Welsh schools have greater autonomy than those in England to decide on how Maths is taught. LA adviser John Rawlings has been working with Maths consultant Richard Dunne and class teacher Pamela Morgan to revolutionize the teaching of decimals. We eavesdrop on the fifth lesson. Pamela has year 4/5 and is trialling a system where the vocabulary of decimals and the relationship to vulgar fractions is emphasized. Firstly they revise how 1/10, 0.1, .10, and one tenth have the 'same value' but a 'different appearance'. There is a debate about the difference between .12 and 1.2 when expressed in tenths. Group work follows where pupils take a number and break it into its component parts. Again the vocabulary of Maths is emphasised as thousandths are introduced. Finally, pupils work in groups to add three decimal place numbers. Some groups subtract also, which involves what they call 'funny counting', carrying across one hundredth to make ten thousandths to make a subtraction possible.

Video Series: KS1/2 Maths
Release Date 2006