Jeez Louise!

At the back end of 2013 the government published their proposed programmes of study for both KS3 and KS4 Maths, and then subsequently opened a consultation to these proposals which closed on 3rd February 2014. I have previously posted a summary of the content changes in terms (here’s the link) in terms of what is moving from … Read more

Mental Maths #2

Once again some of our resources have been featured in the Guardian “how to teach” series, this time about mental maths (link here: How to teach: Mental Maths) I do however have quite strong thoughts (me? strong opinions? who’d guess that?)  on the subject. Mental maths is a major component in a students’ toolkit of mathematical knowledge but … Read more

… and they’re off ..

Let’s just say its been an “interesting” week and leave it at that – you can surmise all you want as to what that actually means, and depending on your general outlook and pre-disposition you will be thinking either (a) “oooh interesting is good and sounds exciting!” or (b) “interesting sounds like a cynical way of … Read more

Maths that’s Mental

I’ve been asked for some ideas about mental maths and this got me really thinking about the range of abilities I’ve encountered and also how a students’ confidence is affected when they aren’t as quick doing “sums” than others in the group.  You will be pleased to hear I’ve come to a conclusion (I don’t have … Read more

Sunday morning

I have spent the last hour doing what can only be described as one of the best things I have ever done as a teacher … and no! its not enjoying the time off! In January our students sat a mock maths exam and after my set 2 had done the usual “red, amber, green” … Read more

Well excited!

I have been keeping a low profile this week for a number of reasons, one of which for the last couple of days has been flu .. not your run of the mill “man flu” but proper red nose, snot streaming, coughing … you get the idea? I could go on if you don’t! The … Read more

Secret Link