Pearson Schools Blog

Matt Parker is a renowned stand-up comedian and maths author, with a popular YouTube channel attracting almost one million subscribers. Originally a maths teacher from Australia, Matt now lives and works in the UK. His new book, Humble Pi, is a Number 1 Bestseller. 

Following Matt’s recent appearance on Pearson’s The Right Angle Podcast, Subject Lead and Podcast Host Nicola Woodford-Smith, reflects on their discussion and shares learnings on ways that teachers can foster a passion for maths among learners – not least by encouraging acceptance of mistakes and failures.

The 2022 Welsh curriculum in Primary schools

We know that the Welsh curriculum is changing in the new academic year in 2022 for all Primary schools, with Secondary schools to follow in 2023. When it comes to Mathematics and Numeracy in the new curriculum, there are five new Mathematical proficiencies for Welsh Primary schools:

• Conceptual understanding
• Fluency
• Communication with symbols
• Logical reasoning
• Strategic competence

In this blog we are going to look at how Abacus can be used to support the teaching of two of these proficiencies: fluency, and logical reasoning. There is no doubting that these two Mathematical areas are already being developed in Wales in the current curriculum, but the below is a reminder of the fantastic Abacus resources we have on offer to support these two skills.

By now you may have carried out the Spring 1 assessments in the Progress Tests, and the Spring 2 tests may not be far away. This blog summarises the averages from all schools, using the Spring term data in the online Markbook, in case it’s useful to compare. Don’t forget that you can enter scores into the Markbook to track and analyse results against age-related expectations. (Just click the Markbook tile when you log into Power Maths. There’s a walkthrough video here.) 

By Kate Wilson, Senior Director of Humanities at Outwood Grange Academies Trust.

The Special Educational Needs Assessments Standards Committee (SASC) in 2019 defined Dyscalculia as: “A specific and persistent difficulty in understanding numbers which can lead to a diverse range of difficulties with mathematics. It will be unexpected in relation to age, level of education and experience and occurs across all ages and abilities.”

We asked Pearson colleagues and teachers to discuss their most influential diverse role models. Whether close to home, or looming large in history, the answers they gave were a continued celebration of diversity and shared experiences, revealing the importance and impact of actions, words, and connection.

Dr Ems Lord, Director of the University of Cambridge’s award-winning Maths outreach programme NRICH and recent The Right Angle podcast guest, discusses the how and why of parental engagement in Maths learning.

Emma Darcy, Director of Technology for Learning at Denbigh High School in Luton and the Chiltern Learning Trust, shares her Pearson National Teaching Award experience. 

In the most recent episode of The Right Angle podcast, our guest – Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE – discusses forgotten mathematicians and myth-busting gendered attitudes to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). 

We are excited to hear more from the child prodigy and new Countdown host, who is taking on the role while Rachel Riley is on maternity leave, about her upcoming book She’s in CTRL and her aspirations for the future of maths…