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UPDATED BLOG: My 2023-2024 Writing Challenge

I have managed to post an example task for a streak of 107 days this academic year. However, at this point I’m going to redirect my efforts as I have decided to focus on writing Deconstructing Word Questions Y2-Y5. I see this as being my greatest possible contribution. It’s hard to properly communicate the vision for these resource using photos – it’s better done using short videos. I will spend the Spring term focusing on writing the resources and trialling them in lots of different classrooms. Then, in the summer term, I will post a video a week explaining how, I believe, we can transform the teaching of word questions. I will also send out lots of free resources to trial to the people on my mailing list. I am so excited about what is to come!

The resources will be released some time between September 2024 and January 2025, depending on the outcomes from the classroom trials.

Below is my original blog post:

Day 1: The Mountain Pass Logic Puzzle and The Mountain Pass Answers

I’m passionate that all children get to experience the true richness of mathematics and for maths to be an intellectually and emotionally rich pursuit. To this end, over the last 10 years I’ve strived to create maths tasks that generate conversations, give space for curiosity and provide opportunities for extended exploration. I hope that my resources are inspirational and simple to integrate with your maths curriculum.

I have so many plans for new resources! I See Reasoning – Y1 and I See Reasoning – Y2 are being written: they will be comprehensive resources for building number sense and embedding reasoning in daily lessons. Deconstructing Word Questions will be written for Y1-Y5 after the successful launch of the Y6 eBook. Then I will go back to my roots: writing a range of logic puzzles and problem-solving ‘task families’, so problem-solving skills can be built coherently.

To get into the routine of writing new resources every day, I have set myself a challenge: to post a new task every school day on social media for the whole of the 2023-2024 academic year. Images or videos will be posted at 7:30pm every day on Twitter, Facebook and on my NEW INSTAGRAM FEED. At the time of writing, I have exactly 0 Instagram followers!

I am actively seeking your feedback on all my posts. Specifically, what would you change about each task? Or if you use any of the tasks in the classroom, what age of children did you use the task with and what happened? I won’t always respond immediately – I can struggle with insomnia so I’m usually off social media after 8pm – but I will read every comment. Feedback can be emailed to iseemaths@hotmail.com

I have taken so much from the feedback given by teachers about my work – it helps me to reject my bad ideas and improve my half-baked ones! I love to receive any suggested improvements or comments.

The first post will be on 4th September. Until then, have a great summer – Gareth

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A tribute to a great friend and teacher

This is the first time I have ever been nervous writing a blog; I’ve thought about it for months, wondering whether to write it, and how I can possibly do it well. I hope, for those to whom it has personal meaning, you find it a fitting and helpful tribute. I want to share some of my memories my great friend, Sinead Rossiter, who passed away from a stomach lymphoma in December 2014.

I first met Sinead in 2010 when she started her post as fellow year 6 teacher and deputy head at Bradshaw Hall Primary School. She was an infectious character, full of life and so uninhibited by the stresses and strains of school. Sinead had the most distinctive of qualities: a genuine enjoyment and appreciation of the children in her class. Sounds odd to say, but whilst maintaining an iron-will to ensure that every child achieved their best, Sinead never lost the ability to enjoy her time with every child and make them the best versions of themselves.

That was lesson number 1 (of many) that I learnt from Sinead: driving standards, having time to build deep relationships and enjoying the moment aren’t mutually exclusive – in fact, quite the opposite. And having time for people wasn’t limited to the children in her class. Sinead made time for all of her colleagues too, on a personal and professional level, having a profound ability to get beyond life’s trivialities and get to know the person that lies behind the professional face.

I will also always remember Sinead for her undoubted eccentricities. Sinead had Cystic Fibrosis and wasn’t expected to live into adulthood. A lung transplant in her 20s gave her far improved health and, I believe, an amazing perspective on life. She was truly uninhibited, brilliantly so. I remember her telling me about how once, late in the evening, she needed something from the local corner shop so went in her pyjamas. She spotted one of our colleagues in there and didn’t want to be seen so hid in the aisle behind bemused shoppers! Now this eccentricity used to come in particularly handy for me when it came to putting on the end of year leavers’ assembly. Mrs Rossiter was the perfect target for micky-taking, with no shortage of ‘parody-able’ habits: her constant range of shoes, that she was always eating, the catchphrases, the constant use of candles…

As a teacher, Sinead was highly effective. You couldn’t help but want to know exactly why she did so well. Teaching was one of her passions, she studied it and talked about it, pedagogically she was strong and she prepared well for lessons. But it was, in my opinion, her remarkable ability to connect with people that really defined her success. As John Hattie might remind us, teaching is essentially a human profession carried out most successfully by passionate individuals, teachers who can relate to and care for their students. In my most pressured times, it’s the aspect of teaching that I am quickest to forget, but that which I would do best to remember.

There are so many individual memories that I could share, and qualities that I could describe, to pay further tribute to Sinead. It has taken me a while to adjust her not being at school, but I know that my loss is nothing in comparison to that felt by her loving family, and particularly her husband who she idolised. It would be contrived of me to say that I will try to carry her legacy on: I can’t, because she was totally unique, and in ways quite different to me. But I know that I am a better teacher and person now for knowing her, and for that I am massively grateful.

Sinead knew her life was likely to be shorter than most, and had a personal faith that gave her great strength. She accepted her CF fully, and knew it made her who she was. She was also massively appreciative of the amazing medical support that she received throughout her life, support which enabled her to be healthy and happy. Sinead would often remind us to treasure life and ‘smell the flowers’. Hers was a short life, but a life thoroughly lived.