Deb Friis is a secondary maths teacher and ’research associate’ at a Research School in Worthing in Sussex. She also co-leads on secondary mastery for the Sussex Maths Hub. In this interview she talks about what it’s like to be back teaching Y10 students, how research has informed her maths department’s priorities during this period, and their early thoughts about September. She also talks about the difficulties of the GCSE grading process this year.

We hope that this interview, with others in the series, will generate ideas and allow listeners to reflect on what works best for their own situations.

Show notes

Taking part in the discussion, recorded on 29 June 2020, are:

• Deb Friis: Maths teacher and Research Associate at Durrington High School, Sussex
• Gwen Tresidder: NCETM Communications Manager

Episode chapters

• 00:06 – Intro and how Deb found lockdown
• 02:54 – How the school organised return of Year 10
• 06:51 – Any plans to get Years 7 to 9 back?
• 07:21 – Thoughts about September
• 09:46 – The school’s role as a Research School
• 11:41 – How did GCSE grading work out? 

Useful links

Deb tweets as @runningstitch 

During the podcast, Deb mentions:

Hegarty Maths

Loom video messaging service

EEF best evidence on supporting students to learn remotely

Back to teaching Year 10 this summer – Deb’s blog post

Google learning platform (schools can now apply for funding to set up the Google learning platform or the Microsoft equivalent)

Research into impact of Christchurch earthquakes on attainment

EEF best evidence on impact of school closures on the attainment gap