Category: Blog

The EEF published its Guide to Inclusive Teaching today and I’ve spent the morning taking a good look. It’s a significant piece of guidance arriving at a moment when every school is thinking hard about inclusion and I wanted to share what stood out to me.

What the guide says

The guide is built around a two-part model. The first part is universal approaches, and the second part is adaptations and additional support. Universal approaches are the things schools do every day that matter for all pupils but are especially important for pupils with additional needs. Examples include explicit instruction, scaffolding and consistent routines. Adaptations and additional support are the targeted layer that some pupils will also need.

Two messages run through the whole document. The first is that good teaching for pupils with additional needs largely contains the same elements as good teaching for all. There’s no secret specialist method that unlocks everything. The second is more challenging. Support can help or hinder. Well-intentioned adaptations that reduce pupil thinking, or interventions chosen without care, can actually get in the way of learning. The EEF’s answer is to select support carefully and monitor its impact rather than assume it.

On targeted interventions specifically, the guide sets out the common features of the ones most likely to work.

• Interventions are carefully matched to the specific needs of pupils rather than the subject in general
• Assessments identify pupils, guide the focus, and track progress
• The intensity of support adjusts as needs change
• Sessions are brief and regular
• Structured resources and session plans are provided
• Delivery comes from a teacher or a trained adult

The guide is also notably positive about teaching assistants delivering structured targeted interventions with proper training, supplementing rather than replacing what happens in class.

Reading it from where I sit

I read that list twice, because it describes the kind of intervention model we have been trying to build with Groundwork Maths.

Every pupil starts with a set of low-stakes diagnostic checks and tasks that help identify which learning modules are likely to be the best starting point, so the intervention is matched to specific gaps rather than a general sense that maths is hard. End-of-module checks help schools track progress and decide what should happen next.

The teaching sessions that follow come in a short 20-minute format or a longer 60-minute format, depending on the school’s timetable and the level of support pupils need, and pupils can move between them as their needs change. The sessions are structured, regular and fully resourced, with session cards designed to help a trained adult deliver them clearly and confidently. Just as importantly, the programme is designed to sit alongside class teaching, not instead of it.

None of that is a coincidence. Groundwork Maths has been built with these evidence-informed principles in mind, so it is encouraging to see the EEF guide set out a similar shape for targeted support.

Making sure it works

There’s one more message in the guide that matters here. The EEF asks schools to monitor the impact of any support rather than assume it, and we think that’s exactly right. Design gets you so far. What matters is whether it works for the pupils in front of you.

That’s why measuring progress is built into the programme from day one. The diagnostics at the start, and the end-of-module checks along the way, mean schools can see the progress pupils are making as they go, so no one is left wondering whether the intervention is working.

My role as Impact Lead adds a further layer. Over the coming months and years, I’ll be working closely with the schools who join us, watching real sessions, listening to maths leads and the adults delivering the programme, and using everything we learn together to keep improving the programme. That’s the journey and we want the schools we work with to feel like partners in it.

Underneath all the guidance and the models is the thing I care about most. Pupils who arrive with gaps in their foundations should not be locked out of the rest of the curriculum because of them. The EEF’s guide is a welcome push in that direction. Our job now is to keep proving it in classrooms, one small group at a time.

The EEF Guide to Inclusive Teaching is available on the EEF website. If you’d like to talk about how Groundwork Maths could support your inclusion strategy, get in touch at sophie@groundworkmaths.com.

In early mathematics, play can often be positioned as the opposite of teaching, something that sits alongside learning rather than at its core. Practitioners can feel pulled between two competing ideas. Should children be playing, or should they be learning? This is a false choice.

Recently, I was re-reading an article by Douglas Clements and Julie Sarama. It’s from 2017, but it still feels very relevant, and the tensions between ‘instruction’ and ‘play’ are more present than ever. If you haven’t read it, I would recommend having a look (Play, Mathematics, and False Dichotomies – DREME). They highlight that the debate between play and academics is a false dichotomy. Children should, of course, play, but they should also learn, and crucially, they should learn through play (Clements and Sarama, cited in DREME). Bringing together free play and intentional teaching, and engaging children with mathematical ideas in playful ways, creates the conditions for strong learning to develop.

In England, this sits within statutory guidance. The Early Years Foundation Stage makes clear that “play is essential for children’s development, building their confidence as they learn to explore, relate to others, and set their own goals.”

The conversation therefore needs to move beyond whether play belongs in early mathematics, and towards how it is shaped. As Bradbury and Hare (2025) highlight, play has increasingly been repositioned within policy as something to be justified or measured, rather than understood as central to pedagogy.

Play is not one thing

A common challenge in this debate is that “play” is treated as a single approach. In practice, it spans a range of experiences shaped by different levels of child choice, adult guidance and intention.

At one end, children engage in open-ended exploration. At another, adults introduce new ideas through structured teaching. Between these sit guided play, games, routines and shared experiences. Each contributes something different to learning.

Difficulties arise when these are separated too sharply. Play becomes something that happens around the edges, while teaching becomes increasingly formal and procedural. Over time, experiences can become disconnected from meaning.

Seeing play as part of a wider design for learning allows these elements to work together rather than in opposition.

Why this matters in mathematics

Mathematics is often where this separation is most visible.

In an effort to make learning clear and measurable, early maths can quickly centre on counting, recording and completing tasks. Children may become fluent in saying numbers or following steps, while still finding it difficult to make sense of quantity or relationships.

Mathematical thinking develops through noticing, comparing, combining and testing ideas. These processes rely on active engagement, social interaction and repeated exploration, all strongly associated with playful learning (Zosh et al., 2017).

Within everyday play, there are rich opportunities to mathematise, to notice and draw out the mathematical ideas already present. Children line objects up to compare them, recognise quantities without counting, and explore different ways numbers can be composed. These moments reflect substantial mathematical thinking, particularly when attention is drawn to the underlying structure.

For example, a child filling and pouring water or sand may notice that one container fills quickly while another takes longer. An adult sitting alongside might observe, “That one filled up quickly… I wonder which one holds more?” In that moment, attention is drawn to capacity and comparison without shifting the experience away from play.

This does not require constant questioning or interruption. It can emerge through adults noticing what children are doing, engaging with their interests, and joining play alongside them. Narrating actions, introducing precise vocabulary, and wondering aloud can gently draw out the mathematics without disrupting the flow of play.

When learning becomes overly formal, opportunities for this kind of thinking can become limited, reducing the chances for children to develop a deep and connected understanding of number.

The pressure on play

Despite strong evidence and its place within statutory guidance, play continues to be challenged within early education.

Alongside wider policy pressures, there are also practical constraints that shape what is possible in classrooms. Timetables are often tightly structured, with multiple transitions across a session. In this context, creating the conditions for sustained, focused play becomes increasingly difficult.

Deep play relies on time. It develops when children become absorbed in their activity, revisit ideas and maintain attention over a period. These are the moments where thinking deepens, where children begin to notice patterns, test ideas and make connections.

Frequent interruptions can disrupt this process. Moving children on just as they become engaged, or asking them to tidy away and transition to the next activity, can limit opportunities for sustained exploration. Over time, this reduces the depth of engagement that supports meaningful learning, particularly in mathematics where understanding develops through repeated and varied encounters.

This places an important responsibility on how timetables are designed. Maximising uninterrupted periods of play, and carefully considering when direct teaching takes place, can support children to engage more deeply with their learning. Structuring sessions so that teaching frames longer periods of exploration helps maintain both clarity and depth.

Rethinking the role of play in mathematics

A different perspective begins by recognising the role that carefully designed experiences play in shaping learning.

Structure, intention and attention to key ideas allow children to engage deeply with mathematics. Opportunities to explore, revisit and discuss ideas support understanding over time. Variation across different types of activity provides both breadth and depth.

Through this lens, play becomes part of a coherent approach to teaching and learning.

A way forward

Strengthening early mathematics requires careful thought about the experiences offered to children.

This includes recognising the range of approaches that contribute to learning, supporting adults to develop both mathematical and pedagogical understanding, and creating environments that encourage exploration while making important ideas visible.

In the early years, children build mathematical understanding through interaction, experience and reflection. Well-designed playful experiences support this process, enabling children to engage with number, structure and relationships in meaningful ways.

What matters is how these experiences are designed, and whether they give children the time and space to think, explore and make sense of mathematics.

 

References

• Bradbury, A., & Hare, M. (2025). Play, Policy and Power: A report reviewing literature: Early Childhood Education in England.
• Clements, D. H., & Sarama, J. (as cited in DREME). Play, Mathematics, and False Dichotomies.
• Department for Education (2021). Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage.
• Jensen, H., Hirsh-Pasek, K., et al. (2019); Weisberg, D. S., Hirsh-Pasek, K., et al. (2013, 2016); Zosh, J. M., et al. (2017, 2018).
• Van Oers, B. (2013). Is it play? Towards a reconceptualisation of role play from an activity theory perspective.
• Zosh, J. M., Hopkins, E. J., Jensen, H., et al. (2017). Learning through play: A review of the evidence

A World Book Day reflection – through two lenses.

I first heard this line from the much-loved book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (written by Bill Martin Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle) during a baby sensory class when my daughter was only a few months old and I’ve got to admit – I was hooked straight away.

The simplicity. The illustrations. The repetition.

Needless to say, my daughter loved it too and she still does at age two.

She knows what’s coming next. She anticipates the rhythm. She turns the page before I’ve finished the sentence. And if I pause, she can fill in the gap with complete confidence.

But recently, I noticed something else happening.

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Lens 1: My perspective as a mum

After reading the book (for the thousandth time!), my daughter began noticing…noticing colours everywhere:

“White car.” “Blue cup.” “Banana, yellow.”

Then one day she started to match some of her toys by colour, not always accurately (yet), but I could see her early thinking emerging.

Not because I asked her to. Not because it was planned.

Just because she had started to notice. And that’s when it really struck me:

Early maths doesn’t start with counting. It starts with noticing.

Why this matters more than we think

Noticing is about recognising and understanding:

• what is the same
• what is different
• patterns
• colours
• attributes

This is where early mathematical thinking begins.

When children notice that objects share the same colour, they are beginning to match. Later, they learn to sort groups of objects by that shared attribute. These small moments are quietly building important foundations for later maths.

What I’m trying at home

Since noticing this, I’ve been leaning into these moments a little more, not turning them into “activities”, just noticing alongside her.

A few things I’m trying at home:

• Pausing before the page turns

Sometimes I stop and see if she fills in the animal or colour.

• Noticing colours in real life

“That cup is red, like the bird.”

• Matching in everyday moments

When sorting washing, I might hold up two socks and say, “These are the same colour… I wonder if we can find more socks that match?”

• Read it again (and again)

Repetition really does matter. It’s lovely to see her engaging in reading before she can read words, filling in the gaps and muttering in her own way to the pattern of the words.

None of this feels like teaching. It just feels like being present.

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Lens 2: The Rethink Maths Lens

At Rethink Maths , we are particularly interested in foundations and what happens before formal number work begins. Because early mathematics does not start with counting. It can start with noticing.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear systematically draws children’s attention to key mathematical structures…

Children are invited to notice:

• attributes (particularly colour)
• repetition and pattern
• sameness and difference
• predictability

The repeating structure:

• colour + animal
• colour + animal
• colour + animal

can support the development of pattern awareness, attributes and comparison, some of the critical precursor skills and concepts to later, more complex mathematical concepts and reasoning.

Texts such as Brown Bear are particularly powerful because they have a clear, simple focus on understanding attributes such as colour. Attributes enable us to reason and explain why we have sorted and classified objects in the world around us. If children have limited opportunities to explore and communicate about attributes of an object or an experience then their ability to compare, sort and classify could be limited.

Why this matters for early maths provision?

Before children can engage more formally with number, they need well-developed foundations in:

• attributes
• comparison
• pattern
• change

These underpin later success in more formal, complex mathematical skills and concepts. However, these foundations are not always recognised as critical to future success or seen as ‘maths’.

Educators and pre-school settings may wish to consider:

• Where do our story choices support mathematical structure?
• How intentionally do we draw attention to precursor maths concepts like attributes?
• Do our classroom routines support both matching and sorting?
• Are we valuing early noticing as mathematical thinking?

Small, intentional shifts in adult interaction can significantly strengthen the mathematical potential of familiar texts.

World Book Day rightly celebrates reading for pleasure. Alongside this, it offers a moment to recognise that many high-quality books also provide rich mathematical learning opportunities.

At Rethink Maths, our Foundations mission is clear: Before formal maths. Before number facts. Before worksheets. Children need strong foundations in noticing, comparing and classifying.

Sometimes, those foundations begin with a simple, well-loved story. Explore our Foundations mission here and how we want to work with settings to develop a secure deep understanding of early maths through our fully funded early maths trials.

So this World Book Day, I’m reminding myself (as a mum and as an educator):

• When we read, we are building language.
• When children notice attributes, such as colours, they are building early maths.
• When they predict what comes next, they are learning patterns.

Sometimes the most powerful maths is hiding in plain sight — inside well-loved storybooks.

We’d love to hear from you:

Which texts in your setting or home are on repeat this World Book Day? And can you see the maths hiding in plain sight?

#EarlyYears #MathsFoundations #WorldBookDay

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References

Erikson,(n.d.) Early Math Collaborative, https://earlymath.erikson.edu/why-early-math-everyday-math/precursor-concepts/

Hynes-Berry, M., Chen, J., & Abel, B. (2021). Precursor Math concepts: The Wonder of Mathematical Worlds with Infants and Toddlers.

On 3rd March 2026, educators, parents, learners and researchers around the world will come together to mark Dyscalculia Day — a day dedicated to raising awareness, improving understanding, and challenging long-held assumptions about mathematical difficulty.

This day matters deeply to us. Too many children and adults grow up believing they are “bad at maths”, when in reality they are navigating a learning difference that has gone unseen, misunderstood, or unsupported.

What is dyscalculia?

Dyscalculia is a specific learning difficulty that affects the way people understand and work with numbers. It can impact:

• Number sense and quantity

• Recall of basic number facts

• Understanding place value

• Working with time, money, and measurement

• Following multi-step mathematical processes

Importantly, dyscalculia is not a reflection of intelligence. Many people with dyscalculia have strong verbal reasoning, creativity, or problem-solving skills but maths can feel disorientating, overwhelming, or inaccessible without the right support.

It is estimated that ~6% of the population experience dyscalculia, yet it remains far less recognised than other learning differences. As a result, many learners are labelled as inattentive, careless, or lacking effort, rather than being given the understanding and adjustments they need.

Why dyscalculia day matters

Dyscalculia Day exists to shift the narrative.

It reminds us that:

• Maths difficulty is not a personal failing

• Early experiences of confusion can shape lifelong confidence

• Teaching approaches matter enormously

• Awareness is the first step towards inclusion

For educators, it’s an opportunity to reflect on how maths is taught and how flexible our approaches truly are.
For parents, it offers reassurance and language to better understand their child’s experience.
For adults, it provides validation, often for the first time, that their struggles have a name and a reason.

Rethinking maths for all learners

We believe that clarity, structure and careful sequencing are essential, particularly for learners who find maths difficult. When concepts are broken down, language is precise, and representations are consistent, maths becomes easier to navigate and less intimidating.

Supporting learners with dyscalculia requires:

• Explicit teaching

• Thoughtful use of representations

• Time to build secure foundations

• An understanding that confidence and competence grow together

Dyscalculia Day aligns closely with our missions: to rethink inclusion and to rethink confidence.

Join the Dyscalculia Day 2026 Conference

To mark Dyscalculia Day 2026, the Dyscalculia Network is hosting a dedicated online conference bringing together researchers, educators, parents and individuals with lived experience.

The conference offers:

• Practical insights into recognising and supporting dyscalculia

• Research-informed approaches to inclusive maths teaching

• Perspectives from adults and young people with lived experience

• Guidance for schools, families and workplaces

If you care about inclusive maths education this is a valuable opportunity to deepen your understanding and be part of a growing conversation.

👉 Find out more and join the Dyscalculia Day 2026 Conference here:
https://dyscalculianetwork.com/dyscalculia-day-2026/

Fairy tales have been told for generations. They are familiar, comforting, a little bit magical, and they are also a brilliant vehicle for early mathematics.

On Tell a Fairy Tale Day, it is the perfect moment to pause and reflect on how stories can help children build strong mathematical foundations in ways that feel playful, meaningful and deeply engaging.

In the early years, mathematics is about making sense of the world. It is about noticing patterns, comparing quantities, exploring space, talking about what we see and using language to describe relationships. Fairy tales offer a rich shared context where all of this can happen naturally.

Strong foundations start with meaning

Young children learn best when ideas are rooted in experiences they understand. Fairy tales give us ready made contexts that children can step into through role play, small world, construction and storytelling.

When mathematics is woven into these narratives, it stops being abstract. It becomes purposeful.

For example, we might build the houses from The Three Little Pigs, choosing blocks we can stack, rotating them to make enclosures and positioning them carefully to create a roof.

This is how foundations are built, through repeated, meaningful encounters with number, measure, shape and spatial thinking, all grounded in play.

Let us look at some of the mathematics that fairy tales make possible.

Counting, comparing and subitising through familiar stories

Recreating the Three Bears’ house and their breakfast from Goldilocks and the Three Bears opens up rich mathematical thinking. Children might give each bear a bowl, a spoon and a cup, developing their one-to-one correspondence and together we can notice:

• Do we have enough?
• Do we have more bowls or more bears?
• Are there fewer cups than bears?
• What do we need to add so everyone gets one?

Stories like The Three Billy Goats Gruff or The Three Little Pigs are perfect for developing early subitising. As you read, pause and ask:

• How many goats can you see?
• How many pigs are there?

Children begin to recognise quantities of 1, 2 and 3 without counting each time. Over repeated readings, this builds confidence and fluency with small numbers.

Exploring measure, size and comparison

Fairy tales are full of contrast, which makes them ideal for exploring measure.

In Goldilocks and the Three Bears, we naturally talk about big and small, full and empty. Children can pour, compare, fill and empty bowls or containers, linking language directly to experience.

Jack and the Beanstalk brings height and length to life. Children might grow their own beanstalks and notice how they become taller and taller. This is not just about measuring. It is about noticing change over time.

We can explore height, build a beanstalk using cardboard boxes, tubes, or blocks. Create a vertical height track that children can climb with a character, counting steps or noticing how the structure grows.

You could even explore this outdoors by placing a character inside a clear tube and filling it with water so Jack rises higher and higher. Children see that the more water we pour, the higher the level rises. They experience comparison, volume and cause and effect in a tangible way.
Similarly, recreating The Magic Porridge Pot invites exploration of capacity.

• Which bowl shall we choose?
• How much porridge should we pour?
• Do we need more milk?
• How do we know when it is full?

One more

The Gingerbread Man is a wonderful story for exploring one more. As each character joins the chase, children can build towers of cubes or place counters to represent who is running after him.

Placing these on a five frame or ten frame helps children see both the total number and the pattern of one more. They begin to notice that each time the group grows by one and the next number is said.

Positional language such as first, next and last also comes alive here, as it does in The Enormous Turnip, where characters join one by one. Children can physically line up figures, add one more each time and describe what changes.

Shape, space and construction through story worlds

Construction play inspired by fairy tales opens up rich spatial thinking.

Recreating the houses from The Three Little Pigs invites children to think about:

• How blocks stack
• Which shapes they want to use
• How to make walls and enclosures
• How to create a roof
• Why some structures are stronger than others
• How many blocks they need

Children also need to plan. How many pigs do we need? Do we have enough? This blends number, shape and problem solving seamlessly.
These constructions might move outdoors too.

Building the bridge in The Three Billy Goats Gruff encourages children to experiment with rotating bricks, creating stable arches and thinking about how the goats can go over while the troll stays under. Here, positional language such as under, over, on top, next to and between becomes purposeful.

Stories like The Princess and the Pea can spark exploration of the properties of shape.

• Can long blocks balance on curved shapes?
• Why do some shapes roll while others stack?

Maps, movement and positional language

Fairy tales are full of journeys.

In Little Red Riding Hood, children can make maps of the forest using blocks, small world or drawings. They might give directions to reach Grandma’s house while avoiding the woods. Language such as next to, behind, through, around and between becomes meaningful when tied to a goal.

An obstacle course inspired by Hansel and Gretel turns spatial language into full body learning. Children are not just hearing the words. They are living them.

Following children’s lead

These examples are just starting points. The real power of fairy tales in early mathematics lies in what happens next.

Children may be inspired to reenact parts of the story, setting up the Three Bears’ kitchen in the home corner, rebuilding the Little Pigs’ houses in the construction area, mixing potions in the mud kitchen to wake Sleeping Beauty or extending the beanstalk higher than ever imagined.

This is where we can maximise mathematical opportunities.

When children step into the story world themselves, mathematics becomes embedded in their decisions:

• How many bowls do we need?
• Is this tower tall enough?
• Do we have more wolves or more pigs?
• How can we make it stronger?
• What happens if we add one more?

We can notice the mathematics already happening in play, and where appropriate introduce precise language and gently extend thinking through thoughtful questions.

Fairy tales nurture creativity, language and emotional development. They also offer endless opportunities to explore mathematics in ways that are joyful, meaningful and memorable.

Once upon a time might just be where strong mathematical foundations are inspired, strengthened and brought to life through stories.

Life without Paddington Bear wouldn’t be the same in our house right now. My two-year-old is completely obsessed…we even had a Paddington-themed birthday party. She loves watching The Adventures of Paddington. And yes, sometimes that bit of screen time is exactly what we both need at the end of a long day.

But like many parents (and educators), I find myself asking: Is this helping her development or hindering it?

The recent findings from the Children of the 2020s: home learning environment and screen time at age 2, study really made me reflect…as a parent and as an educator.

It highlights how much screen time young children are experiencing but it also reinforces something deeply important…

What matters most for young children’s development isn’t expensive resources or digital programmes…It’s human interaction.

• Talking
• Singing
• Playing
• Looking at books together
• Exploring numbers

The research does show that higher screen time is linked with lower expressive vocabulary. But it also reminds us that it’s not simply about removing screens. It’s about protecting and prioritising interaction.

And interaction is where foundations are built. These foundations are built in small, repeated, everyday moments.

In our house, when Paddington is on, I try to watch with her. We laugh together. We repeat phrases. We notice things together. One episode even led to us writing and posting a letter. The screen was the starting point, but the learning happened in the moments after… talking, pretending and playing.

Big impact doesn’t come from big interventions. It comes from those small moments, repeated often. For me as a parent, those moments can also include:

• Talking while you walk
• Counting while you tidy
• Singing while you wait
• Noticing together

Supporting early learning isn’t about doing more. It’s about strengthening what we’re already building with intention.

I was reading a great post [on LinkedIn] by Nathan Burns earlier about the use of bought-in curricula and the challenges around them. I found myself nodding along to the post and the replies while drinking my morning brew (Yorkshire Tea, of course) and it got me thinking.

As someone who creates maths resources and schemes of learning, I think the use of bought-in curricula and how to support teachers in implementing them is such an important area to explore. Over the years I’ve spent working in this field, I’ve often found myself thinking how strange it feels to say, on one hand, “I’ve created this, I think it’s pretty good and you should use it.” while also saying, “But you will need to put in effort into changing bits of it to make it really work well.” I wonder how many other jobs feel like that.

And that’s when I got thinking about my cup of tea and the similarities with creating lessons. The memory of trying to do a tea order for the whole family over Christmas came rushing back. The same thoughts and feelings I get when I’m trying to plan a lesson that is going to work for all the students in front of me.

Years of building knowledge and experience goes into knowing how to make an effective version of each element – whether that is a PowerPoint, a worksheet, an activity, a tea bag, the milk. Without having those starting points it would make the process of making a brew/creating a lesson a far more complex job. And of course it also saves time – something we know as teachers there is never enough of. Imagine how long it would take to make my brew if I had to start with the cow and some leaves from a Camellia Sinensis (yes, I had to google what plant tea comes from).

But then I need to know what to do with those elements to make the cup of tea (or is it a lesson?) and that’s where professional development comes in. From a complete novice who has never made a cup of tea or designed a lesson to those who have been making them for years. Even knowing what to do with the different elements, in what order etc. can require support (I do actually have a friend who when he tried making his first brew put the tea bag in the kettle!)

And that’s before we even consider the fact that everyone’s perfect cup of tea is slightly different.

• How hot should it be? Where do I need to pitch this lesson?
• How long do you leave it to brew for? How long should I spend on my explanation and modelling?
• How much milk do I add? (And when!) How much fluency practice do they need?
• Do I need to add sugar or a sweetener? Do I need a nice, open-ended problem-solving task at a certain point to really deepen understanding?
• What brand of tea bag should I use? Actually, the answer to this one is obvious!

And that is all before we even consider individual needs. What if you have an intolerance to dairy like my wife does? I need to adapt even further and use different ingredients. This might be using a different manipulative to the one that is used in the resource. Perhaps the resource uses place value counters when really Base 10 would better support learners in my class, helping them see the proportional sizes of the units. Rather than clicking through a PowerPoint that models a concept with place value counters, I may be better off following the same structure and highlighting the same key points but live modelling with Base 10 instead.

This is probably easiest if we zoom in on just one part of a lesson: a worksheet. As a designer, when I am creating a worksheet for example, I am thinking about both the students and the teachers. I need to ensure that the questions in my worksheet are appropriate to the learning objective. I need to ensure that there is a range of fluency, reasoning and problem-solving questions. I need to ensure that there is a range of complexities in the questions to provide support and challenge. I also need to try to make the questions engaging and interesting.

For the teachers, I am also thinking about trying to support their subject knowledge. Have I included examples of different methods that could be used so that teachers have a range they can choose from. Have I used a range of representations? For example, not all classrooms have access to a rekenrek so I need to ensure I have used other representations. Have I used questions that address common misconceptions? And those are just a few examples – there is a lot to think about in the design process.

But then when it comes to teaching using that resource even more questions appear. Even though I have created hundreds of widely used worksheets, I would never go into a class and use them exactly as they are. That is not because I don’t think they are good, but I know every student and every class is different. So what questions do I ask myself to help me adapt when I am teaching?

• Which questions are essential for where my students are at and to achieve the objective of the lesson?
• What is the best order and best time in the lesson to get students to answer the questions I have chosen to use?
• Are there too many models/methods used? Will they confuse my students? Do I need to leave some out?
• Are there enough basic fluency questions or do I need to add some more?
• Does the worksheet use variation theory and in the way I would want or can I adjust the questions?
• What follow up questions can I ask verbally to prompt deeper thinking or rich mathematical discussions?
• Can I make one of the questions open ended so there are multiple solutions?
• Do I want my students to do all the questions independently or would some work better as a paired/group task?
• Do I need to add a visual support such as a bar model to help students who are struggling to access this question?
• What manipulative might support a student with this question?

These are not easy questions to answer. And these are just some of the things we need to think about regarding just one aspect of the lesson, the worksheet. What about the rest? This is where CPD can be so powerful. Giving teachers the tools, subject knowledge and, most importantly, the confidence to be able to adapt because they know the needs of the students sitting in front of them better than any resource creator ever could.

To sum up, I think carefully crafted resources and schemes of learning are a great thing (a good job really given that is how I earn a living), but to make cups of tea or learning journeys that are perfect for all the individuals in front of us requires adaptation. But that’s not an easy thing to do and is where I think should be the real focus of CPD in schools. So, do bought-in curricula make the situation worse? No, but poor implementation and underinvestment in CPD might.

And I’ve not even thought about different types of tea – Peppermint, Rooibos etc. – not sure where they fit into this but I’m sure you get the picture!

We’re delighted to share that James Lansdale-Clegg will be joining us from the start of January as our Director of Educational Projects.

James joins the leadership team to drive the delivery of our expanding portfolio of projects. He will play a key role in turning ideas into reality and ensure we keep momentum across a suite of projects.

Alongside working with schools, James will collaborate with education suppliers, publishers, government organisations and partners to develop high-quality advice, content and services. He’ll work closely with the Managing Director and leadership team to make sure our work is focused, expertly crafted and genuinely useful for teachers in the classroom.

James brings a deep understanding of the education landscape, alongside a practical and thoughtful approach to delivery. His role will add an extra layer of assurance across our work, with a clear focus on quality and coherence that strengthens and supports the excellent work already happening across the team.

Caroline Hamilton, CEO, said:

“We’re proud of the work we do and proud of the standards we set ourselves. James is someone who consistently delivers high-quality work, even under pressure. He brings focus, expertise, and care – and I’m really excited to have him on board.”

Mary-Kate Connolly, Managing Director, added:

“I’m genuinely excited to be working with James again. He’s someone who gets things done, on time and to a high standard. It’s great to have him joining the team.”

James joins at a time of real momentum for Rethink Maths. Following several appointments made before Christmas, we’re preparing for a busy and exciting 2026. There’s plenty happening behind the scenes and we’re looking forward to sharing more about what we’re building in the near future.

If you’re working on a maths project (UK or international) and would like our support – whether that’s shaping ideas, developing exceptional maths content or delivering at scale – James would love to hear from you.

At Rethink Maths we can’t wait to celebrate World Nursery Rhyme Week (WNRW) taking place on 10th to 14th November 2025. WNRW is a wonderful celebration of the songs and rhymes that so many of us grew up with.

But nursery rhymes aren’t just fun little tunes, they’re powerful early learning tools.

One of our missions is ‘Rethink Foundations’, we believe in building deep understanding, lasting confidence and joyful learning through interaction, shared experiences, and play. And nursery rhymes are one way this can be done.

Why nursery rhymes matter

Nursery rhymes:

✅ help children hear patterns in language

✅ support memory and sequencing

✅ encourage early speaking and confidence

✅ offer rhythm and repetition – great for emerging number sense

When a child chants, “One, two, buckle my shoe” or joins in with the actions to, “Round and round the garden,” they’re not just enjoying a moment with you, they’re starting to embed core mathematical ideas:

• Order and sequence
• Counting and comparison
• Spatial awareness
• Patterns and repetition

These foundations support children long before they encounter formal maths.

Singing together

What matters most is how nursery rhymes are shared. Singing together creates a vital sense of belonging and connection.

When a rhyme is shared it can:

• help build language and communication skills
• provide warmth and reassurance
• enable the child to see facial expressions and feel the rhythm of speech
• support emotional security and engagement.
• help the child tune into language and number patterns more deeply

A rhyme becomes learning when it becomes a moment together.

Top tips for bringing maths out of nursery rhymes

1. Sing slowly and emphasise the rhythmic pattern.

This helps children notice the beat and the order.

2. Add actions.

Actions support memory and coordination. For example, “Wind the Bobbin Up” involves movement, direction, and sequencing.

3. Pause to let the child join in.

Leaving small gaps encourages participation and turns it into shared communication.

4. Play with objects or props.

For “Five Little Ducks,” use toys or fingers to help children see the number changing.

5. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Repetition strengthens memory and confidence. Children learn through doing things again and again.

Some of Rethink Maths favourite rhymes

Why Rethink Maths loves nursery rhymes

At the heart of Rethink Foundations is the belief that early mathematical thinking grows through:

• Gesturing
• Language
• Visualisation

Nursery rhymes connect all three.

They don’t require special equipment, they travel with you anywhere, and they build confident learners by making maths feel natural, joyful, and shared.

Nursery rhymes are maths in the real world: counting with fingers, moving in rhythm, noticing patterns in sound and action.

They help lay emotional and cognitive building blocks that later support confident problem-solvers.

A final thought

Whether you are a parent singing during morning routines or a practitioner modelling rhyme in story time, you are building early maths. One gentle rhythm, one shared giggle, one rhyme at a time.

So this World Nursery Rhyme Week, celebrate the small moments.

They’re doing big things.

Check out our free resources to support you bring WNRW to life!

I’ve taken a couple of days to reflect before sharing my thoughts on the recent Curriculum and Assessment Review. It’s an important piece of work with a lot to take in, and as someone deeply invested in maths education, several points really stood out to me.

“We must promote high aspirations and raise standards for the significant group of young people for whom the current system creates barriers. In this way, we can ensure the best life chances for all young people, irrespective of their background.”

This struck a real chord. Anyone who knows me knows how passionate I am about helping all students succeed, whatever their background or upbringing. We’ve seen great progress in education over recent years, but there are still far too many young people for whom the system simply doesn’t work.

Every statistic in that report represents a real student — a young person with real hopes, real dreams and real aspirations. It’s our job to give them the best possible chance of achieving those within a system that truly supports them. Any steps towards breaking down the barriers that exist are steps in the right direction.

“Develops a programme of work to provide evidence-led guidance on curriculum and pedagogical adaptation (as well as exemplification) for children and young people with SEND, including those in specialist provision, who experience various barriers to accessing the curriculum.”

It’s encouraging to see SEND considerations built in from the start rather than added later as an afterthought. That mindset, inclusion by design, not by adjustment, is what real equity looks like in practice.

“It is important that we recognise the significant progress made in Maths education in England over recent decades, and that our recommendations maintain and build on the many strengths detailed in this report.”

I was also pleased to see recognition of the progress we’ve already made. It’s easy to focus solely on the challenges, but there’s been a huge amount of improvement and innovation in maths teaching over the years. Acknowledging those strengths while being honest about what still needs to change strikes a healthy balance.

“Retains the amount and type of content in the Key Stage 1 to 3 curriculum, but re-sequences it so that topics are introduced in such a way that pupils can master them deeply, with opportunities for more complex problem-solving in each area, and reduce repetition in later years.”

This point really resonated with me. Early in my career, I remember teaching ratio to a Year 8 class without realising they’d already covered it in primary school. Some students remembered it and flew ahead; others didn’t and felt they were failing again. Repeating topics without building true understanding can widen the gap and damage confidence. Restructuring the curriculum so students learn in a more coherent sequence feels like a crucial step forward.

Of course, there are still many questions to be answered. But overall, this review feels like a positive move towards a system that serves every learner better.

For the teachers reading this: it’s worth remembering that these are still only recommendations. There’s no need to rush into changes until we see how things develop. For now, it’s a good opportunity to pause, reflect and think about what these ideas might mean for our classrooms in the future.

Progress takes time, but this feels like a thoughtful and hopeful direction for education in England.

Today I was so inspired by a conversation with Kate Henshall that I had the urge to share it! It reminded me to take a step back and think carefully and deeply about using ‘concrete’ materials and the way children learn.

When we talk about the Concrete–Pictorial–Abstract (CPA) approach in mathematics, many of us instinctively jump straight to the humble counter or cube as our starting point for “concrete.” But have we, perhaps, skipped over some crucial stages in a child’s development of number sense?

Take the number 3 as an example.

At the most fundamental level, learners experience “three” in their world:

• Three apples on the table. These are real and familiar.

• From here, we might move to a photograph of three apples, or even three toy apples. Both are still concrete in feel and appearance but already one step removed.

• A further step could be a drawing of three apples, a simplified representation that still connects strongly to experience.

Only after these stages might we present:

• Three counters or three drawn circles to stand in for apples.

And here lies a significant leap. The child must now accept that these unfamiliar objects (especially if they differ in shape or colour) represent the apples they know. If the apples were red but the counters are yellow, that’s yet another layer of abstraction for the learner to process.

Each of these subtle shifts marks an important point of cognitive development. If we skip too quickly to counters, we may miss opportunities to strengthen understanding and recognition of “three-ness” in contexts children already trust and understand.

So perhaps we should broaden our view of what counts as concrete. The journey from the real to the representational is a gradual shift through different layers of experience, not one big leap. We must also remember that this journey will not look the same for every child. Some will move through it more easily than others.

Maybe the question we should be asking is not just “Are we using concrete?” but “Have we chosen the right concrete, at the right stage, for this learner?”

I’m really excited to be stepping into the role of Managing Director at Rethink Maths. This is so much more than a job for me. It’s about helping to change the way the world sees and learns maths.

Why maths matters to me

I grew up in a deprived background and I know first-hand how education can open doors. For me it was maths that changed everything. It gave me confidence, opportunities and the chance to break the mould.

That’s why it upsets me when people so easily say things like “I hated maths” or “I was rubbish at maths.” We’d never say that about reading or writing, yet it seems fine to say it about maths. I want to change that. I want every learner, whatever their background, to feel successful in maths and to see where it can take them.

Finding my path

When I was studying for my maths degree, I wasn’t sure what career I wanted. I thought about finance, banking, actuarial work and statistics. Then I did a volunteer placement at a school in Morecambe and that changed everything.

Watching students connect with maths and realising I could play a part in that journey made my mind up. From there I went down the Schools Direct route to become a secondary maths teacher and I haven’t looked back.

Learning along the way

I never planned to leave the classroom. But stepping out of it gave me the chance to widen my impact and shape more lives. For the past eight years I’ve worked at White Rose Education. Every role there has taught me something and I’ve been lucky to be surrounded by brilliant people.

Caroline and Tony in particular have been huge influences on me. I’ve learnt so much from both of them. To now have the chance to keep working with them at Rethink Maths is honestly an honour.

The challenges we face

Maths education has its challenges. Equity is one of the biggest. Students come with different starting points, different experiences and different opportunities, yet we judge them all by the same exam.

As a girl from a deprived background I know how much this matters. I want an education system that feels accessible to all but still pushes every learner to achieve their best. Girls and disadvantaged students are groups I feel especially passionate about supporting. I want them, and every learner, to believe they can do maths and that maths can be for them.

Why Rethink Maths?

What excites me most about Rethink Maths is that our mission speaks directly to these challenges. Together we want to:

• Rethink Foundations – give every child the strongest possible start in maths with deep understanding, lasting confidence and joyful learning.
• Rethink Confidence – help people believe they can do maths whatever their age or background because confidence opens doors and changes lives.
• Rethink Inclusion – make sure every learner feels included and valued in maths, recognising their strengths and never lowering the bar.
• Rethink Real-world – show how maths makes sense in everyday life. I want students to see maths as something useful and meaningful, not just abstract theory.
• Rethink Teaching – support teachers every step of the way with resources and strategies that really deliver.

These aren’t just words. They’re the values that will guide everything we do.

Looking ahead

Teachers are already stretched and at Rethink Maths we’ll be thinking hard about how to help manage that workload so teachers can focus on the students in front of them. We want to inspire confidence in every classroom, so teachers feel supported to do what they do best and students are excited to explore the beauty and power of mathematics. For us, it’s about rethinking what’s possible in maths education and helping to shape a future where every learner can fulfil their potential.

I’ve been lucky to have some amazing roles in my career, but this one feels truly special. I get to help build something new with people I deeply respect. Together we share a vision to make a real difference. That’s why I’m here.

At Rethink Maths we want every learner to thrive. To build confidence, open doors and prove that maths really can be for everyone.

Something’s happening with maths confidence… and it’s not all good.

I’ve been digging into the TIMSS data again for a video I’m working on. Last week, I shared a post about the widening gap between the highest and lowest achievers in England. This week, it’s confidence I want to highlight.

TIMSS doesn’t just ask pupils maths questions – it also asks how confident they feel in their own mathematical ability. While our overall achievement has been heading in the right direction, there are some quieter underlying trends we can’t ignore.

Trend 2: Confidence has been falling since 2015.

In 2023, just over half of Y9 pupils in England said they weren’t confident in maths. In Year 5, things look a bit better, about two-thirds say they feel confident, but that’s down from 80% in 2015.

One statistic stood out from the Y9 data. 6 in 10 girls say they’re not confident in maths. If you take that seriously, it means in most Y9 classrooms across the country, the majority of girls are now feeling unsure about their ability. England now has the largest gender gap in maths confidence of any country that took part in TIMSS.

To be clear, this isn’t about criticising what’s gone before. There are brilliant people doing incredible work every day, and the report shows lots of positives too: maths enjoyment is still high, and we’ve got more very confident pupils than many other countries even those that perform more highly. However, confidence seems to be clustering. Those who feel confident are pulling further ahead, and those without it are falling further behind. The divide is growing.

Of course maths confidence doesn’t exist in a vacuum. While I was writing this on Sunday, I read headlines about rising anxiety among teenage girls, with many missing school because of it. Clearly something broader is going on.

Some immediate questions

1️⃣ If our Year 9 pupils have lived through the biggest wave of maths reform in recent history, why isn’t that showing up in their confidence? They should, arguably, have benefitted the most. Some clearly have, but those benefits haven’t been evenly felt.
2️⃣ Did the 2014 curriculum and assessment reforms disproportionately impact girls? Has a packed curriculum played a part?
3️⃣ Has COVID widened gaps that were already there?
4️⃣ Most importantly, why are so many girls feeling this so strongly?

Does this reflect what others are seeing in your own classroom, or in the schools you work with?

At Rethink Maths we’ve made confidence one of our core missions. Reports like TIMSS are a reminder of why it matters. When children feel confident in maths, they learn more, achieve more and they’re more likely to enjoy it too.

So how do we build that confidence, for everyone?

P.s. I know this data has been out for a while now, but I thought it important to revisit. As we start thinking as a country about what comes next, we’ll need to not only sustain the progress we’ve made but find ways to close this growing divide.

England’s maths progress and the questions the TIMSS data leaves us with.

I’ve finally had the chance to dive a bit deeper into the latest TIMSS report (as you do!). Partly because I’m researching for some videos I’m putting together for Rethink Maths, but also because I’ve always found these long-term international studies fascinating.

Yes, the data is a little out of date, and not many people are talking about it right now. However with the government reflecting on curriculum and assessment, I think this is exactly the moment to look again.

There’s plenty to celebrate. Over the last 25 years, England’s maths performance has risen steadily. We’re now consistently in the upper tier internationally – a real credit to teachers, pupils and schools.

When you look beyond the averages, some significant trends appear and these are what we need to focus in on when thinking about the future of maths policy.

Over the next week I’ll share the three trends I think matter most.

Trend 1: Here’s a graph I created for one of the videos. It shows the growing gap in maths achievement between England’s highest and lowest achievers. Over time, this spread has widened to become one of the largest in the world.

The 2014 national curriculum and teaching for mastery aimed for “ambition for all” – closing gaps and moving pupils forward together. Yet the data perhaps suggests a different story. It appears our top achievers have surged ahead, while those at the lower end haven’t kept pace.

So where do we go from here? Averages are rising, but the gaps are widening. Does this match your experience and if so, what’s the single biggest thing we should change?  What should we be rethinking to make sure every child moves forward?

I’d love to know what you see in this picture and what it makes you think about what we should be doing next.

Mathematics is more than just numbers, formulas, and procedures – it’s a way of thinking. At its core, maths is about problem-solving: breaking down complex situations, identifying patterns, and applying logical reasoning to find solutions. It is great to see problem solving as a core focus of our national curriculum and long may that continue.

That’s why explicitly teaching problem-solving strategies is so important. It equips students with the skills and confidence to tackle unfamiliar problems, nurturing a mindset that extends beyond the classroom.

Celebrating the work of teachers

First, I’d like to take a moment to appreciate the incredible work that teachers do every day. Teaching problem-solving isn’t easy. It requires patience, a deeper subject knowledge, and the ability to guide students through uncertainty while maintaining engagement. Teachers are already using rich tasks, real-world contexts, and open-ended questions to develop mathematical thinkers. Their dedication lays the foundation for students to build resilience and curiosity in the face of mathematical challenges.  However, during teacher training, we don’t train teachers to teach problem-solving explicitly so it is no surprise that many rely on teaching in the way they were taught.

The case for explicit strategies

We often encourage students to “think logically” or “just try a different approach” when they get stuck. But what if they don’t know how? If we want students to become true problem-solvers, we need to give them specific strategies and model their use. Some key strategies we could be encouraging could include:

• Working backwards – Starting from the solution or end state and retracing their steps to understand the structure of a problem.
• Drawing a diagram – Visualising relationships and using powerful techniques such as bar modelling.
• Looking for patterns – Identifying sequences or repeated structures to make predictions.
• Making a simpler case – Often this method helps students see the structure of the problem in a more manageable, smaller number set before tackling the actual numbers.
• Using logical reasoning – Eliminating impossible cases and testing different possibilities systematically.

By explicitly teaching these strategies, we empower students to approach problems with confidence and flexibility.

To try and exemplify some of the methods I talk about here I wanted to take a question from last year’s KS2 SATs problems.  It was towards the end of the first reasoning paper.

Working backwards method

Encourage them to start from the end (in this case 8 pm) and retrace steps to find what happened in the earlier.

1. At 8 pm, there are 40 empty seats.

Since the hall has 1,250 seats in total.

Seats that are filled at 8 pm must be 1250 – 40 = 1210

2. At 7 pm, we know 880 seats were filled.

3. So, the number of seats filled between 7 pm and 8 pm must be the difference between these numbers.

1210 – 880 = 330

Drawing a diagram method

A different strategy is for children to create a simple visual (like a bar or boxes) to show changes from 7 pm to 8 pm.

1. Draw a bar to represent all 1,250 seats.
2. Mark the portion that is already filled at 7 pm (880 seats).
3. Show that by 8 pm, only 40 seats are empty.
4. The difference between these two “filled” sections (1,250 – 880 – 40 = 330) represents the newly occupied seats.

Making a simpler case method.

1. Create a smaller-scale version of the same scenario. Suppose the hall had 100 seats instead of 1,250. At 7 pm, 70 seats are filled. By 8 pm, there are 5 empty seats.
2. Work through the simple version. If there are 5 empty seats, then 95 seats are filled at 8 pm. The number of seats filled between 7 pm and 8 pm is 95 − 70 = 25
3. Spot the pattern or logic in the simpler version. The difference between the number of seats filled at 7 pm and at 8 pm gives how many were filled during that hour.
4. Try to scale back up to the actual problem: Use the same approach for the real hall with 1,250 seats. There are 40 empty seats at 8 pm, so 1,250 – 40 = 1,210, replacing the smaller, easier to handle, numbers with the larger ones. Compare with the 880 seats filled at 7 pm to find 1,210 − 880 = 330

A call to evolve our approach

Mathematical problem-solving isn’t just for high attaining students or future mathematicians, it’s a critical life skill. In an ever-changing world, where problem-solving is at the heart of innovation and decision-making, we owe it to our students to equip them with these tools.

Teachers are already doing incredible work, but as a profession, we should continue pushing the boundaries. Let’s move beyond simply teaching students how to solve specific types of problems and focus on developing them as problem-solvers—capable, adaptable, and resilient in the face of the unknown.

So, what needs to change to bring this to life in classrooms?

1.      CPD for teachers about explicit problem-solving strategies.

2.      Teacher guidance within textbooks and resources that highlight the most appropriate strategies for each problem.

3.      Resources that are specifically designed to allow students to practice and experiment with the strategies they have been taught.

What are your go-to problem-solving strategies in the classroom? How do you help students develop their mathematical thinking? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

When we chose the word Rethink, it wasn’t just a brand decision, it was a mindset.

It’s a word that’s been quietly sitting at the centre of my thinking for a long time. As a leader. As a teacher. As a woman in education. And now, as someone building something new from the ground up.

I believe that sometimes, the most powerful thing you can do is pause… and ask:

• Does it have to be this way?
• What if we approached it differently?
• Who’s missing from this conversation?

I believe in it even more when you are asking those questions about something you have already worked on or built. It’s so easy to become emotionally attached to ideas or ways of doing things but in a fast paced, changing world we need to be flexible.

Rethinking doesn’t mean starting from scratch. Rethinking isn’t about fixing broken things. It’s about evolving what already works.

It means stepping back. Zooming out. Challenging assumptions. And listening to the voices that don’t usually get heard.

I’ve seen what happens when people are brave enough to rethink:

• Curriculum that truly works for all learners
• Workplaces that finally value introverted leadership
• Maths classrooms where girls feel seen, capable and empowered
• Businesses that follow purpose, not just the bottom line

Rethinking is essential to improving what already exists. Progress doesn’t happen by accident and in life, the job is never really done. When something is “working well enough” it’s easier to tweak than to reimagine. But I’ve found again and again that the most meaningful change starts with the quiet courage to ask: “Is this really serving the people it’s meant to in the best way it could?”

It’s the question I regularly come back to. I believe in the power of rethinking and reimagining, together.

What’s something you’ve rethought lately?

#Rethink #Education #Leadership #ChangeMakers #QuietLeadership