Children learning mathematics in the primary school is fraught with difficulty. Maths can be easily misunderstood and misconceptions can quickly develop. This document lists common misconceptions and misunderstandings that a teacher of primary mathematics may encounter in the the children they teach. It will suggest ways to address and avoid these.

Children learning about numbers and amounts is fraught with difficulty. Maths can be easily misunderstood and misconceptions can quickly develop. This document lists common misconceptions and misunderstandings that a teacher of the Early Years Foundation Stage may encounter in the the children they teach. It will suggest ways to address and avoid these.

This document describes how to play the Exchange game. It is aimed at Year 2 and Year 3 but can be used with any children who are struggling to understand how to exchange ten ones for one ten when using a formal method for addition or are finding the reverse tricky when trying to understand decomposition for subtraction. The children are taught the game in a maths lesson and then would play it every day for a few days (perhaps as a warm-up to subsequent maths lessons or as a settling in task after lunch or as morning work).

Mathematical language is crucial to children’s development of thinking. Teachers and teaching assistants need to ensure that their own knowledge of vocabulary and technical language is appropriate for the age they are teaching. Children need to have experience of hearing mathematical words being used regularly and ‘naturally’ by the adults they learn with as it is the first crucial step to being able to use new language. It is recommended that all adult practitioners are given a copy of the vocabulary lists to be able to refer to them when planning and delivering lessons as well as to hone unplanned talk and interactions with children. This list is an indication of the year group content for vocabulary in year 6. (There are companion vocabulary lists for all other year groups.)

I have created this resource to help with learning to subitise images for EYFS that develop the ability to discuss and prove the properties of numbers. I have called it ‘Monics’ as I see it as a mathematical phonics programme. The idea is that the tasks would happen nearly every day for up to ten minutes. Children love to do these activities and, over time, they develop visualisation and the ability to create a proof which are underpinning skills for Reasoning and mental calculation. The document also shows which images and ideas link with which episodes from the Number Blocks TV series. This resource will undoubtedly improve your children’s mathematical thinking!

This document will help you to decide if any of your pupils who grasp concepts rapidly are also working at Greater Depth. It includes descriptors of what Greater Depth thinking in mathematics could look like. It also includes examples and links to the NCETM Mastery and assessment in mathematics booklets.

There are some elements of maths which are best learned by distributed practice, referring to it at regular intervals over time. Acquiring mathematical language is one of those elements. Regular experience of measurement is another. Developing mathematical habits to promote thinking like a mathematician is a third. This document lists examples of these three elements for Primary Schools. Remember, maths is something that shouldn’t just be experienced or learned in mathematics lessons!

Calling all mathematics subject leaders: Here is a progression document for Key Stage 2 mathematics. It shows how each requirement of the mathematics national curriculum develops from one year group to another. It will help you to map maths development across KS2 (there is a companion document entitled ‘Progression between EYFS & Y2 - maths’)

Here is the first story in my sequence of stories aimed at year 2 based around a group of children who are always noticing and wondering about maths. There are seven of them in total. They will help teachers to plan a progression through their units of work.

Mathematical language is crucial to children’s development of thinking. Teachers and teaching assistants need to ensure that their own knowledge of vocabulary and technical language is appropriate for the age they are teaching. Children need to have experience of hearing mathematical words being used regularly and ‘naturally’ by the adults they learn with as it is the first crucial step to being able to use new language. It is recommended that all adult practitioners are given a copy of the vocabulary lists to be able to refer to them when planning and delivering lessons as well as to hone unplanned talk and interactions with children. This list is an indication of the year group content for vocabulary in year 2. (There are companion vocabulary lists for all other year groups.)

Mathematical language is crucial to children’s development of thinking. Teachers and teaching assistants need to ensure that their own knowledge of vocabulary and technical language is appropriate for the age they are teaching. Children need to have experience of hearing mathematical words being used regularly and ‘naturally’ by the adults they learn with as it is the first crucial step to being able to use new language. It is recommended that all adult practitioners are given a copy of the vocabulary lists to be able to refer to them when planning and delivering lessons as well as to hone unplanned talk and interactions with children. This list is an indication of the year group content for vocabulary in year 3. (There are companion vocabulary lists for all other year groups.)

Mathematical language is crucial to children’s development of thinking. Teachers and teaching assistants need to ensure that their own knowledge of vocabulary and technical language is appropriate for the age they are teaching. Children need to have experience of hearing mathematical words being used regularly and ‘naturally’ by the adults they learn with as it is the first crucial step to being able to use new language. It is recommended that all adult practitioners are given a copy of the vocabulary lists to be able to refer to them when planning and delivering lessons as well as to hone unplanned talk and interactions with children. This list is an indication of the year group content for vocabulary in year 1. (There are companion vocabulary lists for all other year groups.)

Calling all mathematics subject leaders: Here is a progression document for EYFS and KS1 mathematics. It shows how each requirement of the mathematics national curriculum develops from Year 1 to Year 2 and also links it with the EYFS. It will help you to map maths development across EYFS and KS1 (there is a companion document entitled ‘Progression across KS2 - maths’)

Mathematical language is crucial to children’s development of thinking. Teachers and teaching assistants need to ensure that their own knowledge of vocabulary and technical language is appropriate for the age they are teaching. Children need to have experience of hearing mathematical words being used regularly and ‘naturally’ by the adults they learn with as it is the first crucial step to being able to use new language. It is recommended that all adult practitioners are given a copy of the vocabulary lists to be able to refer to them when planning and delivering lessons as well as to hone unplanned talk and interactions with children. This list is an indication of the year group content for vocabulary in year 5. (There are companion vocabulary lists for all other year groups.)

Mathematical language is crucial to children’s development of thinking. Teachers and teaching assistants need to ensure that their own knowledge of vocabulary and technical language is appropriate for the age they are teaching. Children need to have experience of hearing mathematical words being used regularly and ‘naturally’ by the adults they learn with as it is the first crucial step to being able to use new language. It is recommended that all adult practitioners are given a copy of the vocabulary lists to be able to refer to them when planning and delivering lessons as well as to hone unplanned talk and interactions with children. This list is an indication of the year group content for vocabulary in year 4. (There are companion vocabulary lists for all other year groups.)

Do you want ideas for daily counting? This document lists the progression in daily counting from years 1 to year 6. It links with mathematics national curriculum for England.

This document helpfully shows examples of place value work from children’s maths books to help you to plan for tasks and lessons as well as to be used to compare with your own children’s performance. It summarises the key aspects of age-related expectations for numbers and place value in year 1. It will support Year 1 teachers with ARE as well as teachers of older age-group groups with tracking back and catching-up.

This document helpfully shows examples of place value work from children’s maths books to help you to plan for tasks and lessons as well as to be used to compare with your own children’s performance. It summarises the key aspects of age-related expectations for numbers and place value in year 3. It will support Year 3 teachers with ARE as well as teachers of older age-group groups with tracking back and catching-up.

This document helpfully shows examples of place value work from children’s maths books to help you to plan for tasks and lessons as well as to be used to compare with your own children’s performance. It summarises the key aspects of age-related expectations for numbers and place value in year 4. It will support Year 4 teachers with ARE as well as teachers of older age-group groups with tracking back and catching-up.

These worksheets complement the NCETM Spine materials for year 1. They include addition, subtraction, unitising and counting in equal groups.