Three different 'think of a number' activities for pupils to work through, be amazed by, and then investigate the algebra.

Two lists of free iPad Apps to help with maths - one for pupils and one for teachers. The list for pupils groups apps by categories (e.g. graphs, fractions), the list for teachers includes administrative apps too. Compiled 2015 - let me know if you've anything new to add!

A group activity to practice using bearings. Each group designs a route (choosing how many paces and how many bearings for each leg of the journey) then swaps with another group to see if they can follow the given route. Each group will need a compass (or compass app on phone).

Two Power Point slides of lesson starters for Distance Speed Time. The first involves reading a timetable, converting the time from hours and minutes to hours, then finding a speed (and for advanced pupils thinking about why the speed is so slow). The second will take longer and involves converting m/s to km/h, then an extended question about a boat journey which involves a few calculations then drawing a distance-time graph. Solutions included on the Power Points.

Pupils add fractions by shading squares. Simple at first, but gradually they build up to understanding why for example 1/2 + 1/3 = 5/6 Good for lower ability classes who benefit from a visual representation

Some not very exciting but essential practice, with increasingly difficult questions such as - 1/4 of 24 - two thirds of 12 - increase £20 by a fifth - find two fifths of £11 - decrease £9.99 by a tenth

Three Power Point slides with (fairly) easy questions on capitals, currencies, and shapes of countries.

A fun Power Point about Rowan Hamilton's discovery of Quaternions. There are no actual formulas given here (just a hint that it's about 4D space), the point of the presentation is just that he had a brain wave while crossing a bridge and carved it into the bridge. Can be used with a junior class talking about 'inspiration' or a more senior class who know about complex numbers if you want to go into the actual equations of quaternions.

Tired of your usual lesson starters? These six Power Points are on - how old are you in seconds - using coins - a famous question solved by Gauss - penguins - pandas - temperature in the UK and US

A series of seven Power Points with collections of questions that appear one at a time on the following topics: - adding (e.g. 20p add 50p) - which is bigger (pictures of coins) - count (counting coins) - divide (quarter of 80p) - how many coins (needed to make 13p) - multiply (2 x 29 pence) - subtract (£1 minus 45 pence)

A short guide for how to create a Google Survey, which I have been using for pupils to fill in their exam feedback.

Powerpoints with two example timetables (Glasgow to Belfast and Glasgow to Cornwall) and accompanying questions

A series of pictures of the same school (Mearns Castle in Scotland) taken from further and further away. For each picture pupils have to work out which is the correct scale.

A chance for pupils to put their Pythagoras knowledge to the test! They measure a few distances indoors (e.g. their jotters) and check then check if the diagonal is the length they expected by Pythagoras. Then they go outside the classroom and measure some distances in feet (their own feet) or paces.

Two sets of questions with solutions on - types of angle - measuring and drawing angles - rotation and line symmetry

Two sets of worksheets with solutions on - everyday uses of negative numbers - adding and subtracting negative numbers - ordering negative numbers

Two sets of worksheets with solutions on - recognising and drawing fractions - finding simple fractions of an amount - simplifying fractions - equivalent fractions And one further worksheet with more routine practice, plus a Power Point with some simple questions

Two sets of questions with answers on: - function machines - forming and solving simple equations - simplifying expressions - substitution

How much does a squirrel weigh? Use the scales to find out! This is a nice way to introduce algebra equations. Each seesaw is perfectly in balance, which leads to a simple equation to find the weight of an animal. This is very intuitive and pupils will have no trouble 'seeing' the first few, then will need to start using algebra to solve the harder ones. Answers provided.

A worksheet of simple maths problems aimed at 11+ year olds, which mostly involve fractions plus a bit of angles