Our Story
Why we exist
It began with a conversation. Or rather... it began with hundreds of them.
"I'm no good at maths."
"I've always hated maths."
"I don't think I'll ever pass."
Almost every learner I met started by saying the same thing. At first, I thought they were talking about mathematics. The longer I taught, the more I realised they weren't. They were talking about themselves. They had come to believe that mathematics simply wasn't for them. That belief was often a bigger obstacle than the mathematics itself.
Those conversations changed the way I thought about teaching mathematics. I began to realise that before I could teach mathematics, I sometimes needed to help learners believe they could learn it.
That simple realisation became the beginning of Making Maths Make Sense.
More than mathematics
People often assume that I teach maths. Of course I do!
But maths is only part of the story, what really interests me is understanding what gets in the way when people try to learn maths — and finding ways to help them move beyond those barriers. Sometimes that means building confidence, sometimes it means changing the explanation, sometimes it means changing the way the maths is presented and sometimes it means simply giving a learner the time and space to think! Because once a learner begins to understand what is getting in the way, learning does becomes possible.
Helping them replace:
"I can't!" with "Maybe I can!"
Helping them move from:
"I can't!" to "Maybe I can."
and ultimately to:
"I know how to start."
Helping them move from:
"I can't!" to "Maybe I can!"
and ultimately to:
"I know how to start."
Because once all this begins to happen, learning does becomes possible. Again and again, I've seen learners achieve things they once thought were impossible. Not because they suddenly became "good at maths", but because they found a way into the maths that made sense to them - finding their way into, through and beyond maths.
Meet Angela
I'm Angela. I've spent many years teaching functional skills maths in a wide range of settings, and working with learners from many different backgrounds. Along the way, my learners have taught me something I never expected. They have taught me that the greatest barriers to learning maths are often not mathematical at all.
All of these experiences have led me to explore these questions through academic research, first through my Bachelor's degree and later through my Master's degree. My research, alongside years of teaching and continuing professional development, has led me to explore the relationship between psychology and mathematical learning.
Today, everything I do — whether I'm teaching, writing books or developing new resources — is guided by one simple question:
What is your relationship with maths?
Looking forward
Maths Your Way continues to grow.
New books and resources are being developed, the Maths Your Way Diagnostic and Learner Journey were developed to help learners understand where they are starting, identify what they need to work on and take greater ownership of their learning.
The forthcoming book, The Psychology of Maths, explores many of the questions that first emerged through conversations with learners and my own research and teaching.
One thing remains unchanged though: Everyone can learn maths when they find the explanation that makes sense to them.
Thank you
Thank you for taking the time to read our story.
I hope it helps explain not only what we do, but why we care so deeply about doing it.
If you've ever believed maths wasn't for you...
I'd love the opportunity to help you discover that perhaps you are not the problem, that maths isn't the problem — perhaps you simply haven't yet found the way into it that makes sense to you.
Give us the opportunity to help you find your way into, through and beyond maths.
Psychology of Maths:
🔍 What your brain is doing
When you do maths, your brain has to hold information in working memory while also deciding which steps to use. This can feel overwhelming if too many things happen at once. Writing steps down helps reduce this load and makes the process easier to manage.
What is your relationship with maths?
Perhaps today is the beginning of a new answer.