If you are new to teaching or have only recently discovered the maths teaching goldmine that is the NCETM website, then you may like a summary of what we have to offer. If you’re a regular visitor here, you might like a reminder of some of the things you have forgotten or missed. And if you still can’t find what you’re looking for, use our quick and easy search function (top right of any webpage).

Read on to find about our resources for primary teachers.

Where to start

We suggest that you start with Curriculum Prioritisation – where we’ve mapped the primary maths curriculum, linking all the relevant classroom slides and pedagogical guidance from our key resources. The Curriculum Prioritisation resource provides a thoughtfully-sequenced mastery approach to the primary curriculum, using all our key materials (listed below) for maths lessons and teacher professional development. Prioritisation is driven by the ready-to-progress criteria set out in the DfE's 2020 guidance, Teaching mathematics in primary schools. The guidance was written prior to the pandemic to identify the most important aspects of the primary curriculum: those aspects that would hold children back if they had not fully understood them. Some schools have found this useful for Covid recovery, but the resource is designed for long-term use.

You can hear from a school in Mansfield where the materials have been used over the last year in our recent feature, Using the NCETM Curriculum Prioritisation materials.

We have only included our most recent and relevant pages in this summary, but do explore the website to find other treasures. Also, if you're a new maths lead, have a look at our feature Taking on the role of maths lead in a primary school.

Early Years

Early Years teachers should go to our Early Years pages. There you'll find information about structuring a maths curriculum for Early Years pupils, progression charts, and classroom support materials for the popular CBeebies Numberblocks series.

Learning more about teaching maths: subject knowledge and teaching for mastery

Originally designed for ITE students and ECTs, our Primary Subject Knowledge Audit is useful for identifying areas of maths, or mastery, that you can study in more detail. This can be used by anyone wanting to see how their maths matches up to the primary curriculum, and particularly to more recent mastery-related developments in language and approach. The audits also provide helpful signposting to where you can learn more.

If you want to know more about teaching for mastery specifically, our six modules developed for ITE students are a good place to start.

Professional learning: Maths Hubs CPD

All of our materials focus on developing your understanding and skill, rather than just providing ready-made lessons. They are designed so that you, individually or with colleagues, can learn more about teaching maths well and using a mastery approach. However, undoubtedly the most effective way to gain good understanding of mastery and how to use our materials effectively is to take part in CPD through your local Maths Hub. There is something for everyone, whatever career stage you are at. Our What Maths Hubs are doing page has full details of over 30 different opportunities. To discover which national projects are available locally, find your local Maths Hub and get in touch with them.

Ongoing news, features and podcasts

We are also keen to keep you up to date with features and news reflecting current thinking and ideas in maths education, particularly as they affect teachers at the chalkface. In addition, make sure you subscribe to the NCETM Maths Podcast, where we invite teachers, maths experts and anyone with a passion for teaching maths to talk about topics that shine a light on great maths teaching. You can find all of these, most recent first, on our News & Features page, or you can subscribe to our monthly Newsletter and Primary Round-up, using the short form towards the bottom of this page.