Just started teaching maths? What you need to know

Updated January 2023

Starting out in primary teaching or secondary maths teaching can be daunting. How do you ensure you have solid subject knowledge? Where do you begin to find high-quality resources? How can you find professional development that is right for you at your career stage? We try to answer these questions and share with you the materials that will help you develop knowledge, confidence and skill as you begin your career.

In the Classroom

There is plenty available for you to explore in the In the Classroom section of our website. You can filter resources by phase, Key Stage or year group, and by resource type.

New for 2021/22:

• Year 7 and Year 8 Checkpoints – ten-minute activities that allow you to check prior knowledge from primary school before building on this in the KS3 curriculum
• Primary Curriculum Prioritisation resource, for support with topic sequencing and prioritising the key topics, with classroom slides and associated pedagogy.

You can also use our popular Numberblocks support materials and Early Years Progression Charts if you are an Early Years practitioner, and use our National Curriculum Resource Tool to discover resources, links and guidance for the KS1-3 National Curriculum.

Professional development materials

Our professional development materials cover KS1-3, and are designed for teachers to use collaboratively. The primary materials are divided into three 'spines' (Number, Addition and Subtraction; Multiplication and Division; Fractions) to help you develop subject knowledge and classroom pedagogy. For teachers wanting to assess their confidence in teaching the content of the KS1 and KS2 maths curriculum, the primary subject knowledge audit documents provide a useful starting point.

For secondary teachers, the professional development materials explore six themes, and come with a range of supporting resources including videos and guidance documents. 

We have also recently published a set of secondary subject knowledge audit documents. They cover the 17 core concepts addressed in the professional development materials, and are interactive so you can assess your confidence in teaching the KS3 topics whilst also exploring examples and explanations.

Assessment materials

If you are looking to get started with assessing your pupils and have adopted a teaching for mastery approach in your classroom, try our primary assessment materials. They feature a set of questions, tasks and activities mapped against the National Curriculum for maths, and will help you assess the degree to which your pupils have mastered the curriculum. Our secondary assessment materials will do the same if you teach KS3.

Calculation and marking guidance

Our primary calculation guidance was created as a result of one of our earliest England-China exchanges. It provides a list of recommendations and effective practice teaching ideas that could sit alongside a school’s existing calculation policy, and inform and enhance teaching across all primary key stages. For support with marking at both primary and secondary, take a look at our marking guidance documents. They highlight the difference between verbal and written feedback, and distinguish between what you do to correct a simple slip in a pupil’s working, and what is done in response to something that reflects a lack of understanding.

Maths Hubs Projects

There are 40 Maths Hubs, which serve the whole of England. Every year, thousands of teachers get involved with collaborative CPD through their local Maths Hub, participating in a Work Group with colleagues from local schools. Work Groups cover all phases, and support teachers (including non-maths specialists) and TAs to develop subject knowledge and classroom pedagogy. Why not have a look at the projects available this year, and find your local hub to enquire about getting involved?

Tuesday night CPD Twitter chat

Our long-running #mathscpdchat became even more popular during lockdowns. If you’re looking for support, ideas and professional chat outside school, from the comfort of your own home, this might be the perfect answer. Drop in, observe or get chatting each Tuesday, 7-8pm, wherever you are. Topics change each week and are posted on Twitter in advance.

Header image by Douglas Lopez, in the public domain