Making Thinking Visible: Oracy at Every Stage of a Maths Lesson with Mike Gardner

Oracy is set to play a central role in England’s refreshed curriculum, but for many teachers it still feels abstract or confined to English lessons. In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon Cripwell is joined by Mike Gardner to explore what oracy actually looks like in a real maths lesson.

Together, they deconstruct a lesson from start to finish, showing how purposeful talk can strengthen learning at every stage, not as an add-on, but as a core part of effective maths teaching.

Mike draws on over 13 years of classroom experience across Nursery to Year 6, as well as his current role supporting teachers across 13 schools, to share practical, low-effort strategies that teachers can use immediately.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why oracy matters in maths
• How talk supports thinking, reasoning and understanding, and why it is increasingly prominent in curriculum reform.
• The warm-up and starter
• Using short, verbal routines to engage pupils, build fluency and transition productively into maths learning.
• Retrieval through talk
• Moving beyond hands-up questioning to strategies like odd one out, partner explanation and shared reasoning.
• Teacher modelling and thinking aloud
• Making mathematical thinking visible by verbalising decision-making, misconceptions and self-correction.
• Stem sentences and choral repetition
• How repeated language builds schema, confidence and mathematical precision.
• Pupil practice with purpose
• Using structures such as Rally Coach to deepen understanding without increasing workload.
• Formative assessment through listening
• Why hearing pupils explain their thinking often tells us more than written answers alone.
• Exit tickets that reveal understanding
• Creative approaches such as misconceptions, forbidden words and verbal reflection.

Throughout the episode, Mike and Jon return to a central idea: the goal is not more talk, but better talk. Talk that helps pupils organise their thinking, use mathematical language accurately, and understand the “why”, not just the “how”.

About the guest

Mike Gardner is an experienced primary teacher and Teaching and Learning Lead across the Maritime Academy Trust. Having taught across the full primary age range, he now works alongside leaders and teachers in 13 schools to develop high-quality classroom practice, with a particular focus on oracy and its impact on learning, wellbeing and social mobility. Mike is also the author of Voices of Opportunity, published by Routledge in 2026.