Why Stories Might Be The Missing Piece In Maths Lessons - with Hannah Allison

What happens when maths lessons start with a story rather than a method?

In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon Cripwell is joined by Hannah Allison from Maths Outside the Box to explore the role of stories in primary maths teaching. Drawing on her background in the arts and her experience as a maths leader, Hannah explains how narrative, character and context can help pupils engage more deeply with mathematical ideas.

Together, Jon and Hannah discuss what maths through stories actually looks like in practice, and how storybooks can be used as a meaningful starting point, a way to deepen understanding, or a reflective consolidation lesson rather than a bolt-on activity. They explore the difference between maths picture books and true maths storybooks, and why that distinction matters for learning.

The conversation also looks at engagement beyond entertainment, including how stories support talk, oracy and mathematical sense-making, particularly for pupils who feel anxious or disconnected from maths. Hannah shares practical classroom examples, including how storybooks can create low-threshold, high-ceiling tasks that invite curiosity, discussion and sustained thinking.

Jon and Hannah also grapple with real-world constraints such as time, workload and schemes of work, discussing how story-based maths can sit alongside structured programmes without becoming an additional burden for teachers.

This episode is a thoughtful exploration of how stories can help move maths lessons from something pupils watch to something they actively do.

Guest Bio

Hannah Allison is a primary school teacher and Maths Lead, who founded Maths Outside The Box in 2024 to support other leaders who wanted to find creativity in their Maths delivery. Since launching as a resource-based platform specialising in teaching Maths through stories, she now delivers CPD & INSET sessions in teaching Maths through stories, cross-curricular Maths planning and financial education both online and in-person. Her mission is to engage more children in the subject through creative and exciting lessons, connection to 'real-life' maths and through a problem-solving approach.

Links

website: MathsOutsidetheBox.com

email: Hannah@mathsoutsidethebox.com

instagram, tiktok and facebook: @mathsoutsidethebox

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(85)

Who Decided How Long a Metre Is? AfterMaths Summer Special 3

Who decided how long a metre should be? Why is a mile 1,760 yards? And what connects the French Revolution, an expedition from Dunkirk to Barcelona and the speed of light?In this AfterMaths Summer Spe...

7 Aug 22min

The Probability Problems That Make Your Brain Hurt - AfterMaths Summer Special 2 2026

Probability often feels as though it should be intuitive, right up until the mathematics tells us that our instincts are completely wrong.In this AfterMaths Summer Special, Jon and Becky explore the s...

31 Jul 30min

Why Do Summer Holidays Feel Shorter As We Get Older? Summer Special 1 2026

Why did the six-week summer holiday feel endless when we were children, yet now seems to disappear almost as soon as it begins?In the first of the 2026 Aftermaths Summer Specials, Jon and Becky explor...

28 Jul 29min

KS2 SATs Results, AI and Outsourcing Mathematical Thinking

What do this year’s KS2 SATs results really tell us about primary maths—and what might they be hiding?Jon and Becky examine the newly released national data, including the rise in maths attainment, th...

17 Jul 37min

Teaching in a Heatwave and is there a Place for Maths Hacks?

In this episode of the Primary Maths Podcast, Jon and Becky ask whether we need to change the way we teach maths during a heatwave.With classrooms getting hotter and the end of term in sight, they exp...

10 Jul 30min

World Cup Maths, Equity and Oracy in the Primary Classroom

World Cup Maths, Equity and Oracy in the Primary ClassroomIn this episode of the Primary Maths Podcast, Jon and Becky talk end-of-year school chaos, transition days, classroom moves, and the strange j...

3 Jul 33min

Escape Rooms and Problem Solving (AfterMaths)

In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon and Becky reflect on the realities of summer term: heatwaves, report writing, and the heroic act of trying to teach when everyone is melting.They then...

26 Jun 37min

What We Can Learn from This Year’s Maths SATs?

In this aftermaths episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon and Becky take a look back at this year’s KS2 maths SATs papers and ask what teachers and maths leads might learn from them.They discuss wh...

18 Jun 33min