Bernie Westacott

..I mentioned that bar models in helping UK children to solve word problems are often undervalued because the problems are too easy and do not need bar models. However, these below (first two are Primary 2/UK Y3 age and the second two are Primary 3/UK Y4 age) from Singapore maths competition might!

Great to meet with OCR staff Amy Dai @miss-agd.bsky.social Sarah Gotting and Mary Fisher online yesterday to discuss the feasibility of 'maths mastery' approaches, including manipulatives and bar models, being integrated into GCSE maths examinations. Lots of issues with this and much to discuss...

Made me chuckle!

SEED

A new UK study which has tracked nearly 6,000 children for more than a decade has provided solid evidence about what parenting style is associated with the best outcomes. And the answer is: “authoritative”. seed.natcen.ac.uk?_ga=2.107965...

View of the Victoria Nile from the Black Lantern restaurant, Bujagali, Uganda. An evening of relaxation after a full-on week with schools out here.??

1/n Thought we had done our last Jinja Educational Trust (JET) trip, but they persuaded me and Karen to go again. We have spent the week travelling into JET schools, some 'off road' a long way from Jinja. Lots to share: children are stunning - so calm, focussed and well-behaved.

Using algebra tiles app to help Y10 understand what 'completing the square' looks like as we work on calculating intercepts on axes and turning points.

and @mathspadnicola.bsky.social

This is still one of my favourite videos I have made. A presentation I did for ‪@lasalleed.bsky.social‬ in 2023. Using @mathspadjames.bsky.social Decimals Blocks app. Fractals in action. I love apps that enable users to zoom in and out and to appreciate scale and connections.

Thank you, Amanda!

Huge shout out to @draustinmaths.com for her resources free online. These were so useful for Y10 consolidation and practice this week. They are so well constructed 😍

Great question from a Singapore Maths competition for Primary 6. Requires a careful and systematic approach and also has triangular numbers within that analysis.😍

Great problem solving for Y3 and Y4 pupils. I also use some of these questions for my Y2 Maths Enrichment Club.

‘Learning that does not last was never really learning, it was mere exposure’. Another cracker from @markmccourt.bsky.social. In my role as an intervention teacher and as a tutor preparing pupils for GCSE I see this issue day in, day out.

It has been interesting helping some of our Y3 and Y4 pupils look at ways of solving these sorts of problems - this one is taken from a Grade 3 international maths competition.

Lovely❤️

Home

Very excited to be asked to go out to Uganda this summer holiday to help the Jinja Educational Trust jinjaedtrust.com once again. They have recently taken on several new schools, so there is an increased need for support and training. Just booked flights 😁

Great to hear. I use a mix of BrainingCamp and Polypad. It makes such a difference to be able to work through the actual questions then use variation to focus on the key concepts and takeaways. All the best, Bernie

YouTube video by Graham Fletcher (gfletchy) Progression of Early Number and Counting

Early number and counting are complex. I love this overview of key elements of the number and counting trajectory from @gfletchy Progression of Early Number and Counting youtu.be/BX9RH8MLOp8?si… via @YouTube

The disastrous periodic 'revolution' so beloved of snake oil salesmen i.e. politicians et al desperate to leave a legacy - which they do, but mostly not in a good way 😱 - as opposed to the careful 'evolution' model of other successful jurisdictions. As always, Mark hits the nail bang on the head!

(2) This made it possible to change 5 groups (bits of paper) with 2 items in each to 2 groups (bits of paper) with 5 items in each; to have concrete groups of 0 items; and to set puzzles to move items to form equal groups when they were not equal.

(1) When we first introduced the Singapore maths pedagogy into our school in 2006, we realised very quickly how we needed to concretise the 'groups' in 'groups and items' as bits of paper. This made the groups something distinct from the items and they could be manipulated.

The words of a wise man who knows a LOT about teaching and learning.Too often I see an overcrowded maths programme being gone through at a ridiculous pace leaving many pupils trailing in its wake.

Using MS Whiteboard to make interactive prepared online apps to model directly content in the WRMH scheme. This unit from Y3 Autumn has the the videos, the workbook pages and links to app boards I have already set up and stored via links/codes.

Working with Y3 and Y4 Maths Clubs this week: as well as some UK First Maths Challenge questions, I will also share some Grade 2 and 3 problems from Singapore Maths competitions such as these: Grade 2 then Grade 3 - medium difficulty from the middle section of the papers. #UKMathsChat #MathsToday

This is an enrichment group I'm working with. I think ?-5=3 is conceptually more challenging than what is in my video! Missing minuends at that age are really hard unless pupils have a well- developed model of how the three numbers are related, and/or have done copious examples. Hope you're good.

Working with some of our Y2 pupils this week on problem solving. Used some questions from the
@mathematicala.bsky.social First Maths Challenge. We could have used the answers given, or trial and improvement, but instead we built on their knowledge of bar models, and number rods. Polypad app.

Love using mathsbot.com Bar Modelling app from the mighty @studymaths.bsky.social for quickly making bar models. Perfect for this @mathematicala.bsky.social First Maths Challenge question I am doing with some Y2 pupils. Shines a light on the underlying connections. #UKMathsChat #MathsToday

Great work from all the people at UKMT posting on their YouTube channel the solutions to all the Junior Maths Challenge 2025 problems. Already downloaded and shared with my pupils in Y6/7/8, many of whom are too young to be on YouTube. SO helpful and really appreciated🙏 #UKMathsChat

A colleague in school wrote this down to share with me today. What are the odds! 😮 #UKMathsChat #MathsToday