In this episode, we talk to Liz Woodham, Primary Coordinator at NRICH, about the Problem-solving Schools initiative and its aims to support the development of reasoning and problem-solving skills for pupils and students from Reception to post-16. Liz shares insights into the initiative's process, including the use of webinars and rich tasks to support schools, and we also look at the relationship between problem-solving and reasoning and their importance in a well-rounded maths education.

A transcript (PDF) of this episode is available to download.

audio file

Show notes
Taking part in the discussion:

• Liz Woodham, Primary Coordinator, NRICH, University of Cambridge


• Julia Thomson, Senior Communications and Marketing Manager, NCETM.

Episode chapters

• 00:00 Introduction


• 04:00 Problem-solving Schools initiative


• 05:08 The Kilpatrick Rope Model


• 08:39 The Five Big Ideas in Teaching for Mastery


• 10:26 Framework and goals of the Problem-solving Schools initiative


• 17:22 ‘NRICH-style’ problems and SATs-style problems


• 20:05 Developing a ‘productive disposition’


• 22:16 Making time for problem-solving


• 26:12 What is reasoning and problem-solving?


• 29:52 Exploring and noticing


• 37:26 Conclusion and how to get involved.

Useful links

• NRICH Problem-solving Schools initiative


• NRICH Kilpatrick Rope Model


• NRICH game mentioned in podcast: Make 37


• Previous NCETM Maths Podcast discussion with NRICH: Episode 77 - Maths Games


• Mentioned by Julia: Five Big Ideas in Teaching for Mastery


• Feature on RIWGs: Research and Innovation in the Maths Hubs Network


• Explore previous episodes of the NCETM podcast in our archive.