital ink for students
- 07:04 – What is being used at Kyle’s college
- 08:50 – Kyle’s hesitancy about replacing paper and pencil
- 10:51 – Should every student have a stylus?
- 12:01 – What would they keep from remote teaching?
- 17:03 – Student engagement online
Useful Links
Kyle tweets as @kyledevans. Andy tweets as @desire2undrstnd.