When children succeed: schools succeed. Unfortunately too many children with SEND have not achieved their full potential and therefore have not succeeded to the best of their ability. It follows that too many schools have not succeeded to the best of their ability either. So could the proposed OFSTED grades be a strong influence for…

I have previously written about the importance of understanding as the foundation of applying mathematical methods. Working with a Year 6 child on finding percentages of numbers, and having taught her different methods to apply to various types of problem – you can imagine my surprise, and frustration, on hearing that her teacher insists on…

I am incensed, having read the post from Special Needs Jungle (26.2.19) outlining the sad experience of a boy with autism (now aged 19) who summarised his time in school as friendless and being the odd-one-out. Most of us cannot even imagine what that must feel like. I know that most schools do their best…

Maths again! I adore maths and can’t understand why some children hate it. Yet, helping children to become more flexible and efficient problem solvers could help to unlock their interest and motivation. My last blog focused on placing understanding before method. So how does this lead to flexibility and efficiency? Consider this problem on a…

I often wish that schools would not teach children how to solve problems simply by method, often without the understanding upon which method must be based. This is an odd thing to say so let’s explore what I mean. The reason why children in Key Stage 1 do not set out sums in a formal…