An Interview with Miss Bradfield

What area of maths are you teaching at the moment?

I am teaching place value at the moment and we have been counting, especially counting in twos, fives and tens.

Do children always understand a topic at the start?

Not always, as it is the start of the topic we have to go over and revise skills they have learnt before. I model and use lots of vocabulary and use lots of resources such as dienes to help the children.

Did you enjoy maths as a child?

I will be honest, I found maths difficult especially when I was in secondary school. I did lots of learning and extra learning at home. Now I love it and it is my favourite subject to teach.

What’s your favourite topic in maths to teach?

That’s a tricky one…let me think. I really like fractions because I like really practical lessons, you can get smarties to show fractions and I love finding fractions of shapes. We use fractions in everyday life without realising so that’s why I love it.

What do you find tricky in maths? It could be something you found tricky in secondary school.

I found algebra tricky in school when I was leaning however I find teaching time tricky as children are always at different stages and so it is really tricky to make sure all children are making progress. Especially now that less people are using wall clocks.

Do most of your children enjoy learning maths?

Yes I think so! They really enjoy what we do and always seem happy. They enjoy counting forward and backwards and they like the maths songs I use.

So far this year, what have your children found difficult?

When we first came back to school the children found it really tricky to write their numbers around the right way, some children wrote them backwards but they have all done amazingly and can now do that.

What topic do you think your children are going to be looking forward to?

Children normally really love learning how to do the column method, they always really enjoy practicing it and applying it to their maths. It is a really good skill as I still use it if I need to add up my shopping so I think it is a really good skill and the children love it. We are going to be learning it soon.

What lessons do you think will be tricky for them?

Time! Time! Time! It is always a tricky one. Fractions can be tricky too!

By Lexie and Molly

Reception Maths Displays

Khloe-Lei and I really like the way the Reception teachers have set out their classroom displays. We like the way numbers are represented in different ways - they have shown a number in numerical form, word form, picture, concrete equipment (cubes) and we like the fact they have included pictures of the children working hard. We think the displays are colourful and the children will enjoy looking at the bright colours. 

Looking at the photos the children are engaged and they look like they are enjoying their maths learning. There are lots of lovely maths displays around the school but these are some of our favourites. 

By Khloe-Lei and Chloe