School stories
Airlie Primary School
Airlie Primary School near Kirriemuir, Angus, has 60 pupils. The teaching head discusses problem solving at the school and her P6/P7 pupils follow a critical thinking approach in a problem solving lesson.
Balfron Primary School
The principal deputy headteacher and two class teachers frrom Balfron Primary School in Stirling talk about problem solving at the school. P7 pupils work in groups in a problem solving class and P2/P3 pupils practise ‘Making an organised list’.
Bishopmill Primary School
The headteacher and the P3/P4 teacher from Bishopmill Primary School in Elgin talk about problem solving at the school. P3/P4 pupils follow a structured ‘traffic lights’ approach to solving problems.
Borgue Primary School
Borgue Primary School, near Kircudbright in Dumfries and Galloway, has two classes. The teaching head discusses the investigative approach to problem solving at the school and his P4/P7 pupils are given a lesson on problem solving, based on investigating fractions.
Capshard Primary School
The headteacher, a P6 and a P3 teacher from Capshard Primary School in Kirkcaldy, talk about problem solving at the school. P3 pupils work with multilink cubes and P6 pupils work in pairs in a problem solving lesson.
George Heriot’s Junior School
The deputy head and three teachers from George Heriot’s Junior School in Edinburgh, talk about the problem solving and thinking skills programmes at the school. P7 girls go into the playground to try the ‘Act out the situation’ strategy, another group of P7 pupils selects problems from FunMaths boxes and a P2 group has a thinking skills lesson.
Grange Primary School
The deputy head and two teachers from Grange Primary School near Dundee discuss problem solving at the school. P2 pupils work with Compare Bears and P5 pupils carry out an open-ended investigation.
Harris Academy
The principal teacher of maths and a maths teacher from Harris Academy in Dundee talk about problem solving at the school. S2 pupils try out Cognitive Acceleration in Mathematics Education (CAME) materials for the first time.
The High School of Glasgow Junior School
The headteacher and three teachers from The High School of Glasgow Junior School discuss problem solving at the school. Junior 2 pupils ‘Look for a pattern’, Junior 4 pupils solve a problem using the ‘Guess, check and improve’ strategy and pupils in Junior 6 try a problem from the 'Working together' scheme.
Howwood Primary School
The headteacher and the P4/P5/P6 teacher from Howwood Primary School in Renfrewshire talk about problem solving at the school. P4/P5/P6 pupils try a Terrapin Logo activity on the computer.
Invergowrie Primary School
The deputy head and a P2 teacher from Invergowrie Primary School in Perth and Kinross discuss problem solving at the school. P2 pupils use a ‘Working together’ strategy during an exercise based on 'Elimination'.
Newington Primary School
The deputy head and the P7 teacher from Newington Primary School in Annan, Dumfries and Galloway, talk about problem solving at the school. P7 pupils work through a problem sheet on their own.
Pitlochry High School
The principal teacher of maths at Pitlochry High School discusses the school’s new problem solving programme. S1 pupils work through problems choosing an appropriate strategy and use fun puzzles at the end of the lesson.
Port Glasgow High School
The principal teacher of maths and a maths teacher from Port Glasgow High School discuss the school’s problem solving programme. S1 pupils use Cognitive Acceleration in Mathematics Education (CAME) material.
St Andrew’s Primary School
The headteacher and three teachers from St Andrew’s Primary School in Airdrie discuss the school’s problem solving programme and its cooperative learning approach. P5, P6 and P7 pupils do group building exercises before working in groups on different problems.
St Matthew’s Primary School
The headteacher and three teachers from St Matthew’s Primary School in Kilmarnock discuss the problem solving programme at the school. P1 pupils have a problem solving lesson, P4 pupils work in groups using super solutions boards and P6 pupils are asked for the first time to choose an appropriate strategy to solve a problem.
St Mungo’s Academy
The former maths coordinator for St Mungo’s Learning Community in Glasgow and the deputy headteacher discuss the problem solving programme at the school. S2 pupils are challenged to find a winning strategy for the game noughts and crosses.
Urafirth Primary School
The teaching head and the P1/P4 teacher from Urafirth Primary School on Shetland talk about the school’s problem solving programme. Younger pupils have a thinking skills lesson and solve a problem in technology. P5/P7 pupils follow a structured approach to problem solving.
Wemyss Bay Primary School
The deputy head and two teachers from Wemyss Bay Primary School in Inverclyde talk about the problem solving programme at the school. P4 pupils carry out an open-ended investigation and P6/P7 pupils encounter problem solving in a technology lesson.