S03E10 - Grattan Institute’s Maths Guarantee Report with Amy Haywood & Nick Parkinson

In this episode of the Knowledge for Teachers podcast, I speak with Amy Haywood and Nick Parkinson, co-authors of the Grattan Institute’s Maths Guarantee report. We unpack what they describe as Australia’s “national problem” with maths underperformance — from the equity gaps to the urgent need for high-quality curriculum materials and teacher support.

Amy and Nick share key findings from their research, including a national teacher survey and international case studies, as well as practical insights from some of Australia’s most effective schools. We dive deep into what explicit instruction really looks like, the power of fluency, and how the instructional hierarchy can help teachers better sequence their maths lessons.

Whether you're a school leader, instructional coach, or passionate teacher, this conversation will leave you with clarity, evidence, and next steps to improve maths teaching in your school.

Resources mentioned:

• The Maths Guarantee (Grattan Institute report)
• The Maths Guarantee: A guide for principals (Grattan Institute)
• Teach Like a Champion – Doug Lemov
• Teaching Primary Mathematics – George Booker
• Eddie Wu
• Craig Barton
• Ochre Education
• PR1ME International
• EAST materials
• Maths Olympiad
• Times Tables Rock Stars
• James Dobson - From Research to Reality: A Primary Maths Resource Toolkit

The schools they visited for case studies were:

• Wattle Grove Primary, a government school in suburban Perth 

• Bentleigh West Primary, a government school in suburban Melbourne 

• Ballarat Clarendon College, an independent school in regional Victoria 

• St Bernard’s Primary, a Catholic school in Batemans Bay on the NSW south coast 

• Charlestown South Public, a government school in Newcastle, NSW 

• The Entrance Public, a government school on the NSW central coast 

• Budgewoi Public, a government school also on the NSW central coast 

The final three schools are part of the Explicit and Systematic Teaching (EAST) network, a grassroots network which exists to champion explicit teaching in NSW government schools

 

You can connect with Amy:

Twitter/X: @Amy_L_Haywood

 

You can connect with Nick:

Twitter/X: @NickJParkinson

 

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter/X: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Website: learnwithlee.net

 

About 

Amy Haywood

Amy Haywood is the Deputy Program Director of Grattan’s Education Program. Amy has a background as an educator and brings this practical experience to her work as an education policy researcher. She is the co-author of several Grattan reports, including Ending the lesson lottery: How to improve curriculum planning in schools, The Reading Guarantee: How to give every child the best chance of success, Spreading success: Why Australia should trial multi-school organisations, and The Maths Guarantee: How to boost students’ learning in primary schools.

Amy taught English in secondary schools for five years. During this time, she presented at statewide teaching conferences and wrote several study guides for Macmillan Education. Before joining Grattan, Amy worked as a manager in Deloitte Access Economics’ Education Policy team, where she led schooling projects focused on system design, workforce reform, and teaching practice.

Amy has a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Teaching from the University of Melbourne. As part of her postgraduate degree, she studied international education policy while on exchange at the Un