Thinking Deeply about Primary Education

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Learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Story of Maths⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - www.alta-education.com/tsom-overview and www.acel.pro

What if the lessons that look most exciting are not always the lessons where students learn the most?

Episode 293: In this episode of Thinking Deeply about Primary Education, I’m joined by Matthew Best, a P7 teacher, maths lead and senior leader, for a conversation about effective teaching, mathematics, curriculum reform and the opportunity created by TransformED.

We explore why primary teaching has so often been pulled towards novelty, activity and engagement, and why this can distract from the harder, more important work of securing learning. Matthew makes the case for calm, predictable classrooms, explicit teaching, worked examples, careful questioning and responsive professional judgement.

We also discuss workload, differentiation, inspection culture, curriculum design, the problem with proxies for learning, and why teachers need to be freed up to focus on what matters most: helping students know more, remember more and do more.

This is a conversation about putting teaching and learning back at the centre of everything we do in schools.

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For maths curriculum questions contact us ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or via support@alta-education.com
Learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Story of Maths⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - www.alta-education.com/tsom-overview and www.acel.pro

Episode 292: In this episode of Thinking Deeply about Primary Education, I’m joined by Bunmi Richards, Alastair Anderson and James Cousins from Shaftesbury Park Primary School to explore what bilingual education looks like in practice.
Shaftesbury Park’s bilingual curriculum did not begin with a language programme. It began with the school’s values: a local school with a global perspective, serving a richly diverse community and committed to helping students develop cultural appreciation, confidence and a strong sense of identity.
Across the conversation, we explore how the school’s French bilingual stream works from the early years through to the end of primary school, how oracy, immersion, phonics, topic-based teaching and cultural learning are carefully sequenced, and why the model depends on long-term commitment rather than short-term initiative thinking.
We also discuss the practicalities: staffing, planning, parental communication, governance, workload, progression, misconceptions about bilingualism, and the challenge of what happens when students leave primary school with a level of French that many secondary schools are not yet equipped to build on.
This is a fascinating conversation about curriculum, culture, implementation and ambition. Whether you are interested in language learning, school vision, curriculum design or the conditions that allow distinctive practice to thrive, there is plenty here to think about.

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For maths curriculum questions contact us ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or via support@alta-education.com
Learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Story of Maths⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - www.alta-education.com/tsom-overview and https://www.acel.pro

Episode 291: April was another terrific month for Thinking Deeply about Primary Education. In this episode we revisit the moments, ideas and questions from April 2026 that made me think the most.

This is not a reel clip for the sake of it. It's a chance to slow down, connect threads across conversations, and surface the professional ideas that resonated the most. From classroom practice to leadership, the role of artificial intelligence, metacognition and more.

If you missed any April episodes, this is your way in. If you listened to them all, this a chance to hear them differently.

This week’s episode of Thinking Deeply about Primary Education is a very special one, as we celebrate the marriage of Neil Almond and Shannen Doherty.
To mark the occasion, we’ve brought together messages from friends, reflections from across their time on the podcast, the first questions they ever answered on TDaPE, and the final questions they each answered before getting married.
It is part celebration, part archive, part thank you to two brilliant people who have given so much to the show, the profession, and the wider education community.
Congratulations, Neil and Shannen. This one’s for you.

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For show notes, links, and a summary episode, sign up for the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Hey! What You Reading For ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠newsletter. Mondays at 7am BST - https://tdape.beehiiv.com/subscribe
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Learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Story of Maths⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - www.alta-education.com/tsom-overview and www.acel.pro

Episode 289: In this episode of Thinking Deeply about Primary Education, I’m joined by Mark Bowen to explore mathematical journaling in action.
Following on from a previous episode with Kirsten and Holly on mathematical journaling, Mark shares how he took the idea, adapted it for his own class, and developed a simple classroom structure built around three phases: download, investigate and communicate.
We discuss how journaling can help students move beyond surface-level calculation, become more comfortable with struggle, draw on prior knowledge, experiment with different approaches, and explain their mathematical thinking with greater clarity.
Mark also talks candidly about implementation: what worked, what did not, why he introduced a classroom character called Trev, how he used modelling and scaffolding to support students, and why he would slow the process down if he were starting again.
This is a wonderfully practical episode about helping students become more active, reflective and confident mathematical thinkers.
If you are interested in problem solving, reasoning, metacognition, mathematical journaling, curriculum design or simply making mathematics feel more purposeful in the classroom, this conversation is well worth your time.