Maths resources and the revised maths curriculum for Years 0 to 8
21 March, 2025
As more schools complete the Ministry–provided maths PLD, schools are being encouraged to work more closely with the revised maths and statistics learning areas, rather than rely solely on the new maths resources schools have been receiving in Term 1.
The new curriculum is broken into phases that detail explicit teaching steps, describing what must be taught at each year, and is deliberately sequenced to enable students to build knowledge, skills, and competencies systematically over time. It supports teachers to design teaching programmes that bring learning to life in the classroom with clear details and what to teach each year, along with guidance about how to teach it.
The resources are designed to be supplementary supports as schools implement the refreshed curriculum and develop their own planning and programmes over the next few years.
Schools should look for ways your chosen resource contributes to a comprehensive learning programme which would include:
- communication
- rich tasks
- explicit teaching
- positive relationships with mathematics and statistics.
Schools should start with progress outcomes and teaching sequences for their phases of learning, to design their maths programmes. The resources can be used for teaching ideas and learning activities to support these programmes.
The resources were not designed to replace or to be used instead of the curriculum, but to support teachers and schools while they build their own new maths programmes.
The maths PLD being provided by the Ministry also supports this, focusing on implementation tactics for using and developing programmes to support schools. The aim of the maths PLD is to provide teachers with:
- a good understanding of the teaching sequence to be taught across phases 1-3 (Years 0 to 8), the three elements in the mathematics and statistics learning area: Understand, Know, and Do, the Science of Learning in relation to mathematics and statistics and the ability to use it to inform their teaching, and a good understanding of the teaching guidance in the mathematics and statistics learning area
- the ability to plan for maths successfully, incorporating a quality hour a day of maths. This includes annual, unit, weekly and individual lesson planning
- increased knowledge of quality formative assessment practices that inform daily teaching.
In every classroom, there are many ways in which students engage in learning and show what they know and can do. Using assessment information and designing inclusive experiences, teachers can plan an ‘entry point’ to a new concept or procedure that every student can access. Students’ interests and the school culture and community shape the planning, adding richness, creativity, and meaning to the programme.