What We Can Learn from This Year’s Maths SATs?

Teaching in a Heatwave and is there a Place for Maths Hacks?

In this episode of the Primary Maths Podcast, Jon and Becky ask whether we need to change the way we teach maths during a heatwave. With classrooms getting hotter and the end of term in sight, they explore what heat can do to attention, working memory, processing speed and classroom engagement. Is it just children being tired and sticky, or is there a genuine cognitive load issue at play? They also tackle one of the classic primary maths debates: when multiplying by 10, is it ever OK to say you “put a zero on the end”? Jon and Becky discuss place value, mathematical shortcuts, misconceptions, decimals, fluency, relational understanding and why seeing the structure matters more than simply getting the answer quickly. Plus, there’s ice cream ratios, hydration breaks, the Fosbury Flop, Richard Skemp, Jerome Bruner and a reminder that the brand-new PlanIt Maths Place Value resources are now available. Explore the new PlanIt Maths Place Value resources here: https://www.twinkl.co.uk/l/ndlp8 [https://www.twinkl.co.uk/l/ndlp8]

World Cup Maths, Equity and Oracy in the Primary Classroom

World Cup Maths, Equity and Oracy in the Primary Classroom In this episode of the Primary Maths Podcast, Jon and Becky talk end-of-year school chaos, transition days, classroom moves, and the strange joy of finding a trolley when you really need one. The main discussion begins with reflections from the East Midlands West Maths Hub summer conference, where the focus was on equity in maths. Jon shares the powerful question at the heart of the day: who gets to participate in mathematical thinking, and what do we need to do differently in our lesson design so that all pupils can take part? Jon and Becky explore the difference between equality and equity, and consider how barriers in maths lessons are not always about individual pupils, but about the structures, routines and expectations around them. They discuss how silent classrooms, prior attainment labels, narrow learning objectives and the rush to find the correct answer can sometimes limit opportunities for mathematical thinking. There is also a focus on oracy in maths: why talk matters, how pupils benefit from explaining, reasoning and justifying, and why an incorrect answer can be just as valuable as a correct one when we take time to explore the thinking behind it. Later in the episode, attention turns to the World Cup and the many ways teachers can use it as a rich context for maths. Jon shares some World Cup facts and figures, including the first men’s World Cup in Uruguay in 1930, goal totals from past tournaments, stadium capacities, group tables, averages and goal difference. Jon and Becky suggest practical classroom ideas across the primary phase, including: * counting, sorting, comparing and creating simple pictograms in EYFS and Year 1; * using tables, match results and points totals in Years 2 and 3; * exploring goal difference, averages, stadium capacities, fairness and predictions in Years 4, 5 and 6; * asking open-ended questions such as “What maths can you see?” while watching or looking at images from a match. There is plenty here for teachers looking for meaningful end-of-year maths activities, especially when half the class is at transition day, sports day practice, or mysteriously missing because of something involving a clipboard. Whether you love football, tolerate football, or only notice it when it interrupts your usual television schedule, this episode is full of ideas for using real-world numbers, live data and sporting excitement to get children talking, thinking and reasoning mathematically.

Escape Rooms and Problem Solving (AfterMaths)

In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon and Becky reflect on the realities of summer term: heatwaves, report writing, and the heroic act of trying to teach when everyone is melting. They then turn to problem solving in primary maths, asking whether it should really be saved for the end of the year, or whether pupils need regular, explicit teaching of the skills that help them tackle unfamiliar problems with confidence. Jon and Becky discuss six key problem-solving strategies: Spotting patterns Working systematically Using models Trialling and improving Changing the process Making connections They also answer a listener question from Priya, a maths lead in Coventry, about what to do when colleagues feel pupils are not fluent enough to access problem solving. Finally, in Maths of Life, Jon shares a short history of escape rooms and makes the case that they are a brilliant real-world example of problem solving in action. Useful links Twinkl Problem Solving Resources: https://www.twinkl.co.uk/r/8arfi [https://www.twinkl.co.uk/r/8arfi] PlanIt Maths: https://www.twinkl.co.uk/r/wke0f [https://www.twinkl.co.uk/r/wke0f] Get in touch We’d love to hear your thoughts, questions and ideas for future episodes. You can email the show at: primarymathspodcast@twinkl.co.uk

What We Can Learn from This Year’s Maths SATs?

In this aftermaths episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon and Becky take a look back at this year’s KS2 maths SATs papers and ask what teachers and maths leads might learn from them. They discuss why the tests should be seen as end-of-key-stage assessments rather than simply Year 6 tests, explore the balance of content across the papers, and reflect on the importance of flexible mathematical thinking. From percentage questions that can be solved in several ways to the role of conceptual understanding in arithmetic, they consider how we can help children move beyond simply following procedures. There is also time for Becky’s Maths of Life, where family rounders, mini golf and sporting fairness lead to a chat about the maths hidden in everyday games. Finally, Jon shares a recent meta-analysis on collaborative learning and mathematical creative reasoning, exploring why high-quality tasks, structured discussion and non-routine problem solving can make such a difference. A lively episode covering SATs, shape, strategy, sport, collaboration and, naturally, the enduring power of a hash brown.

Florence Nightingale: The Lady with the Graph

In this lighter half-term Aftermaths episode, Jon and Becky take a wander through some of the unexpected maths hiding in everyday life. First up: Samba the escaped capybara, who, at the time of recording, was still causing confusion somewhere near Hampshire. Is it a capybara? Is it a muntjac deer? Has someone accidentally taken in the world’s largest “stray cat”? Hard to say. Becky then takes us into the very British world of weather watching, comparing forecasts, choosing the one we like best, and wondering what a “40% chance of rain” actually means. Along the way, there’s discussion of probability, percentages, wind speed, temperature, 24-hour time, tide times, and the slightly chaotic business of trying to predict British weather. Jon then shares the story of Florence Nightingale, not just as “the Lady with the Lamp”, but as something else entirely: the Lady with the Graph. Through her use of statistics, record keeping and visual data, Nightingale helped show that far more soldiers were dying from disease and poor hospital conditions than from battle wounds. Her famous polar area diagram became a powerful argument for reform, showing how maths can be used not just to describe the world, but to change it. The Science Museum describes her diagram as showing causes of soldiers’ deaths across two years in Crimea, while the National Army Museum notes the dire conditions at Scutari, where the hospital was dirty, vermin-ridden and lacking basic equipment. There’s also a Derbyshire connection, as Jon explains Florence Nightingale’s links to Lea Hurst near Matlock, the Nightingale family’s Derbyshire home. IN THIS EPISODE * The ongoing mystery of Samba the capybara * Why weather apps are full of maths * What “chance of rain” really means * British weather, rounding, chaos theory and hedging your bets * Florence Nightingale’s Derbyshire connections * How Nightingale used data visualisation to argue for hospital reform * Why graphs can sometimes tell a story more powerfully than tables of numbers