Maths is an Endangered Species In Scotland, mathematics lessons are in danger of becoming extinct. A recruitment crisis, and a systemic indifference are conspiring to make maths a thing of the past.

New blog - Maths is an Endangered Species. applyingmaths.com/2026/02/01/m...

Maths is an Endangered Species In Scotland, mathematics lessons are in danger of becoming extinct. A recruitment crisis, and a systemic indifference are conspiring to make maths a thing of the past.

New blog - Maths is an Endangered Species. applyingmaths.com/2026/02/01/m...

Name Age Calculator Estimate the most likely age for someone given their first name, using SSA data and actuarial tables.

How old are people who share your name? Nice example of distributions and medians. name-age-calculator.randalolson.com

Christmas Treats Christmas Themed Advanced Higher Maths and Higher Applications resources.

Christmas Treats: Advanced Higher Maths and Higher Apps. Hopefully useful for somebody! applyingmaths.com/2025/09/12/c...

Gave out a sticker and wrote "good effort" in a student's jotter. She looked aghast and said "but I got all of them right!" We use so many euphemisms, it's funny being caught sincere.

I wish I knew, that would be very interesting. I'd be interested in the retention rates of maths vs other subjects.

Let the right one ln(x)

Almost certainly more likely in Scotland as the line for non-specialists is often drawn at BGE, whereas in England there's no hard line. For maths I imagine the percentage would be very high.

Interactive Gantt Charts I’ve created a tool that lets you make interactive Gantt charts - you can find it here.

New tool - interactive Gantt creator.
A bank of Gantt questions to use and edit. Link: applyingmaths.com/2025/09/12/i...

For names I use the children in the Edward Gorey alphabet poem. Amy, Basil, Clara, Desmond etc.
I like Don Stewards stuff because often the answers have repeats or patterns, which makes marking easy.

The sporting example is great. Ask any class: Player 1 takes 7 penalties and scores 6 of them, player 2 takes 8 penalties and scores 7 of them. Who's your pick? Or more extreme: 6/7 versus 99/100. Intuition is there. And an obvious link to statistics and sampling!

One more plug for this blog: Who's Teaching Maths on Monday?

New blog: Who's Teaching Maths on Monday?
Maths recruitment has nose-dived, what are the solutions?
applyingmaths.com/2025/09/07/w...

New blog: Who's Teaching Maths on Monday?
Maths recruitment has nose-dived, what are the solutions?
applyingmaths.com/2025/09/07/w...

Manipulatives in slides? Useful? I'm trying to make things have the least amount of faff. Hence the zero pair button.

Dr Austin Maths is incredibly useful. Sharing because I still occasionally mention the website to folk who haven't heard of it. The practice strips are the best.

It's that time of year again - your annual reminder that if you're a Maths teacher and looking for suitable resources for your classes across KS3 to KS5 then do check out www.draustinmaths.com. The site is five years old this week 🎉🎉 and in that time it's amassed over 1000 resources! 1/3

Data shows that just 10 days of absence can halve the chance of a student getting at least a grade 5 in English and Maths.

Yeah I saw this in a BBC article today. You always get this kind of factoid without any commentary. Nobody would seriously think that 10 days absence is the cause of such a dramatic reduction, yet often it seems presented that way.

The main objection I see is that having children write Valentine's cards in this way is very American. About as American as using the word "agendas."

​Edinburgh Fringe Recommendations ⭐: brynspiration.micro.blog/2025/08/08/edinburgh-fri...

258 + 4: they got 2, carried the one so got 5 +4 + 1 to get 10, so 0 carry 1. Then 2 + 4 + 1 = 7.
Basically they added 4 every time, so 444?
I'm guessing they worked without the column method, they worked sideways? Maybe abusing the equal sign?

Before teaching I would say "centimetres squared", now I always say "square centimetres." I want to emphasise the square as a shape, rather than as a little 2, in the minds of the students. I don't think the other way is wrong, it's just more algebraic than geometric in how it comes across.

A weird test gives you a quarter of a mark for each question. Martha scores half a mark, out of a maximum of 1 1/4 marks. Martha got 2 questions correct out of 5.

The project covers reading from charts, substitution into formulae, using ratio and metric conversion. I ran this with the main aim of giving S1 students something fun, with real life applications, that would boost confidence. Notes and resources: drive.google.com/file/d/1Ju8l...

Baby doll on scales, with worksheet and medicine

#todayinmaths we "Saved that baby". The end of a four week project where students use some formulae, charts, and measuring skills to work out the dosage of medicine needed for saving a baby.

Open intro!
www.openintro.org/data/
All real and have sources listed, and because they appear in a textbook they tend to need little to no tidying.

I know I gesticulate too much when I talk because I hit my 10,000 steps today during parents evening.

New! My 184th gems post. Ideas, updates and resources for maths teachers. 💎

www.resourceaholic.com/2025/01/5-ma...

#UKMathsChat #MathsToday

Yes, apparently the mobile apps treat +x% as an increase by that percent. Useful in a way, but should definitely come with a health warning.

10 + 10 + 5% = 21 as displayed on an Android calculator app.

So apparently 5% = 1 on your mobile phone calculator. Good to know!