‘Don’t try to teach everything. You can’t possibly do so effectively’

Debbie Morgan, NCETM Director for Primary

To support primary schools deciding what maths to teach for the rest of 2020/21, the NCETM has produced a series of materials focusing on Curriculum Prioritisation in Primary Maths.

Planning flow chart

The flow chart is designed to help teachers review the current curriculum, plan teaching and learning for the rest of 2020/21, and review and evaluate pupils’ progress at the end of the academic year.

Year group evaluation documents

Evaluation documents are available for Years 1-6. Each document is an editable template which allows a teacher to map what pupils have learned against the ready-to-progress criteria in the 2020 DfE guidance, identify the provision that has taken place during remote learning, and add transition notes in summer 2021 for the next class teacher.

Curriculum planning grid

The curriculum planning grid maps each term of the remaining academic year week-by-week. Teachers can fill it in with details of their planned teaching, focusing on the ready-to-progress criteria and considering consolidation and review of previously taught content, small group additional teaching for those pupils who need it, and whole-class teaching of new content that can be built upon secure prerequisite conceptual understanding

Guidance video

A two-minute video featuring the NCETM Director for Primary, Debbie Morgan, explains how schools might approach their maths curriculum for the rest of this year, and reiterates the key message ‘Don’t try to teach everything. You can’t possibly do so effectively’.

Find all these materials on the Curriculum Prioritisation in Primary Maths webpage.

Additional materials to support primary schools with Covid recovery, including video lessons, training materials, and exemplification of the ready-to-progress criteria, are available on the Support for primary teachers webpage.