The Maths Resources You Need Whatever Your Approach To Primary School Maths Lessons After Lockdown

October 26, 2023 | 4 min read

Lottie Bates

This is where you can find all the primary maths resources most suitable for supporting your pupils through the return to school.

With home learning coming to an end, we wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate you on all the incredible efforts that have gone into keeping the learning going for your pupils whilst your school has been closed.

Over the last few months, you’ve responded to last-minute changes, met countless unexpected challenges and worked tirelessly to ensure all of your pupils have had access to high-quality teaching wherever and however they’re learning

Now, thoughts are turning to ensuring pupils are supported through the return to school. With all pupils having experienced home learning in slightly different ways, it’s clear that the return to whole class maths teaching might not be a simple task for all schools.

What is also clear is that there’s no one best approach.

Some schools may be planning to assess their pupils early on to get an idea of where the gaps lie, while others may prefer to continue on to the next teaching unit and assess as they go. Others may feel they need to recap the topics that have been taught so far this term, or indeed go back to basics completely. Perhaps your school has decided the focus should simply be on pupil wellbeing and spending time focusing on your pupils’ readjustment to the classroom. You may even be going for a combination of all of the above.

Maths resources to support your pupils

Whatever approach your school is taking, there’s something in the Third Space Maths Hub for you.

All of our resources for primary schools can be found in the Third Space Maths Hub

Create your own free Maths Hub account to access hundreds of free resources, guides and CPD videos. Premium Maths Hub access includes 36 weeks of Fluent in Five, Rapid Reasoning and Ready To Go Lesson Slides for years 1 to 6. It is available through a whole-school subscription or is included at no additional cost for schools using our online one to one maths tutoring.

Register free for the Third Space Maths Hub.
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Join the Third Space Learning Maths Hub

To browse our entire collection of free and premium maths resources for teachers and parents, register to join the Third Space Learning Maths Hub. It's quick, easy and free! (Please use Google Chrome to access the Maths Hub)

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Best maths resources for identifying individual pupil gaps

Diagnostic Assessment (Single Topic)

Inside the Maths Hub you’ll find specific pre- and post-teach diagnostic assessments covering the following topics across Years 3-6.

Addition
Algebra
Decimals
Division
Four operations
Fractions
Geometry
Measurement
Multiplication
Number and Place Value
Percentages
Ratio and Proportion
Statistics
Subtraction

Each question is in multiple-choice format with one correct answer and three distractors, helping you not only understand baseline knowledge but also pinpoint specifically where your pupils’ misconceptions lie.

Explore all Diagnostic Assessments!

The full range of diagnostic assessments is available with premium access. You can download a selection of free place value packs and free four operations packs.

Diagnostic Quizzes (Mixed Topic)

For a quick way to identify class-wide gaps, these free ‘back to school’ maths quizzes will come in really handy. They were originally designed for schools to use in September but are still applicable for helping to diagnose learning gaps as pupils return to the classroom after school closures.

They cover a mix of different topics and include easy-to-use gap analysis spreadsheets to quickly determine class-wide knowledge gaps at a glance.

Explore all Diagnostic Quizzes!

These quizzes are all available for free.

Best maths resources for recapping topics taught over the last few weeks

Maths Code Crackers

Recapping knowledge covered since January (or indeed before) may well be an important part of your approach as your pupils return to the classroom. These engaging activity packs are based around retrieval of knowledge for specific topics across Years 3-6. In each worksheet, pupils will need to solve a series of questions to crack the code and find the punchline to a joke.

Explore all Code Crackers!

The full Code Crackers range is available with premium access. You can download worksheets for place value for free below.

Best maths resources for going back to basics

Fluent in Five

If you’d like to focus on basic skills with your pupils, Fluent in Five is a great place to start. These quick, daily questions are designed to develop key arithmetic skills in just 5 minutes each day, helping to rebuild number fluency and boost confidence with mental strategies in your Year 1-6 pupils. Each pack is mapped to a progression document to help you see if pupils are meeting expectations for their year group.

Explore all Fluent in Five!

Access to the full 36-week scheme of Fluent in Five is available for schools with premium access. You can download weeks 1-6 for free below.

Best maths resources for continuing with the next unit as normal

White Rose Ready-to-go Lesson Slides and Worksheets

If you’d rather continue following the White Rose scheme of learning, we have ready-to-go lesson slides and accompanying worksheets for all upcoming White Rose blocks for Years 1-6. These resources follow a mastery approach and are fully editable with detailed notes for every teaching slide.

Explore all White Rose Maths Lesson Slides and Worksheets!

Full access to all slides and worksheets is available with premium access. You can download free taster ready-to-go slides and worksheets for Spring Block 1.

Best maths resources for fun and engagement

Maths Games and Activities

Many schools will want to spend some time focusing on re-engagement and giving pupils a chance to really have some fun in the classroom. Our fun maths games and activities packs for Years 1-6 are designed for use at home but will work just as well in the classroom.

These packs are all available to download for free.

For more inspiration:

Best maths resources for building confidence

Worked Examples

We know that some pupils might not feel as confident now that they’re back in a full classroom. Our Worked Examples worksheets contain completed questions for pupils to check, comment on and correct. They encourage pupils to find and explain errors, not just focus on finding the correct answer. It’s always easier for pupils to discuss mistakes they’ve not made themselves and we find this has a huge impact on confidence!

Explore all Worked Examples worksheets!

Access to the complete set of Worked Examples worksheets is available for schools with premium access. A selection of worksheets are available for free below.

Year 1 Worked Examples place value worksheet

Looking ahead to the next few weeks

However your school decides to approach the return to school, we have full confidence that teachers everywhere will continue to offer the unwavering support they have always shown, and that pupils will successfully transition back to the classroom as a result. We hope these resources will help to make the next few weeks a little bit easier.

We’re really proud that our resources and online one-to-one tuition have been part of the home learning journey for so many schools over the last few weeks, and can’t wait to support even more schools and pupils as they return to school.

An example of a Third Space Learning online tuition lesson.

“It’s been changing attitudes to maths and having a positive impact on pupil outcomes, so it’s great that we’ve been able to continue using it as much as we can during this period.” – Mike Foster, Assistant Headteacher, Thorntree Academy, Middlesborough

“I must commend Third Space Learning for the amazing resources they provide and the support they give our children.” – Claire Price, Teaching Assistant, West Ashtead Primary School, Surrey

“The consistency has been brilliant and the parents have adored it. They’ve loved the fact that their child has been getting a one on one lesson every week.” – Teresa Griffin, Stafford

DO YOU HAVE PUPILS WHO NEED MORE SUPPORT IN MATHS?

Every week Third Space Learning’s maths specialist tutors support thousands of students across hundreds of schools with weekly primary school tuition designed to plug gaps and boost progress.

Since 2013 these personalised one to one lessons have helped over 150,000 primary and secondary students become more confident, able mathematicians.

Learn how tutors develop pupils’ maths fluency or request a personalised quote for your school to speak to us about your school’s needs and how we can help.