Primary Points of Departure will certainly help teachers provide stimulating challenges and investigations to stretch junior pupils. This selection of 70 starting points for investigative work is easy to read and designed for work with individuals or small groups, either as the pieces stand or with adaptation. Most starting points provide some scope for differentiation, for example, by adjusting the complexity of numbers involved.

Oxford Reading Tree: Maths Photocopy Masters A-C.

Oxford University Press Pounds 17 each.

These books of photocopiable materials support mathematical skills in the first months of school. Characters from the reading scheme provide a very friendly and familiar context for work on counting, numbers, pattern, measures, data handling and shape. If you don’t use ORT, the materials stand perfectly well on their own, while fans will appreciate the uncluttered and minimal text as well as the visual style. The language level and maths content progress from books A to C, as does the degree of independent recording. Early work involves matching and reinforcement recognition exercises. Materials for older children include open-ended number work and a wide-range of question modes.

Integrating Calculators into the Curriculum.

BEAM (0171-457 5535) Pounds 19.50.

This book of in-service materials comes at a crossroads in the calculator’s history. The use of such newfangled devices was boosted by the 1986 Cockcroft Report. A decade on, this book engages teachers in considering how to ensure that understanding and methodology are not marginalised by instant answers. The exposition of how teachers can help children grasp fundamentals (place value, estimation, verification) is timely, whatever the eventual outcome of the “buttons versus brains” debate.

Omnifix.

Philip Tacey (01264 332171) Pounds 15.

Finding new ways to teach concepts and functions such as spatial relationships, pattern building, area and volume and fractions, is always a tall order. Educational supplier Philip Tacey has developed what it believes to be the answer: Omnifix. These are plastic cubes that can be fitted together in any combination to construct simple or complex structures. Because it is flexible and tactile, it encourages children to experiment. The starter kit has cubes, activity cards and teacher’s notes.