You Can't Test This - Day 3 maths

So today's puzzle looked like this:

It's the first of a series of fraction codes to finish the week. I have to say, the discussion I have had with the children while they work on these problems has given me the most accurate assessment data I have ever had and not a 'test' in sight!

Can you solve it?

You Can't Test This - Day 2 maths

So here's today's problem. Y5 have cracked the code and are part way through transcribing the message...

You Can't Test This - Day 1 maths

My Y5s solved the code. Can you?

Nicky Morgan's Tables Test

I love maths. I’m not ashamed to say it. I took maths and further maths at A-level and went on to spend three years doing a maths degree at Oxford before training as a primary school teacher. After ten years teaching, I have spent the past two years writing and implementing a new maths curriculum, running a peer coaching project in mathematics teaching, and teaching maths to groups of students at risk of underachievement.

So, you’d be forgiven for thinking that I might welcome Nicky Morgan’s new focus on primary maths teaching.

What it Means to be a Teacher

Yesterday, I had an experience that reminded me what it means to be a teacher.

In the current world of deep marking, data analysis, work scrutiny, learning walks and lesson observation, it is sometimes difficult to remember why we came into teaching and what it is we are here to do.  From the current set of priorities forced on most schools, you could be forgiven for thinking that we were employed to create an immaculate set of 30 books that would go out into the world and... or to hone our skills to prepare the perfect performance for an external set of teaching 'experts', using children as props to show off our skills... or that the key to education was to produce comprehensive evidence of 3 steps progress (whatever that actually means) for every child every year...

Prime Factors! (or good maths teaching isn't rocket science)

Not really the place for this but I came home buzzing from today's Y5/6 maths and just needed to write about it. [maybe this means a sideline in maths education posts here!]