In this episode of Knowledge for Teachers, host Brendan Lee speaks with Natalie Wexler, education writer and author of The Knowledge Gap, The Writing Revolution, and Beyond the Science of Reading. Together they explore what truly drives reading comprehension and why knowledge rich instruction is essential for every learner. Natalie unpacks the surprising limits of treating comprehension as a set of isolated skills, explains how background knowledge shapes understanding in powerful ways, and shows why writing can be one of the most effective tools for securing learning. Listeners will also hear how cognitive load theory connects to literacy and what strong knowledge building lessons look like in real classrooms. A practical and thought provoking conversation for teachers and leaders who want to strengthen literacy through the lens of research.

Resources mentioned:

• The Knowledge Gap by Natalie Wexler
• The Writing Revolution by Judith Hochman and Natalie Wexler
• Beyond the Science of Reading by Natalie Wexler
• Why Don’t Students Like School by Daniel Willingham

You can connect with Natalie:

Twitter/X: @natwexler

Linkedin

Website: nataliewexler.com

Substack: http://nataliewexler.substack.com

 

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter/X: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Linkedin: @brendan-lee-kft

Website: learnwithlee.net

 

Support the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast: 

https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

 

The Primary Maths Instruction Framework For teachers

This is a three day online course for teachers where we focus on how learning happens and how to design maths lessons that support acquisition, build fluency and help students generalise what they know.

Register here

Implementing Effective Primary Maths Instruction For School Leaders

This is a two day online course for school and middle leaders and it is all about implementation. We look closely at curriculum and lesson design, assessment, coaching and the systems that help teachers change practice in a sustainable way.

Register here

In this episode, Brendan sits down with Ingrid Sealey, founder of Teach Well, to explore the hidden nuance behind great teaching. Drawing on her work with thousands of teachers across Australia, Ingrid shares what she has learned about the small deliberate practices that make a real difference for students.

They unpack why clarity matters more than complexity, how spaced practice can shift long-term learning, and why full participation is not about getting every student to join in but about getting every student to think. Ingrid also explains why explicit instruction is not a script but a way to support better decision making in the classroom.

The conversation also dives into her new bookTeach Well’s Instruction & Coaching Companion, which captures the core practices and insights that have shaped Teach Well’s approach. Ingrid reflects on how the book came together and how teachers can use it to make practical confident changes in their everyday work.

They also discuss how professional learning can move beyond one off workshops and become something that genuinely changes practice. Ingrid offers insights from Teach Well’s long-term partnerships and shares examples of what happens when teachers work on small tweaks over time.

This is a thoughtful and practical episode for anyone who wants to refine their craft and understand what really drives effective teaching. If you are looking for ideas you can take straight back to your classroom or leadership team, this one is full of them.

Resources mentioned:

• Teach Well’s Instruction & Coaching Companion
• Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction – Barak Rosenshine
• Why Don’t Students Like School – Daniel Willingham
• Dylan Wiliam – formative assessment and full participation strategies
• Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI) – John Hollingsworth and Silvia Ybarra

You can connect with Ingrid:

Linkedin

Twiiter/X: @TeachWellAus

Teach Well Website: teach-well.au

 

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter/X: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Linkedin: @brendan-lee-kft

Website: learnwithlee.net

 

Support the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast: 

https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

Evidence in Action: The Primary Maths Partnership

A long-term professional learning partnership built around what actually works.

This 24 month program provides schools with 20+ hours of structured professional learning grounded in the science of learning spaced out over time — including explicit instruction, daily reviews, fluency-building, and problem-solving.

We work together to create a practical, sustainable implementation plan — so what you learn becomes what you do.
Optional Add-ons:
✓ Lesson modelling
✓ Leadership implementation sessions
✓ Coaching and feedback cycles
✓ Ongoing Q&A or online check-ins

Learn more > [email protected]

 

 

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Sarah Asome, principal of Bentleigh West Primary School and award-winning educator known for her leadership in evidence-based practice. Together, they unpack what Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) really looks like in action beyond buzzwords and flowcharts. Sarah shares how her school aligns Tier 1 teaching, intervention and extension to ensure every student thrives, not just those who struggle. Listeners will hear how Bentleigh West’s team uses data to drive decisions, keeps variance low across classrooms, and extends students at the top through what Sarah calls a “diamond model” of support. This episode offers a practical, whole-school view of MTSS, one grounded in strong leadership, clear systems, and a belief that consistency creates equity.

Resources mentioned:

• DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills)
• Spelling Mastery
• The Writing Revolution (Judith Hochman & Natalie Wexler)
• Letters Course (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling – LETRS)
• Story Champs
• Reading Doctor Program (Flinders University)
• Times Tables Rock Stars
• New Wave Mental Maths
• Core Knowledge Curriculum
• Response to Intervention (RTI) Diamond model
• Anita Archer – Explicit Instruction
• Endowment Foundation research (Education Endowment Foundation, on education support and learned helplessness)
• Victorian Lesson Plans

You can connect with Sarah:

Twitter/X: @SarahAsome

Linkedin: @sarah-asome

 

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Website: learnwithlee.net

 

Support the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast: 

https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

About Sarah Asome

Sarah Asome is a highly experienced educator and the current Principal at Bentleigh West Primary School. She has also worked in the UK and Singapore. Sarah has been instrumental leading the change at BWPS but also been able to support many colleagues State, Nationwide and in New Zealand to implement evidence-based literacy instruction in their schools. This has led to a significant increase in literacy and numeracy levels which now places BWPS as a high performing school. Recently, Sarah was part of the team working on ten Victorian Lesson Plans for Primary English including text units, spelling and grammar and punctuation. 

In 2015, Sarah was awarded ‘Outstanding Primary Teacher’ in the Victorian Education Excellence Awards. She has appeared in “Outside the Square ‘a DVD resource for teachers and in 2017 was featured on SBS Insight – ‘A Teacher Who Changed My Life’.  Sarah has completed numerous courses including Louisa Moat’s LETRS training, Dyslexia Action (UK) and is a Certified Dyslexia, Reading and Orton-Gillingham specialist and trainer for Australia (OGI international inc). Recently, Sarah completed her Masters in Instructional Leadership at Melbourne University.

In 2023, Bentleigh West Primary School won the Victorian Education Excellence Award (VEEA) for ‘Outstanding Inclusion Education’.

Evidence in Action: The Primary Maths Partnership A long-term professional learning partnership built around what actually works.

This 24 month program provides schools with 20+ hours of structured professional learning grounded in the science of learning spaced out over time — including explicit instruction, daily reviews, fluency-building, and problem-solving.

We work together to create a practical, sustainable implementation plan — so what you learn becomes what you do.
Optional Add-ons:
✓ Lesson modelling
✓ Leadership implementation sessions
✓ Coaching and feedback cycles
✓ Ongoing Q&A or online check-ins

Learn more > [email protected]

 

What if forgetting wasn’t failure, but actually part of the learning process?

 

In this episode of Knowledge for Teachers, Brendan Lee sits down with bestselling author and educator Kate Jones to explore what retrieval practice really looks like in the classroom. Kate shares practical strategies for making retrieval a habit, clears up common misconceptions, and shows how small tweaks — from scaffolding questions to giving feedback that sticks — can transform learning.

 

Along the way, you’ll hear stories from Kate’s own teaching journey, insights from research and creative ideas teachers can use right away. Whether you’re just starting out with retrieval or looking to deepen your practice, this episode will leave you with simple, sustainable ways to help knowledge stick and build your students’ confidence.

Resources mentioned:

• Why Students Don’t Like School — Daniel Willingham
• Love to Teach — Kate Jones
• Retrieval Practice series (multiple books) — Kate Jones
• Retrieval Practice: Myths, Mutations and Mistakes (free ebook, Evidence Based Education) — Kate Jones
• Flashcards ebook (Evidence Based Education) — Kate Jones
• ResearchEd Guide to Cognitive Science (Kate wrote chapters on retrieval and spacing; Jonathan Firth on interleaving)
• Dunlosky (2013) - Strengthening the Student Toolbox
• Retrievalpractice.org (Pooja Agarwal’s meta-analysis of classroom studies)
• Carousel Learning (Adam Boxer)
• TES (retrieval templates)

You can connect with:

Twitter/X: @KateJones_teach

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.katejoneseducation.com/

 

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter/X: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Linkedin: @brendan-lee-kft

Website: learnwithlee.net

 

Support the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast: 

https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

 

enuine research from marketing spin, why fluency is about much more than speed, and the dangers of relying on “engagement” as a proxy for learning. Anna also highlights simple, practical strategies—like cover-copy-compare and spaced retrieval—that help students build the confidence they need to tackle more complex maths.

If you’ve ever wondered how to cut through the noise and focus on what truly improves student outcomes, this conversation is packed with insights you can take straight back to your classroom.

Resources mentioned:

• Wise Math (advocacy group)
• Archimedes Math School
• JUMP Math (Canadian maths program)
• Singapore Primary Math Program
• ResearchEd (conference, where Anna presented)
• Chalk and Talk (Anna Stokke’s podcast)

 

You can connect with Anna:

Twitter/X: @rastokke

Linkedin

Website: https://www.annastokke.com/

 

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter/X: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Linkedin: @brendan-lee-kft

Website: learnwithlee.net

 

Support the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast: 

https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

 

About 

Dr. Anna Stokke is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Winnipeg. She is a recipient of a 3M National Teaching Fellowship, which is Canada's most prestigious award for teaching excellence and educational leadership at the post-secondary level. She is co-founder and President of the non-profit organization Archimedes Math Schools, which delivers after-school math classes for children. She hosts the popular math education podcast Chalk & Talk, where she discusses evidence-informed math teaching with leading education experts.

 

2025 Australian School Improvement Summit

The 2025 Australian School Improvement Summit is coming to Sydney on Wednesday 29 October — a one-day event bringing together system leaders, researchers, principals, and expert practitioners to focus on what works in schools, and how to make it happen at scale.

Hear from leading voices like Natalie Wexler (The Knowledge Gap), curriculum expert Dr Ben Jensen, and school leaders Lisa Holt (Rosebud Secondary College), Manisha Gazula (Marsden Road Public School), and Dr Greg Ashman (Ballarat Clarendon College).

If you’re a school leader or educator committed to improving outcomes for every student — and believe in doing fewer things, better — this is an event not to miss.

Special offer for listeners: 20% off full-price tickets with code LearnWithLee.
Check out the full program and register here: https://shorturl.at/Ku9v4

 

In this episode of Knowledge for Teachers, I sit down with Dr. Anna Stokke—mathematician, professor, and host of the Chalk and Talk podcast—to unpack what really works in maths education. Anna shares her journey from academic research to advocacy, and why she’s become such a strong voice for evidence-informed teaching.

We explore how to separate genuine research from marketing spin, why fluency is about much more than speed, and the dangers of relying on “engagement” as a proxy for learning. Anna also highlights simple, practical strategies—like cover-copy-compare and spaced retrieval—that help students build the confidence they need to tackle more complex maths.

If you’ve ever wondered how to cut through the noise and focus on what truly improves student outcomes, this conversation is packed with insights you can take straight back to your classroom.

Resources mentioned:

• Wise Math (advocacy group)
• Archimedes Math School
• JUMP Math (Canadian maths program)
• Singapore Primary Math Program
• ResearchEd (conference, where Anna presented)
• Chalk and Talk (Anna Stokke’s podcast)

 

You can connect with Anna:

Twitter/X: @rastokke

Linkedin

Website: https://www.annastokke.com/

 

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter/X: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Linkedin: @brendan-lee-kft

Website: learnwithlee.net

 

Support the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast: 

https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

 

About 

Dr. Anna Stokke is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Winnipeg. She is a recipient of a 3M National Teaching Fellowship, which is Canada's most prestigious award for teaching excellence and educational leadership at the post-secondary level. She is co-founder and President of the non-profit organization Archimedes Math Schools, which delivers after-school math classes for children. She hosts the popular math education podcast Chalk & Talk, where she discusses evidence-informed math teaching with leading education experts.

 

2025 Australian School Improvement Summit

The 2025 Australian School Improvement Summit is coming to Sydney on Wednesday 29 October — a one-day event bringing together system leaders, researchers, principals, and expert practitioners to focus on what works in schools, and how to make it happen at scale.

Hear from leading voices like Natalie Wexler (The Knowledge Gap), curriculum expert Dr Ben Jensen, and school leaders Lisa Holt (Rosebud Secondary College), Manisha Gazula (Marsden Road Public School), and Dr Greg Ashman (Ballarat Clarendon College).

If you’re a school leader or educator committed to improving outcomes for every student — and believe in doing fewer things, better — this is an event not to miss.

Special offer for listeners: 20% off full-price tickets with code LearnWithLee.
Check out the full program and register here: https://shorturl.at/Ku9v4

In this episode, Brendan Lee is joined once again by Christopher Such—teacher, author, and one of the most practical voices in reading instruction. His new book, Primary Reading Simplified, takes the research on how children learn to read and shows us what it actually looks like in the classroom.

This conversation zooms in on one of the trickiest areas for teachers: close reading. Chris explains why it doesn’t need to feel intimidating, how to plan lessons that spark genuine discussion, and the misconceptions that often trip schools up. He also shares three simple reading lesson structures that can bring clarity and balance to your literacy block, along with practical tips for asking purposeful questions that help students think more deeply about texts.

If you’ve ever wondered how to make close reading purposeful, achievable, and enjoyable, this episode will give you the clarity and confidence to make it work.

 

Resources mentioned:

• Primary Reading Simplified (Christopher Such’s latest book)
• The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading (Christopher Such’s earlier book)
• Bringing Words to Life by Beck, McKeown, and Kucan
• Scarborough’s Reading Rope
• The Reading Comprehension Blueprint by Nancy Hennessy
• The Writing Revolution by Judith Hochman and Natalie Wexler
• Reading Reconsidered by Doug Lemov, Colleen Driggs, and Erica Woolway
• The EEF (Education Endowment Foundation) Guidance Report on Improving Literacy
• Timothy Shanahan
• Timothy Rasinski
• Aidan Chambers

 

You can connect with Chris:

Twitter: @Suchmo83

Linkedin

Website: https://primarycolour.home.blog/

 

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter/X: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Linkedin: @brendan-lee-kft

Website: learnwithlee.net

 

Support the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast: 

https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

 

About Chris

Christopher Such is a primary teacher, school leader, and author based in the UK, best known for his ability to make the science of reading accessible and practical for classroom teachers. His first book, The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading, has become a go-to resource for educators wanting to bridge research and practice. His latest book, Primary Reading Simplified, builds on that work—offering clear, classroom-ready structures for teaching reading beyond phonics, including fluency, extended reading, and close reading.

Drawing on years of experience teaching across primary year levels and working with schools around the world, Chris is passionate about helping teachers cut through the noise and focus on what truly helps children become confident, capable readers.

 

In this episode, Brendan Lee speaks with Dr. Vicky Leighton and Dr. Terry Byers from Churchie (Anglican Church Grammar School) and they share how they’re bringing the science of learning to life in real classrooms for both students and teachers.

We dive into their work on A Learner’s Toolkit, explore why teacher clarity matters more than ever and unpack a groundbreaking PD model that’s personal, contextual, and actually sticks. Plus, Terry brings the analogies including a surprisingly fitting comparison between cows and the science of learning!

Whether you’re leading change across a school or just trying to sharpen your practice, this episode is full of insight, laughter and plenty to think about.

 

Resources mentioned:

• A Learner’s Toolkit (ALT) – for students and teachers
• TRIM Framework
• Sarah Cottinghat
• Dr. Tom Perry
• John Dunlosky
• John Hattie
• The impact of a preparatory science of learning intervention in secondary schools contexts in Australia
• Research into practice: from blueprint to jigsaw

 

ResearchEd - A Matter of Translation

Friday, 5 September 2025

Anglican Church Grammar School

Keynote Speakers

• Dr Carl Hendricks (Live from the UK)
• Professor Daniel Willingham (Live from the USA)
• Professor Tanya Serry (in person)

Brendan Lee will also be presenting!

 

You can connect with Vicky:

Twitter: @victorialynne99

Linkedin

Website: alearnerstoolkit.com.au

Youtube

 

You can connect with Terry:

Twitter: @tezzabyers

Linkedin

Website: alearnerstoolkit.com.au

 

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter/X: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Linkedin: @brendan-lee-kft

Website: learnwithlee.net

 

Support the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast: 

https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

What do young children really need to understand about numbers? And why do some students struggle so much with maths—even from the very beginning?

In this insightful episode, I’m joined by Professor Daniel Ansari, a leading cognitive neuroscientist whose work has shaped how we understand early mathematical development. We explore what number sense actually is, why symbolic understanding is so important and how to build arithmetic fluency without creating anxiety.

Daniel also unpacks key ideas around subitising, dyscalculia and the role of spatial reasoning in maths success. If you teach in the early years or support students who find maths difficult, this episode is packed with practical insights you can take straight into your classroom.

Tune in for an evidence-based conversation that will empower you to better support every child's mathematical journey, fostering confidence, fluency and a genuine love for maths!

Resources mentioned:

• The Maths Guarantee (Grattan Institute report)
• The Maths Guarantee: A guide for principals (Grattan Institute)
• Assisting Students Struggling with Math (a guide from the Institute of Education Sciences)
• McNeil, N. M., Jordan, N. C., Viegut, A. A., & Ansari, D. (2025). What the science of learning teaches us about arithmetic fluency. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 26(1), 10-57.
• Times Tables Rock Stars
• Stanislas Dehaene's Number Sense
• Chalk and Talk podcast (by Anna Stokke)

You can connect with Daniel:

Twitter: @NumCogLab

Linkedin

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter/X: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Linkedin: @brendan-lee-kft

Website: learnwithlee.net

 

Support the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast: 

https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

About Professor Daniel Ansari

Daniel Ansari is a Professor and Canada Research Chair in Developmental Cognitive
Neuroscience & Learning at Western University. Ansari and his team in the Numerical Cognition Laboratory explore how children develop numerical and mathematical skills and why some children struggle to acquire mathematical skills and knowledge. Ansari and his team are committed to bridging between the Science of Learning and K-12 Classrooms. Ansari is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Advanced Research (CIFAR).

 

🎯 Struggling to know whether to model again or move on?
You’re not alone — and this course is for you.

Effective Primary Maths Teaching is my live, two-day online course designed to help you stop second-guessing and start teaching with clarity and purpose.

Across two highly practical days, I’ll walk you through:
✅ When and why to use explicit instruction, word problems, fluency tasks, and more
✅ How to align your teaching with student readiness
✅ The nuts and bolts of effective daily reviews, worked examples, and fluency practice
✅ A practical framework to help you teach responsively — not reactively

Everything’s grounded in the science of learning, backed by real classroom examples, and designed so you can take action straight away. You’ll leave with a workbook, an action plan, and the confidence to use it all on Monday.

🗓️ Dates:
Day 1 – Monday 4 August 2025 (9am–3pm AET)
Day 2 – Monday 1 September 2025 (9am–3pm AET)
🖥️ Live online (with recordings) | 🧠 10 hours total | 💲 $299

Whether you’re a teacher wanting clarity or a leader building consistency, this is the course people tell me they wish they’d done years ago.

▶️ Register now: events.humanitix.com/effective-primary-maths-teaching

The last one sold out — don’t miss out.

In this episode, I’m joined by Jocelyn Seamer—educational consultant, author, and leading voice in structured literacy—to unpack what effective literacy instruction really looks like in the upper primary years. We dive into how to move beyond levelled texts and strategy-heavy comprehension lessons, and instead build a literacy block grounded in rich texts, explicit instruction, and purposeful writing.

 

Jocelyn shares practical advice on everything from planning with backward design, to teaching spelling through morphology, to managing cognitive load with the “stretchy band” analogy. Whether you’re trying to make sense of guided reading, support struggling readers, or link reading and writing more effectively, this episode is packed with clarity and actionable ideas.

 

Key topics include:

• Replacing levelled texts with rich, age-appropriate reading
• Designing integrated, text-based units that link reading and writing
• Explicit vocabulary and background knowledge instruction
• The role of syntax, spelling, and morphology in building strong writers
• Responsive teaching and avoiding the “dress rehearsal” trap in assessments

 

A must-listen for any Year 3–6 teacher ready to teach literacy with more clarity, purpose, and impact.

Resources mentioned:

• Reading Reconsidered – Doug Lemov
• Five Plagues of the Developing Reader – from Reading Reconsidered
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis
• Velveteen Rabbit – Margery Williams
• Rose Meets Mr. Wintergarten – Bob Graham
• The Lost Thing – Shaun Tan
• Bringing Words to Life – Beck, McKeown & Kucan
• Questioning the Author – Beck, McKeown & Sandora
• DIBELS and Acadience – normed reading screeners
• Motif – free assessments
• Kenn Apel’s morphology assessments
• Jared Cooney Horvath

 

You can connect with Jocelyn:

Linkedin

Facebook: @JocelynSeamerEducation

Youtube: @JocelynSeamerEducation

Podcast: The Structured Literacy Podcast

Website: www.jocelynseamereducation.com/

 

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Website: learnwithlee.net

 

Support the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast: 

https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

 

About 

Jocelyn Seamer is a former teacher, tutor and school leader who has experienced, first-hand, the transformative power of evidence-based practice in literacy instruction. She has led teams to grow and develop school policy and practice to reflect the vast body of evidence that makes up the Science of Reading.

 

Through her own classroom practice and leadership roles in schools, Jocelyn has developed a strong understanding of how you can take simple, yet effective action to get every child on the road to literacy proficiency in the first years of school. Jocelyn feels a very personal responsibility to provide opportunities for classroom teachers to have access to the information and training they need to change children's lives and looks forward to helping you achieve great things in your teaching practice.

 

Read more on Jocelyn Seamer Education.

 

🎯 Struggling to know whether to model again or move on?
You’re not alone — and this course is for you.

Effective Primary Maths Teaching is my live, two-day online course designed to help you stop second-guessing and start teaching with clarity and purpose.

Across two highly practical days, I’ll walk you through:
✅ When and why to use explicit instruction, word problems, fluency tasks, and more
✅ How to align your teaching with student readiness
✅ The nuts and bolts of effective daily reviews, worked examples, and fluency practice
✅ A practical framework to help you teach responsively — not reactively

Everything’s grounded in the science of learning, backed by real classroom examples, and designed so you can take action straight away. You’ll leave with a workbook, an action plan, and the confidence to use it all on Monday.

🗓️ Dates:
Day 1 – Monday 4 August 2025 (9am–3pm AET)
Day 2 – Monday 1 September 2025 (9am–3pm AET)
🖥️ Live online (with recordings) | 🧠 10 hours total | 💲 $299

Whether you’re a teacher wanting clarity or a leader building consistency, this is the course people tell me they wish they’d done years ago.

▶️ Register now: events.humanitix.com/effective-primary-maths-teaching

The last one sold out — don’t miss out.

In this episode of the Knowledge for Teachers podcast, I speak with Amy Haywood and Nick Parkinson, co-authors of the Grattan Institute’s Maths Guarantee report. We unpack what they describe as Australia’s “national problem” with maths underperformance — from the equity gaps to the urgent need for high-quality curriculum materials and teacher support.

Amy and Nick share key findings from their research, including a national teacher survey and international case studies, as well as practical insights from some of Australia’s most effective schools. We dive deep into what explicit instruction really looks like, the power of fluency, and how the instructional hierarchy can help teachers better sequence their maths lessons.

Whether you're a school leader, instructional coach, or passionate teacher, this conversation will leave you with clarity, evidence, and next steps to improve maths teaching in your school.

Resources mentioned:

• The Maths Guarantee (Grattan Institute report)
• The Maths Guarantee: A guide for principals (Grattan Institute)
• Teach Like a Champion – Doug Lemov
• Teaching Primary Mathematics – George Booker
• Eddie Wu
• Craig Barton
• Ochre Education
• PR1ME International
• EAST materials
• Maths Olympiad
• Times Tables Rock Stars
• James Dobson - From Research to Reality: A Primary Maths Resource Toolkit

The schools they visited for case studies were:

• Wattle Grove Primary, a government school in suburban Perth 

• Bentleigh West Primary, a government school in suburban Melbourne 

• Ballarat Clarendon College, an independent school in regional Victoria 

• St Bernard’s Primary, a Catholic school in Batemans Bay on the NSW south coast 

• Charlestown South Public, a government school in Newcastle, NSW 

• The Entrance Public, a government school on the NSW central coast 

• Budgewoi Public, a government school also on the NSW central coast 

The final three schools are part of the Explicit and Systematic Teaching (EAST) network, a grassroots network which exists to champion explicit teaching in NSW government schools

 

You can connect with Amy:

Twitter/X: @Amy_L_Haywood

 

You can connect with Nick:

Twitter/X: @NickJParkinson

 

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter/X: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Website: learnwithlee.net

 

About 

Amy Haywood

Amy Haywood is the Deputy Program Director of Grattan’s Education Program. Amy has a background as an educator and brings this practical experience to her work as an education policy researcher. She is the co-author of several Grattan reports, including Ending the lesson lottery: How to improve curriculum planning in schools, The Reading Guarantee: How to give every child the best chance of success, Spreading success: Why Australia should trial multi-school organisations, and The Maths Guarantee: How to boost students’ learning in primary schools.

Amy taught English in secondary schools for five years. During this time, she presented at statewide teaching conferences and wrote several study guides for Macmillan Education. Before joining Grattan, Amy worked as a manager in Deloitte Access Economics’ Education Policy team, where she led schooling projects focused on system design, workforce reform, and teaching practice.

Amy has a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Teaching from the University of Melbourne. As part of her postgraduate degree, she studied international education policy while on exchange at the University of Oulo in Finland. She is a registered teacher.

 

Nick Parkinson

Nick is a Senior Associate in Grattan’s Education Program, where he has co-authored reports on whole-school curriculum, multi-school organisation, and primary maths. He also contributed to reports on catch-up tutoring and early reading. Through this research, Nick has conducted case studies of nearly 30 leading schools and analysed more than 5,000 teacher survey results.

Nick holds a Master of Teaching from the Melbourne Graduate School of Education. Before studying teaching, Nick completed a Bachelor of Arts and a Diploma of Languages at the University of Melbourne. He is a 2022 Westpac Future Leader.

Before joining Grattan, Nick worked as a consultant at Nous Group where he contributed to projects on school culture, student assessment, and occupational safety.

Support the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast: 

https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

 

🎯 Struggling to know whether to model again or move on?
You’re not alone — and this course is for you.

Effective Primary Maths Teaching is my live, two-day online course designed to help you stop second-guessing and start teaching with clarity and purpose.

Across two highly practical days, I’ll walk you through:
✅ When and why to use explicit instruction, word problems, fluency tasks, and more
✅ How to align your teaching with student readiness
✅ The nuts and bolts of effective daily reviews, worked examples, and fluency practice
✅ A practical framework to help you teach responsively — not reactively

Everything’s grounded in the science of learning, backed by real classroom examples, and designed so you can take action straight away. You’ll leave with a workbook, an action plan, and the confidence to use it all on Monday.

🗓️ Dates:
Day 1 – Monday 4 August 2025 (9am–3pm AET)
Day 2 – Monday 1 September 2025 (9am–3pm AET)
🖥️ Live online (with recordings) | 🧠 10 hours total | 💲 $299

Whether you’re a teacher wanting clarity or a leader building consistency, this is the course people tell me they wish they’d done years ago.

▶️ Register now: events.humanitix.com/effective-primary-maths-teaching

The last one sold out — don’t miss out.

 

In this episode of Knowledge for Teachers, Brendan Lee sits down with Mandy Nayton — CEO of the Dyslexia-SPELD Foundation and president of AUSPELD — for a deep and timely conversation about how students really learn to read.

Mandy draws on decades of experience to unpack what the science of reading actually is (and what it isn’t), why explicit instruction matters, and how effective intervention can change the trajectory for struggling students.

They explore key frameworks like the Simple View of Reading, Scarborough’s Reading Rope, and the Cognitive Foundations Framework — and dig into DSF’s new Word Origins program, designed to transform how spelling is taught in Years 3–6 by building deep morphological and etymological knowledge.

Whether you're just starting to explore structured literacy or you're leading change in your school, this conversation is packed with insight, clarity, and practical takeaways.

 

🎧 Listen now and explore how teacher knowledge is the most powerful tool we have to improve literacy outcomes.

Resources mentioned:

Word Origins

Literacy Frameworks & Models

• Simple View of Reading (Gough & Tunmer)
• Scarborough’s Reading Rope
• Cognitive Foundations Framework (Hoover & Tunmer)
• Dehaene’s Four Pillars of Learning

Instructional & Program Resources

• DSF’s Word Origins Program
• Direct Instruction Phonics Manual

Others

• Kathy Rastle
• National Reading Panel (2000)
• Reid Lyon
• John Hattie

 

You can connect with Mandy:

Twitter/X: @mandynayton

Facebook: @dyslexiaspeld

Linkedin

Website: https://dsf.net.au/

 

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Website: learnwithlee.net

 

Support the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast: 

https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast