Having chosen a career of teaching maths at secondary school level, it was decided to undertake a research project which would be relevant to this, and also have some practical value. Thus, I approached the head of the maths departments at both Riccarton High School and Burnside High School in Christchurch asking for their ideas for a research project topic. They were both of the opinion that there were several students each year entering the sixth form with little knowledge of basic algebraic manipulation as taught at fifth form level. This included such problems as linear and quadratic equations, and simplifying equations. This greatly handicapped the student as this was assumed knowledge, and a basis for much of the sixth form syllabus.