This workshop addresses the use of the Connective Model and Concrete Pictorial and Abstract method of teaching to look at how to teach learners with Specific Learning Difficulties, such as Dyslexia, Dyscalculia and Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), Maths. The main Mathematical topics referred to will be:

- The rules of number
- Algebra
- Probability
- Data representation

The transition from KS2 to KS3 in maths can be marked by a sudden change in curriculum pitch, pedagogy, and language, which could leave pupils confused and overwhelmed. This session explores what pupils experience at KS2: the concrete resources they use, the language they hear, and the conceptual foundations they build. We’ll unpack the SATs pitch, explore KS2 pedagogy, and ask how we can use this to support Year 7 students in class to experience maths that feels familiar, accessible, and inspiring, enabling them to continue their maths learning journey. We invite you to engage in a thoughtful discussion regarding how increased awareness of prior experiences can help sustain confidence and support a smoother trajectory in mathematical development.

Something strange happens to your brightest Year 7s, and it's not what you'd expect.

Pupils in England do brilliantly at maths in primary school, climbing the international rankings year on year. But something changes by Year 9, where our progress stalls, and half of disadvantaged pupils who were top attainers at primary school don't go on to get a grade 7 or higher at GCSE. We surveyed 2,000 pupils and parents across Years 6 to 9 to find out what's changing, and when.

The results surprised us. High attainers become sharply more negative about maths the moment they start Year 7: twice as likely to say it's boring, far less likely to say it's fun, and considerably more stressed. Strikingly, the opposite happens to low attainers, so whatever's going on, it's specific to how your most promising mathematicians experience secondary school.

In this session we'll share the data, then get you debating the leading theories before testing your ideas against what pupils and parents actually told us. You'll leave with a clearer picture of this paradox and evidence-based ideas for protecting your brightest mathematicians as they start secondary school.

In this workshop we will participate together in a range of activities to take away and use centred around the cube. This common 3D shape offers many opportunities to engage at a range of levels in various branches of mathematics including combinatorics, geometry, probability and for the mathematically adventurous, 4D. All utilising at most GCSE mathematical skills.

Discover how A-Level Mathematics provides the foundations for understanding artificial intelligence and machine learning. This engaging session explores the mathematical ideas behind AI algorithms, making clear connections to familiar A-Level maths topics. Participants will see how concepts learned in the mathematics classroom are used to develop, understand and apply real world AI technologies

Prime Factor Tiles are one of the cheapest and most versatile manipulatives
around. A couple of sheets of paper, printed in colour, and a few moments with
a guillotine will make you enough to last a whole term!

They are useful for modelling a whole range of topics, including commutativity
of multiplication, simplifying ratios and fractions, finding highest common
factors and lowest common multiples, factorising expressions, and
manipulating surds.

Underpinning almost all these ideas is the Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic.

This workshop examines why embedding it is difficult, particularly when teachers must locate tasks, judge required knowledge and connect problems to existing schemes of work.

Participants will explore two practical approaches: curriculum-mapped questions and longer investigations. Using resources supplied by us, attendees will be part of a workshop, rather than a presentation, with the opportunity to engage with a range of problem-solving tasks.

After five years in the leadership of a mathematics department, including two and a half years as Head of Department, I made the decision to move schools. Starting again has given me an unexpected opportunity to reflect on what I thought I knew about departmental leadership – and to discover which lessons really transferred to a new context.

This workshop will share stories, successes, mistakes and lessons learnt from leading mathematics in two different schools. We’ll explore building trust, understanding context, deciding what to change (and what not to), and finding your feet when you have to start again.

Discover how maths can create moments that feel like real magic. In this fun, interactive workshop, Vinny Sagoo shares practical mathematical magic effects that use number patterns, logic, prediction and problem solving to surprise, engage and inspire learners. Participants will experience the tricks, uncover the maths behind them and explore how they can be used in the classroom to build curiosity, confidence and mathematical thinking. Expect plenty of hands-on participation and more than a few “Wait… what?!” moments.

The purpose of automatic recall is to clear the way for multi-step problems. Yet most fluency practice is single-step, so the working memory that recall frees goes unspent on the very problems it was meant for. What if practice did both at once?

We'll spend most of the session solving Area Mazes together — each a network of rectangles with just enough areas and lengths marked to pin down the missing value. Every step is a multiplication or division your pupils already know; the work is deciding which step to take. We'll work through example-problem pairs, then a harder run, and compare routes. The attention we want is geometric: which lengths must be equal, which areas and lengths in proportion.

You'll leave with puzzles to use straight away, a clear sense of where they fit alongside the fluency work you already do, and a way to raise challenge without raising arithmetic load.