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 26, 2020
Tuesday May 26, 2020
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 listeners to reflect on their own practice, remembering that different contexts require different approaches.
Show notes
Taking part in the discussion, recorded on 20 May, are:
- Craig Tilstone, Maths Lead, SLE and Year 6 teacher at a Nottinghamshire primary school
- Gwen Tresidder: NCETM Communications Manager
Episode chapters
- 00:06 – Introduction, and Craig’s new working week
- 02:56 – What learning is being sent home
- 06:26 – What is producing the best engagement at home?
- 07:56 – Opening after half-term?
- 09:06 – Immediate needs for Year 6 pupils?
- 10:06 – Looking ahead to September
- 12:36 – Anything you’ve personally learnt during the lockdown period?
Useful links
Craig tweets as @CraigTilstone
During the podcast, Craig mentions:
White Rose Home Learning resources
Maths No Problem textbook scheme
During April and May 2020 the regular Tuesday night Twitter-based #mathscpdchat frequently discusses teachers’ approaches to remote teaching. Accounts of all these conversation can be found at: https://www.ncetm.org.uk/mathscpdchat.
Thursday May 21, 2020
Thursday May 21, 2020
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 part in the discussion, recorded on 19 May, are:
- Nick Edwards: Director of Maths working in a secondary school in West London
- Gwen Tresidder: NCETM Communications Manager
Episode chapters
- 00:06 – Introduction, and Nick’s new working week
- 02:12 – How Nick’s department prepared for remote teaching
- 06:06 – Mix of recorded and streamed videos/lessons?
- 07:011 – Description of school
- 08:57 – Level of student engagement
- 11:17 – Plans for helping kids who haven’t been engaging
- 12:36 – Thoughts about re-opening
- 13:44 – Has the Grenfell fire experience helped?
Useful links
During the podcast, Nick mentions:
Google learning platform (schools can now apply for funding to set up the Google learning platform or the Microsoft equivalent) and
Friday May 15, 2020
Friday May 15, 2020
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 approaches.
Show notes
Taking part in the discussion, recorded on 13 May, are:
- Dan Poulson, secondary head of maths at a rural 11-16 school in Lincolnshire
- Gwen Tresidder, NCETM Communications Manager
Episode chapters
- 00:06 – Introduction, and Dan’s new working week
- 02:21 – How Dan’s department prepared for remote teaching
- 03:46 – Which resources is Dan using
- 04:16 – Description of Dan’s school
- 09:16 – Plans for after May half-term break
- 10:31 – Thoughts about students coming back into school
- 13:56 – What has Dan learnt during this phase of school closures
Useful links
Dan mentions these three websites, used by his department
- Mathsbox – mathsbox.org.uk
- GCSEpod – gcsepod.com
- Hegarty Maths – hegartymaths.com
Find the other podcasts in this school closures-related series at https://www.ncetm.org.uk/resources/51240
Thursday May 14, 2020
Thursday May 14, 2020
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 different approaches.
Show notes
Taking part in the discussion, recorded on 12 May, are:
- Laurie Luscombe: secondary maths teacher working in Oldham
- Gwen Tresidder: NCETM Communications Manager
Episode chapters
- 04:21 – How the maths department planned for remote teaching
- 07:01 – Engagement levels of students
- 09:26 – Exactly what maths work was sent home
- 12:06 – Getting a sense of students’ home life?
- 13:41 – Thoughts about when schools start to open
Useful Links
Laurie tweets as @mrluscombemaths
During April and May 2020 the regular Tuesday night Twitter-based #mathscpdchat frequently discussed teachers’ approaches to remote teaching. Accounts of all these conversation can be found at: https://www.ncetm.org.uk/mathscpdchat.
Wednesday May 13, 2020
Wednesday May 13, 2020
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 different approaches.
Show notes
Taking part in the discussion, recorded on 11 May, are:
- Jo Brown, primary teacher (Year 5), maths lead and maths SLE, working in a school in Kent
- Gwen Tresidder: NCETM Communications Manager
Episode chapters
- 00:00 – Introduction, and Jo’s working week
- 03:55 – How Jo approaches her maths teaching
- 06:10 – Engagement levels of pupils
- 09:43 – Feelings about schools’ phased return
- 11:17 - Lessons learned for the future
Useful links
The NCETM materials, mentioned by Jo: www.ncetm.org.uk/masterypd
During April and May 2020 the regular Tuesday night Twitter-based #mathscpdchat frequently discussed teachers’ approaches to remote teaching. Accounts of all these conversation can be found at: https://www.ncetm.org.uk/resources/51240
Thursday May 07, 2020
Thursday May 07, 2020
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 research or a more experienced colleague, we are now all finding our way. We hope that this interview, and others that follow, will generate ideas and allow listeners to reflect on their own practice, remembering that different contexts will require different approaches.
Taking part in the discussion, recorded on 6 May, are:
- Kathryn Darwin: secondary maths teacher and second in department in a West Yorkshire school
- Gwen Tresidder: NCETM Communications Manager
Episode chapters
00:40 – Structure of working day at home
01:10 – Home learning decisions taken by school
3:00 – Engagement levels of students
6:40 – Feedback from students
7:10 – Looking ahead to when schools come back
13:33 – How every teacher’s situation is unique
Useful links
Kathryn tweets as @Arithmaticks
Her lesson videos are at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnfadLE-L18II2megirK4zg/videos
Kathryn is one of the regular hosts on our Tuesday night CPD Twitter chat #mathscpdchat. At 13:45 she mentions this and #LockdownStaffRoom – an initiative she has taken to bring together a Twitter community in a live video ‘staffroom’ type conversation.
Thursday Mar 12, 2020
Thursday Mar 12, 2020
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 in the area of teaching for mastery.
Show notes
The voices you’ll hear are:
- Steve McCormack, NCETM Communications team
- Andy Roberts, Headteacher, Riverside School, Barking
- Janis Davies, Headteacher, The Sydney Russell School, Dagenham
- Neel Khokhar, Mastery Specialist, Riverside School, Barking
- Emmanuel Nanor, Mastery Specialist, The Sydney Russell School, Dagenham
Episode chapters
- 00:00 – Introduction and school descriptions
- 02:40 – Broad rationale for engaging with Maths Hub
- 04:30 – Benefits of teachers being out of class
- 10:55 – Impacts visible to headteachers
- 15:10 – The maths teachers’ perspective
Call to action
If this podcast has sparked your interest, visit our Secondary Mastery Opportunities page to find out how your school can get involved with your local Maths Hub.
Wednesday Nov 27, 2019
Wednesday Nov 27, 2019
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.
Initially something of a sceptic, Jenny explains why she has been completely won over by the changes they have made, and what she hopes this might mean for their GCSE results in 2020.
Episode chapters
- 00:52: The school and Jenny’s role
- 02:55: Why the school changed the way they taught maths
- 04:24: How the maths department used to work
- 05:05: How they decided to change
- 08:41: The first collaborative planning meeting (on fractions)
- 11:31: Deciding on a system of planning meetings
- 12:40: How is time for these meetings created now?
- 14:44: How collaborative planning saves time
- 15:17: How the planning sessions work
- 16:51: Retention and development of staff
- 17:42: Jenny’s development as a class teacher
- 19:55: Sending one teacher out of school for CPD
- 20:53: Not scripted lessons
- 21:36: When a planned lesson doesn’t work
- 22:58: The effects on students (engagement, results…)
- 25:34: What the data is showing about attainment of all students
- 26:55: Enabling staff to be excellent teachers
- 28:00: Other departments’ interest in collaborative planning
- 30:01: Jenny’s advice to other schools’ senior leaders
Thursday Nov 07, 2019
Thursday Nov 07, 2019
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 and articles.
Eugenia’s reflections on being a woman in the world of research mathematics make for interesting listening. She compares her experiences of teaching maths students and arts students and argues that associating certain behaviours with masculinity or femininity is unhelpful. To make the world of maths more open to all, she suggests we adopt a different way of thinking and talking – and even makes up some new words!
Her thought-provoking ideas about maths, gender, how children learn, and cooking (!) will be of interest to anyone wondering about why maths alienates some of their students.
Show notes
Taking part in the discussion are:
- Dr Eugenia Cheng, Scientist In Residence, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- Gwen Tresidder, Communications Manager, NCETM
Episode chapters
- 00:59: Eugenia’s background
- 07:34: Teaching arts students vs teaching maths students
- 09:08: How has teaching arts students developed Eugenia’s ideas about maths and gender?
- 10:31: How a person’s feelings about winning or losing might be linked to whether they like maths
- 13:13: Eugenia suppressing her femininity in order to succeed as a maths researcher
- 14:52: How society has associated character traits with gender
- 16:47: ‘Ingressive’ and ‘congressive’: new words for character types that are not attached to gender
- 19:31: How might Eugenia’s ideas affect the way maths is taught?
- 21:34: Making a safe classroom environment
- 24:20: What sort of environment was Eugenia taught in at school?
- 26:32: Removing the emphasis on right and wrong answers in maths
- 29:14: How is maths like cooking?
- 34:06: Where to find out more…
Useful links
Eugenia mentions the book: Christopher Danielson ‘Which one doesn’t belong?’ There is also an associated website.
Eugenia’s website: www.eugeniacheng.com
Eugenia also uses abstract mathematics analogies to explain the world we live in – in her TEDX talk she explains social inequality using prime factorisation!
Eugenia’s series of cooking videos ‘The Mathster Chef’ can be found at the bottom of this page.
Friday Oct 18, 2019
Friday Oct 18, 2019
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 are for teaching and how the new qualifications might affect numbers opting for A level.
Show notes
Taking part in the discussion are:
- Andrew Taylor, AQA
- Graham Cumming, Edexcel
- Neil Ogden, OCR
- Gwen Tresidder, Communications Manager, NCETM
Episode chapters
- 00:43 – Introducing the speakers
- 02:04 – A Level: How did the students get on?
- 12:23 – How are students managing the length of the papers?
- 14:46 – How did the move to linear assessment go?
- 16:59 – Did the new GCSE 9-1 prepare students better for the A level? Implications for teaching GCSE.
- 21:45 – Will this year’s low grade boundaries affect numbers of students taking A level maths?
- 29:21 – What should A level maths teachers put more focus on in their teaching?
- 33:45 – GCSE
- 34:09 – How did students perform? What content areas are still difficult?
- 39:37 – Are we getting better at the new specification? The problem with unfamiliar question-types.
- 43:11 – Examples, from all 3 boards, of a question in which students did well, and one in which they did badly.