New Primary Mathematics
Curriculum 2023
The new 2023 Primary Mathematics Curriculum (PMC) was introduced in all primary and special schools in the 2023/2024 school year and will be implemented from the 2024/2025 school year. For more details on the new curriculum, please visit the NCCA website here.
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It is important to note that while much of the curriculum content remains consistent with the 1999 Primary School Mathematics Curriculum (PSMC), the approach to teaching mathematics in the classroom has been revised.
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The current Drumcondra tests were developed and standardised while the new curriculum was also under development. A draft specification of the PMC, for the Junior classes only, was available during the piloting and standardisation of the DPMT. As a result, some elements of the new approach to the curriculum were integrated into the New DPMT. However, this draft was still in a consultation phase at this point and was not finalised. Therefore, the overarching principle that guided the test development of the DPMT was consistency with the 1999 curriculum. As a result, you may notice some elements of the DPMT that do not align with the 2023 PMC. Below, we outline the main differences and provide guidance on how to address them during testing.
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Place Value: ‘ones’ and ‘units’
Textbooks generated using the new curriculum will use the term ‘ones’ when referring to the smallest constituent part of a whole number e.g. the digit ‘5’ in 25 or in 365. In the DPMT, these elements of Place Value are referred to as ‘units’, as was the case in the 1999 PSMC.
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Which tests it applies to:
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Drumcondra Primary Maths Test Level 1 – DPMT1
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Drumcondra Primary Maths Test Level 2 – DPMT2
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Drumcondra Primary Maths Test Level 3 – DPMT3
How to address:
DPMT1
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The teacher can explain verbally that units = ones when reading out the relevant question(s)
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Teacher may want to write that units = ones on the board
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Teacher should not engage in any additional explanation, e.g. of how units / ones relate to tens, etc.
DPMT2 & DPMT3
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At the start of Part B, the teacher can explain verbally that units = ones (these questions appear only in Part B at this level)
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Teacher may want to write that units = ones on the board
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Teacher should not engage in any additional explanation, e.g. of how units / ones relate to tens, etc.
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New Strand Unit – Transformation
The most substantial change to curricular content in the 2023 PMC is the introduction of the Transformation strand unit in the Shape and space strand. In the infant classes, this new strand unit relates to shape movements, progressing to the understanding and implementation of reflections, rotations, and translations at subsequent grade levels. At Stage 4 (Fifth and Sixth class), the enlargement of shapes on scaled diagrams is also covered.
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At the time of the standardisation of the DPMT in 2018, the children who participated had no experience of these topics, and they were not introduced for almost another six years. As a result, the DPMT does not currently assess the strand unit of Transformation. As the tests are updated in future years, this area of the curriculum may be integrated into the assessments.
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However, the other aspects of Shape and space are well covered by the DPMT, as one of the aims of the redevelopment was to maintain or increase the proportion of questions targeting this Strand.
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