A teacher explains why, and how, he's moving from a primary school to a secondary maths department 

After five years as a primary teacher, Rob Shaw realised he wanted something different. That turned out to be a job as a maths teacher in a nearby secondary school. In this podcast episode he explains how it all came about, and how he feels as the first day in his new job approaches.

• Rob Shaw, Secondary maths teacher at a school in Plymouth

• Rob tweets as @TheEvolvingTchr

Five suggested number lines for use in KS3 and KS4 maths lessons

Becky Donaldson, from the NCETM's Secondary Team suggests five different number lines for use in lessons, including one appropriate for use with students aiming at the higher GSCE grades.

• Becky Donaldson, NCETM Assistant Director for Secondary Mathematics

• This Espresso from Cambridge Mathematics gives more examples of number lines 

This is the sketch Becky and Steve referred to during their conversation. Click to enlarge. 

Simon Hemsworth, who trained as a PE teacher, is now in a role called transition teacher at an Oxfordshire secondary school, a role in which he teaches about ten lessons of KS3 maths every week. To support him in this new role, the school enrolled him on a training programme for non-specialist secondary maths teachers, run by his local Maths Hub. In this episode he discusses his experience with his head of department and the NCETM person who designed the course.

Taking part in the discussion are:

• Simon Hemsworth, Transition teacher at The Henry Box School, Witney, Oxfordshire

• 00:06 - Introductions

• The programme for secondary non-specialist teachers

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.

Taking part in the discussion are:

• Nicky White, Maths Lead and Nursery teacher at St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Bedlington, Northumberland

• Information about the NCETM Mastering Number Programme

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.

Taking part in the discussion are:

• Debbie Morgan, NCETM Director for Primary Mathematics

• In the introductory remarks, Debbie refers to the DfE's guidance for teaching maths in primary schools (2020)

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! 

Taking part in the discussion are:

• Tom Rainbow, Maths Education Support Specialist with the AMSP (Advanced Maths Support Programme)

• 00:06 – Introduction and meet Tom

• Tom tweets as @CoreMathsTom

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.

Taking part in the discussion are:

• Carol Knights, NCETM Director for secondary

• 01:57 The structure of the guidance

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

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.

Taking part in the discussion are:

• Sophie Cocker, secondary maths lead at Ravenshall School, a special school in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire

• 01:02 – The characteristics of the pupils at Ravenshall School and how these shape teaching

• West Yorkshire Maths Hub

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.

Taking part in the discussion are:

• Ellie Kelly, Maths Lead and Y1/2 teacher at The Revel C of E Primary School, near Rugby

Origin Maths Hub

Information about teaching for mastery on the NCETM website

Information about the Maths Hubs Network across England and all the CPD opportunities they offer.

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.

Taking part in the discussion are:

• Steph Kirk, Year 7 teacher and Curriculum Lead from Trinity Academy St. Edward’s in Barnsley

• 00:42 – What is a Checkpoint?

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

NCETM Departmental Workshops

Steph mentions using double-sided counters and algebra tiles. Using mathematical representations at KS3 | NCETM offers more guidance with using these resources and others.