Ideas and thoughts about the new maths curriculum

A change of circumstances often provides a good opportunity for reflection. I have found myself in this position after taking early retirement from my primary head’s role and a teaching career spanning 34 years.

I did take two years off in 1990 to cycle around the world; it was during this time, that I developed a fascination for numbers. Towards the end of the trip, a favourite way to pass the time was to make fairly pointless calculations. For example, how many hours I spent actually sitting on my bike (3,128) or how many different places I slept in (437), or how many dogs I was chased by (287). To work these numbers out was relatively straightforward, but some calculations are a little more demanding. A recent discussion with a friend centred on how many cubic millimetres there were in a cubic kilometre (year 6 measurement?) After a while, we realised we’d need a bigger piece of paper.