Maths Lead — Professional Reading List
Professional books every primary Maths Lead should read — the research-grounded titles on fluency, reasoning, mastery, manipulatives, and addressing maths anxiety. Honest about which are essential.
Preview
Page count: 3. Print-ready PDF — letter / A4 friendly. Click image to see all pages.
Learning objective
Provide Maths Leads with a curated professional reading list — covering the core knowledge needed for the role.
About this resource
- Subject: Math
- Type: Fact File
- Grade levels: Pre-Kindergarten (ages 3-4, ≈ Nursery), Kindergarten (ages 4-6, ≈ Reception / Y1), Grade 1 (ages 6-7, ≈ Year 2), Grade 2 (ages 7-8, ≈ Year 3), Grade 3 (ages 8-9, ≈ Year 4), Grade 4 (ages 9-10, ≈ Year 5), Grade 5 (ages 10-11, ≈ Year 6), Grade 6 (ages 11-12, ≈ Year 7)
- Pages: 3
- Date added: 2026-11-11
- Credit: Qualified primary teacher
Professional reading for Maths Leads
Convenience links to Amazon. Many of these are available cheaper second-hand or via NCETM resources.
Foundational — start here
If you read three books, these are the three.
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M
Mathematical Mindsets — Jo Boaler
Foundational — reframes how maths is taught -
T
Teaching for Mastery — Mark McCourt
What mastery really means in practice -
L
Limitless Mind — Jo Boaler
Research on how children learn maths
Fluency and times tables
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K
Key Ideas in Teaching Mathematics — Anne Watson
Research-based teaching of core concepts -
T
Times Tables Rock Stars (philosophy) — Bruno Reddy
On fluency development
Manipulatives and CPA
Reasoning and problem-solving
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What's Math Got to Do With It? — Jo Boaler
Reasoning vs procedure -
H
How Children Fail / How Children Learn — John Holt
Classic on understanding child mathematics
Maths anxiety
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