About NRICH: Meet the Team

Project Aims | What we do | Meet the team | Location | Site statistics | Endorsement | Supporting NRICH | Research | Evaluations

Jennifer Piggott
Project Director
Jennifer was appointed as a lecturer in mathematics enrichment and communications technology and the project director of NRICH in October 2001. Jennifer started her career teaching maths in secondary comprehensive schools. Her career has included periods as a head of mathematics, an advisory teacher and an ICT coordinator. She has taught training teachers on post graduate and undergraduate courses. Her aims for NRICH are to widen participation in mathematics through encouraging inquisitiveness, sharing passions and fostering enjoyment. Her research interests include investigations into the nature of mathematics enrichment and the role of online resources in supporting it.

My blog: http://jenniferpiggott.wordpress.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/JennyPiggott

Liz Woodham

Primary Coordinator

Liz graduated with a degree in Natural Sciences at Cambridge and then enjoyed eight months living on an island in Lake Malawi attempting to teach English, Music and PE to local children. Following a PGCE, Liz was a primary school teacher in north London before joining the NRICH team. Her role as Primary Coordinator involves working as part of a team to develop primary-level materials for the website and to run associated teacher professional development. Liz is a member of the joint MA ATM primary subcommittee and is on ATM General Council.

Charlie Gilderdale

Secondary Coordinator

Charlie has taught mathematics in three local comprehensive schools, including a stint as a Head of Department. During the last 18 years he has been working at the University of Cambridge, initially in the Faculty of Education training new secondary mathematics teachers and more recently as a member of the Millennium Mathematics Project contributing to the NRICH website and working in schools with students and teachers. His recent work has focussed on problem solving and on creating opportunities for learning mathematics through exploration and discussion. Charlie has co-ordinated the STIMULUS peer assisted learning project and has acted as a consultant to the HeyMath! project since its inception.

Steve Hewson

Post-16 Coordinator

Steve works part time for the NRICH project developing Key Stage 5 problems and resources, with a current focus on the school-university transition and the mathematics underlying STEM subjects. He also works as an independent consultant mathematician and writer. Prior to working for NRICH, Steve was a secondary mathematics teacher, worked in the city as a financial modeller and researched string theory and black holes at Cambridge University, where he studied mathematics as an undergraduate. Steve is particularly interested in helping to provide a rich and stimulating mathematical experience for 6th formers.

Bernard Bagnall

Primary Teacher Associate

Bernard has been teaching in Primary Schools since the early sixties and became the Mathematics Advisory teacher in Suffolk in the eighties. Since leaving full time teaching he has worked part time in Teacher Training and has run many courses for able pupils. He has a passion for investigational mathematics and started Bernard's Bag on the NRICH site. Bernard is now an author for NRICH, helping Liz to develop the primary material.

Alison Kiddle

Secondary Teacher Associate

Alison graduated with a degree in maths from Cambridge and became a teacher to share her view that maths can be useful, beautiful and a great deal of fun. After a five year period in schools in Peterborough and Hertfordshire, converting young people to her views about maths, Alison joined the NRICH team in January 2009 where her main focus is developing Key Stage 4 material.

Toni Beardon

Post 16 Teacher Associate

Toni was one of the founders and the first Director of the NRICH Project. She saw an online club as a means of extending opportunities for enrichment and extra-curricular mathematics to the widest possible group of young people when she set up NRICH in 1996 and piloted MOTIVATE in 1997. NRICH complements the activities of the Cambridge STIMULUS Project which she set up in 1987, and also of the Royal Institution Mathematics Masterclasses around the UK. Toni is now working to set up an outreach project in Africa modelled on the MMP. See http://aimssec.aims.ac.za. Toni has moved back and forth between school and university teaching over the last four decades. She has taught mathematics in several comprehensive schools. She set up a 2 year PGCE in the then Cambridge University Department of Education. Her research interests include peer education and the impact of communication technology on learning and teaching mathematics. For her work in mathematics education she was awarded the O.B.E. in 2003.

Emma McCaughan

Ask Nrich Coordinator

Emma McCaughan moderates the Ask NRICH web-board. She works very part-time for NRICH, alongside looking after her young daughter and tutoring for the Open University. She is an experienced secondary school maths teacher.

Jenny Murray

Primary Author

Jenny taught in several Primary Schools, went into Teacher Education and then back into school again. Although she started with a History degree she slowly became involved in Maths Education, taking various qualifications in the subject and finally an Open University degree. Jenny is now an author for NRICH, mainly devising problems for those whose mathematical knowledge is at the primary school level.

Mike Pearson

Head of Technical Dept

Mike graduated from Cambridge with a maths degree, and then decided to be a teacher. He taught maths in Netherhall School, Cambridge. However, he was led astray from this noble calling by the exciting prospect of developing microprocessor controllers for washing machines and train sets. Further relapses followed, until in 1983, Mike found himself with the unlikely job title of European Marketing Program Manager for Board and Networking Products for Texas Instruments. Ever onwards and upwards, Mike programmed his way, via a project to paint Volvo 340s (thirteen layers of paint and they still go rusty!) to... to... a very pleasant career as a sculptor, shepherd, and dad. And although once again he wandered from the good life, lured by the riches to be gained in analysing the impact of the internet on Deutsche Telekom and BT networks, Mike is now safely building web sites.