This week’s bite-sized summer special takes us from the sun-drenched costas of Spain to the seagull-infested arcades of Whitby, with some fascinating insights into how young children record their maths along the way.

Jon and Becky swap holiday stories and uncover the surprising maths that follows you everywhere – even when you’re meant to be switching off. From suitcase scales gone wrong (pounds versus kilos, anyone?) to crazy golf “unitising,” estimating watermelons, and the enduring mystery of why the furthest you can get from the sea in the UK is only ...(spoilers!), it turns out that holidays are full of mathematical moments.

Jon also introduces a new segment: Research in 60 Seconds (ish), sharing a fresh study about how young children represent quantity and order in their early notations – and why we should never dismiss unconventional jottings.

Expect classic British seaside nostalgia, a dash of self-deprecating humour, and plenty of practical ways you can bring real-world maths (and early maths research) into your classroom.

If you enjoy the show, please share it with a colleague and leave us a rating or review – it really helps other teachers find us.

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In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon and Becky celebrate the role of the maths subject leader. Whether you’ve been leading maths for years or have just been handed the responsibility as September looms, this conversation explores the challenges and opportunities of the role.

Jon shares his own journey of unexpectedly becoming a maths lead during his NQT year, while Becky reflects on her experiences leading maths in a large junior school. Together they consider how subject leaders can shape school culture, raise the profile of maths, and drive meaningful change in teaching and learning.

This week’s Maths of Life takes us on a journey from Ancient Rome to Renaissance Italy to uncover the origins of percentages, why we use them instead of fractions in shops, and why “25% off” feels like more of a bargain than “a quarter off.”

Topics covered include:

• Why percentages became the language of bargains
• The commutative property of percentages (and why it matters)
• First steps for new maths leads in September
• Building a positive maths culture in your school
• Practical ideas for parental engagement
• Where to find support, training, and inspiration

If you’re stepping into maths leadership this year, or simply want to reflect on your own practice, this episode offers encouragement, practical strategies, and a reminder that you are not alone in the role.

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In this bite-sized summer special of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon and Becky tackle one of the trickiest topics in primary maths: telling the time. From the quirks of analogue clocks to the ubiquity of digital displays, they explore how our approach to teaching time might need a rethink in light of how children experience the modern world.

They discuss:

• Why telling the time is more cognitively demanding than many realise
• The case for introducing digital time first and why it might make life easier for everyone
• How language, fractions, and number line concepts all come into play when learning analogue clocks
• What other education systems (like Singapore and Shanghai) do differently
• Why developmental readiness matters more than curriculum speed

Plus, in this week’s Maths of Life, Jon dives into the fascinating history of temperature scales from Celsius and Fahrenheit to Kelvin and why zero means very different things depending on the thermometer you’re looking at.

Whether you’re teaching EYFS pupils to recognise o’clock, guiding Year 2s through quarter past, or still wrestling with 24-hour conversions yourself, this episode is packed with practical insights and a few laughs along the way.

If you’ve enjoyed this summer series, follow the show, leave a review, or share it with a colleague.

Listen now and make your next ‘time’ lesson a little less stressful.

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