Pre-course Reading List
The National Curriculum for Mathematics
This is curriculum guidance rather than a book – start by looking at Key Stage 3, then follow a few topics back into Key Stages 1&2 and forward into Key Stage 4.
Mathematics National Curriculum
Mathematics guidance: Key Stage 3 Non-statutory guidance for the national curriculum in England DfE (2021)
This is curriculum guidance rather than a book – you are not expected to read it in its entirety, rather pick some topics and work through the exemplar material.
Foster, C., 2013. The Essential Guide to Secondary Mathematics.
The first 25 pages are freely available (no requirement to purchase to read the remaining sections unless interested to do so): Foster’s Essential Guide
Watson, A., De Geest, E. and Prestage, S., 2003. Deep progress in mathematics. University of Oxford.
This is an open access pdf. Copy the details into Google Scholar*, which brings up a direct link. (*You can find by typing Google Scholar into Google).
Mathematics software
Gaining familiarity with mathematics specific software would be helpful. Both Geogebra www.geogebra.org and Autograph https://completemaths.com/autograph are free and there is a lot of online support and applications available. There are also other mathematics platforms, such as Desmos https://www.desmos.com , which are useful to explore.
Other sources that you may find it interesting to explore include:
NCETM https://www.ncetm.org.uk/
This is a government funded organisation that oversees funded professional development in England for teachers of mathematics.
Teaching mathematics in primary schools: Guidance for teaching mathematics at key stages 1 and 2 to help pupils progress through the national curriculum. Mathematics in Primary Teaching.
This will allow you to gain familiarity with the potential knowledge, skills and understanding of year 7s
Hodgen, J., Coe, R., Foster, C., Brown, M., Higgins, S. and Küchemann, D., 2020. Low attainment in mathematics: an investigation focusing on Year 9 pupils in England.
This is a current research orientated report focusing on low attainment.
Bowland Mathematics has rich assessment tasks (with resources and ‘solutions’); whilst these refer to levels no longer used the tasks and assessments remain valid – try some: Bowland Mathematics.