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PODCAST

The Primary Maths Podcast

The Primary Maths Podcast is a year-round maths podcast for teachers, leaders and anyone interested in how children learn mathematics. Every Tuesday, join me, Jon Cripwell, for an in-depth interview with an expert voice from across education - teachers, leaders, researchers, authors and thinkers - as we explore what really works in primary maths. We dive into the big ideas shaping maths education, from maths anxiety and fluency to task design, curriculum, reasoning and problem solving. Then on

education mathematics

All Episodes

32:56

Attainment Grouping vs Setting in Primary Maths -...

The Primary Maths Podcast ·

2026/05/01

In this Aftermaths episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon is joined by returning guest Ash Morris for a Friday conversation that begins with National Space Day and ends with one of the most talked-about education reports of the week.Ash shares some suitably mind-bending space facts, including moon rocks, sunlight, Apollo, Artemis and why the Moon might be thought of as Earth’s child. Jon also remembers the author he forgot during the episode: Andy Weir, who wrote The Martian and Project Hail

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57:24

How to Encourage Mathematical Thinking In Primary...

The Primary Maths Podcast ·

2026/04/28

In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon is joined by Kate Henshall and Kat Martin from Rethink Maths for a conversation about lesson design, task design and how we help children move beyond simply completing work towards deeper mathematical thinking.Kate and Kat share their own experiences of maths at school, including how conceptual understanding, representations and manipulatives transformed the way they thought about the subject. The conversation then explores what we really mean by

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35:10

AfterMaths: How To Teach Primary Maths Problem Solving

The Primary Maths Podcast ·

2026/04/24

In this Aftermaths episode, Jon and Becky dig into one of the biggest ongoing challenges in primary maths: problem solving.Despite being one of the three core aims of the curriculum, problem solving is still too often treated as something we “do at the end” rather than something we explicitly teach. Drawing on classroom experience, research, and a classic article by Mike Askew, they explore the difference between routine and non-routine problems, and why that distinction matters more than ever.The

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56:09

Dyscalculia Explained: The Difficulty Affecting 6% of...

The Primary Maths Podcast ·

2026/04/21

In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon is joined by Cat Eadle from The Dyscalculia Network and Baroness Deborah Bull to explore one of the most overlooked areas in maths education: dyscalculia. Dyscalculia affects around 6% of learners, yet many teachers will go through their entire career without hearing it mentioned in training. So what is it? How does it present in the classroom? And what can we do to better support the pupils who are struggling to make sense of number? Together, Jon,

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27:35

AfterMaths: From Apollo to Artemis - The Maths Behind...

The Primary Maths Podcast ·

2026/04/17

In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon and Becky explore the mathematics behind space travel, inspired by the recent Artemis mission and the return of astronauts from their journey around the Moon. Starting with the sheer scale of the challenge, they unpack the numbers, distances, and precision required to send humans into space and bring them safely home again.The conversation compares the Apollo missions of the 1960s with today’s Artemis programme, highlighting how technology has

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49:03

Financial Literacy, Inequality and the Role of...

The Primary Maths Podcast ·

2026/04/14

Hello and welcome to this interview episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, the show where we talk all things primary maths. I’m Jon Cripwell.In this episode, I’m joined by Paula Fieldhouse for a wide-ranging conversation about financial literacy, parental engagement, and what it really means to prepare children for the financial decisions they will face later in life.We explore what financial literacy actually is, beyond budgeting worksheets and coin recognition, and why children’s early experiences

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24:31

AfterMaths: Kaprekar’s Constant, Odd Numbers and...

The Primary Maths Podcast ·

2026/04/10

In this Aftermaths episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon and Becky return after the Easter break with a lighter, curiosity-driven conversation that blends real mathematics with everyday life.Jon introduces a fascinating mathematical quirk known as Kaprekar’s constant. Starting with almost any four-digit number and following a simple process of rearranging and subtracting digits, you will always arrive at 6174. It is a brilliant example of how pattern, structure and curiosity can bring maths to

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26:43

AfterMaths - The Easter Special: Eggs, Estimates and...

The Primary Maths Podcast ·

2026/04/03

In this Easter special of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon and Becky take a slightly lighter turn while still keeping one foot firmly in the world of maths. Recorded on Good Friday, the episode reflects on the welcome arrival of the Easter break and the importance of slowing down after a busy term.The conversation explores a familiar classroom question: what do we do with seasonal contexts like Easter? Jon and Becky discuss the difference between simply dressing up maths with a theme and genuinely

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35:13

AfterMaths: From Capybara Escapes to The MTC: Real...

The Primary Maths Podcast ·

2026/03/27

In this Aftermaths episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon and Becky catch up after a short break and reflect on this week’s interview with Professor Lucy Cragg on multiplication and how children learn times tables. The conversation turns to the Multiplication Tables Check (MTC), exploring its origins, purpose and impact since its introduction. Jon shares a short history of the check, from its announcement in 2017 through to its first full national rollout in 2022, and discusses what the latest

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44:17

What Cognitive Science Tells Us About Learning Times...

The Primary Maths Podcast ·

2026/03/24

In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon speaks with Lucy Cragg, Professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Nottingham, about what cognitive science reveals about how children learn multiplication facts.Lucy’s research explores executive function skills such as working memory, inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility, and how these shape children’s mathematical learning. The conversation dives into how multiplication facts are stored and retrieved, why certain errors

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58:53

Helping Every Child Feel Like a Mathematician - with...

The Primary Maths Podcast ·

2026/03/17

In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon Cripwell speaks with Tom Oakley about one of the most important — and often overlooked — aspects of mathematics education: belonging.Why do some pupils decide that maths “isn’t for them”? Why do confident learners sometimes disengage from mathematics? And what can teachers do to help every child feel like they belong in the maths classroom?Tom draws on research around motivation, self-perception and classroom culture to explore how children develop

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37:57

AfterMaths: When Children Decide They’re “Not a Maths...

The Primary Maths Podcast ·

2026/03/13

Episode 60 of The Primary Maths Podcast is an Aftermaths episode where Jon Cripwell and Becky Brown reflect on mathematical thinking in the classroom, the hidden cost of passive maths, and why pupils’ mathematical identity matters as much as their test scores.The episode begins with a lighter moment as Jon points out that it is Friday the 13th again, one of three Friday the 13ths in 2026, the maximum possible in a single year. The conversation then moves to this week’s interview episode with

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51:54

Direct Instruction Without Losing Thinking: A...

The Primary Maths Podcast ·

2026/03/10

In this international episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon is joined by Will McLoughlin, a maths teacher based in Abu Dhabi, founder of AddvanceMaths.com and current Education Doctorate student researching conceptual understanding, animated instruction and cognitive science.The conversation explores what direct instruction or explicit instruction actually means in practice — and what it doesn’t.Will shares how his thinking has evolved over time, from procedural teaching to a more deliberate,

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31:04

AfterMaths: Bean 13, Algebra, And a Little Maths Magic

The Primary Maths Podcast ·

2026/03/06

In this Aftermaths episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon Cripwell and Becky Brown reflect on the week’s conversation about using storybooks in mathematics and share a range of classroom ideas sparked by World Book Day.The episode begins with Jon and Becky recounting their first in-person meeting as colleagues after a slightly confusing start involving two similarly named hotels in Southampton. From there, the discussion turns to the power of storybooks in maths lessons following Tuesday’s

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38:06

Why Stories Might Be The Missing Piece In Maths...

The Primary Maths Podcast ·

2026/03/03

What happens when maths lessons start with a story rather than a method?In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon Cripwell is joined by Hannah Allison from Maths Outside the Box to explore the role of stories in primary maths teaching. Drawing on her background in the arts and her experience as a maths leader, Hannah explains how narrative, character and context can help pupils engage more deeply with mathematical ideas.Together, Jon and Hannah discuss what maths through stories actually

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40:24

AfterMaths: Manipulatives Can't Think (But Teachers...

The Primary Maths Podcast ·

2026/02/27

Episode 56 of The Primary Maths Podcast focuses on manipulatives in primary maths and asks a simple but important question: do manipulatives automatically lead to mathematical thinking? Jon and Becky reflect on a recent lesson about commutativity where children were building arrays with cubes but describing the task as “making it with cubes” rather than explaining the structure behind three multiplied by four being equal to four multiplied by three. This opens up a wider discussion about the CPA

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51:28

When Maths Thinking is Messy but Meaningful - with Dr...

The Primary Maths Podcast ·

2026/02/24

In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon Cripwell is joined by Dr Kate Quade for a thoughtful conversation about language, learning and mathematical thinking.Language sits at the heart of mathematics, but the way pupils talk about maths often remains unnoticed or is tidied up too quickly. Together, Jon and Kate explore why mathematical thinking so often stays invisible, and how children communicate their ideas in many ways beyond written answers.A central focus of the episode is the idea of

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33:07

AfterMaths: The Million Dollar Maths Problem

The Primary Maths Podcast ·

2026/02/20

In this half-term Aftermaths episode, Jon and Becky take a deep dive into prime numbers and discover that they are far more than a Year 5 objective about “numbers with exactly two factors”.The conversation begins in the classroom, exploring how we define prime numbers and why 1 and 2 are both special cases. They reflect on how primes frustrate our desire for neat patterns, how children often assume odd numbers are prime, and how the Sieve of Eratosthenes gives us a beautifully systematic way of

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29:33

AfterMaths: Is Friday 13th really unlucky?

The Primary Maths Podcast ·

2026/02/13

Happy half term to those who celebrate. In this slightly re-routed Aftermaths episode, Jon and Becky lean into the fact that it is Friday the 13th and explore whether the date really deserves its unlucky reputation.From Gregorian calendar cycles to cultural superstitions across Europe and Asia, they unpack the mathematics behind how often Friday the 13th actually occurs and what the data really says about risk and coincidence.There is also a wonderfully elegant maths problem to enjoy. If 128 players

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54:50

Games, Play and Learning in Primary Maths - with Dr...

The Primary Maths Podcast ·

2026/02/10

What does it really mean to gamify maths, and when do games genuinely support learning rather than simply make practice feel more entertaining?In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon is joined by Dr Sam Parkes for a thoughtful and practical conversation about games, play and digital learning in primary mathematics. Together, they explore the difference between games that allow pupils to show how strong they already are and games that actually help them get stronger mathematically.The

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