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
Tuesday May 18, 2021
Tuesday May 18, 2021
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 department at an 11-16 comprehensive in West Yorkshire
- Steve McCormack, NCETM Communications Director.
Useful links
Gemma tweets as @DirectorMaths
Kathryn tweets as @Arithmaticks
Find all summaries of previous chats, and notices of upcoming chats, on our #mathscpdchat page.
You can find out more about the discussions in our feature article.
Three summaries mentioned in detail during the conversation can be found among the summaries, as follows:
- Grade descriptors – 20 April 2021
- Surds – 28 January 2020
- Reasoning – 8 January 2019.
Thursday Feb 11, 2021
Thursday Feb 11, 2021
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 Maths Lead at a primary school in Newcastle
- Gwen Tresidder: NCETM Communications Manager
Episode chapters
- 00:56 – Steph’s school’s remote provision
- 03:06 – Live lessons in maths
- 07:54 – Successful lesson resources
- 09:44 – Supporting parents
- 13:06 – Pros and cons of live lessons
- 16:13 – Engaging in Maths Hub CPD at this time
Useful links
Steph tweets as @eenalol and has a blog: A little but a lot where you can find the resources she has created, and a variety of journals and blogs. The ‘Among Us’ resource that she mentions in the interview is posted on 28 January (2021) and the February maths calendar is posted on 26 January (2021).
During the interview, Steph mentions the following:
Wednesday Feb 03, 2021
Wednesday Feb 03, 2021
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 Maule at louise.maule@founders4schools.org.uk
Thursday Jan 21, 2021
Thursday Jan 21, 2021
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 computer science at a large sixth form college near Southampton
- Kathryn Darwin: secondary maths teacher and second in department in a school in Dewsbury
- Gwen Tresidder: NCETM Communications Manager
Episode chapters
- 01:06 How their schools are delivering maths now
- 05:09 Addressing safeguarding/privacy concerns
- 11:53 Getting students to respond and engage
- 14:41 The best bit of maths you’ve taught online
Useful links
Kathryn tweets as @Arithmaticks and is one of the regular hosts on our Tuesday night CPD Twitter chat #mathscpdchat.
Kyle tweets as @kyledevans. His webpage kyledevans.com has more details about his other life as a maths entertainer. He has put some of his best ideas for getting students responding in this thread: Kyle D Evans on Twitter: "A few people requested some more content-specific tips for engagement in online lessons. I'm happy to share a few more ideas - maths-centric, but many adaptable to other subjects I'm sure. 👍 (thread)" / Twitter
Kyle mentions using a mini-whiteboard tool on Desmos
Both guests recommend Whiteboards.fi to emulate the use of mini-whiteboards in class
Thursday Dec 10, 2020
Thursday Dec 10, 2020
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 in Suffolk
Gwen Tresidder: NCETM Communications Manager
Episode chapters
05:36 - How have your lessons changed?
12:06 - Where have you got support and ideas from?
14:46 - How have students and parents reacted?
Useful links
James Cresswell tweets as @mathsmrc.
During the conversation, James mentions:
- Helen Hindle interview on Mr Barton Maths Podcast
- Variation theory website from Mr Barton Maths
- Mixed attainment maths website
- Resourceaholic website
- Maths4everyone website
- Attending online maths conferences – these were the Complete Maths conferences 23 and 24. Conference 25 is on 13 March 2021.
- The NCETM’s Tuesday evening Twitter chat (7-8pm) #mathscpdchat – open to all.
Tuesday Dec 01, 2020
Tuesday Dec 01, 2020
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 the barriers.
Show notes
Taking part in the discussion are:
Kate Jackson: Year 4 teacher at a primary school in Suffolk
Gwen Tresidder: NCETM Communications Manager
Useful links
- Kate Jackson tweets as @katejxn. The website for her tutoring and outdoor learning is katejacksonlearning.co.uk
- During the conversation, Kate mentions:
- the NCETM ‘spine’ materials [Primary Professional Development Materials] – explaining how specific ideas from these materials can be used outside and how natural materials can be used as manipulatives
- Forest Schools Association website which includes a video explaining Forest Schools
- Juliet Robertson’s Creative Star website.
Wednesday Nov 11, 2020
Wednesday Nov 11, 2020
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 Fellow at the School of Education, Leeds University and one of the authors of The early take-up of Core Maths: successes and challenges
Gwen Tresidder: NCETM Communications Manager
Episode chapters
02:31 Background: Rainford High School and Jack’s teaching experience
04:48 How is Core Maths different to teaching A level?
06:44 What I used to do. What I do now.
14:14 How do students find it?
17:31 How did you gain the skills needed to teach Core Maths?
22:58 Effects of Covid-19 on lessons and use of data in lessons
27:34 Rachel: research findings
32:36 Required GCSE tier of entry/grade for Core Maths
37:17 How schools/teachers can make Core Maths successful
Useful Links
- Full details of the Core Maths research project on the Leeds University website
- At 25:36, Jack mentions Core Maths resources collated on Padlet, by Catherine Van Saarloos (Core Maths Professional Development Lead at AMSP). The relevant pages are here: Getting started with Core Maths and Teaching Core Maths.
- More information on how to join Maths Hub CPD Work Groups: Developing Core Maths pedagogy
- AMSP has many useful Core Maths resources accessible from their homepage under the ‘Teachers’ menu. This includes case studies on how schools/colleges have managed to integrate Core Maths into their timetables, as well as resources, professional development and curriculum advice.
- The DfE has recently updated its Core Maths technical guidance.
Thursday Nov 05, 2020
Thursday Nov 05, 2020
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.
Thursday Oct 22, 2020
Thursday Oct 22, 2020
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 level statistics and GCSE maths resit and Level 2 Maths Curriculum Lead.
- Gwen Tresidder: NCETM Communications Manager
Useful links
Simon tweets as @ballyzero. He is a regular contributor and occasional host to our #mathscpdchat on Twitter on Tuesday evenings.
Tuesday Oct 13, 2020
Tuesday Oct 13, 2020
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 part in the discussion are:
Gemma Scott: Director of Maths at an east Yorkshire 11-18 comprehensive school.
Gwen Tresidder: NCETM Communications Manager
Useful links
Gemma tweets as @DirectorMaths and writes a blog: An honest account of life as a Director of Learning.