What your child learns in Year 1 Maths
Year 1 sits in the foundations phase — number sense, early patterns, measuring, shapes, and first steps with data. Below is every skill the refreshed New Zealand Curriculum (2025) expects a Year 1 student to practise — 40 objectives across 5 strands — exactly as our tutors track them.
Number
- Reading and writing whole numbers up to 100, and representing them using base 10 structure
- Counting forwards or backwards from any whole number between 1 and 20, and then between 1 and 100
- Comparing and ordering whole numbers and ordinal numbers using representations, words, or numerals, and suffixes to 100
- Using te reo Māori for numbers up to 30
- Locating numbers on a partially labelled number line (e.g. 17 on a number line labelled in 5s)
- Subitising (recognising without counting) smaller groups of objects within a larger collection (e.g. 3 and 5 in a group of 8 objects)
- Counting collections of objects using one-to-one correspondence, and then by pairs, for up to 20 objects
- Finding the total number of objects up to 20 by grouping (using pairs, 5s, or 10s)
- Counting forwards and backwards in 2s and 10s from any whole number between 0 and 100
- Memorising addition and subtraction facts up to 10, including 10 + 0 = 10 (e.g. 7 + 3 = 10)
- Memorising doubles and halves to 10
- Naming the number before or after a given number in the counting sequence up to 20
- Adding and subtracting one- and two-digit numbers up to 20, including 0
- Joining and separating groups of up to 20 objects (e.g. 9 + 6, 7 + __ = 11)
- Adding ten to a one-digit number
- Solving one-step problems involving addition and subtraction using objects and pictorial representations
- Multiplying and dividing using equal grouping or counting for products and dividends within 20
- Recognising and representing halves and quarters as fractions of sets, quantities, and regions, using equal parts of the whole
- Finding a half or quarter of a set using equal sharing and grouping
- Connecting 1 — 2 and 1 — 4 through halving
- Recognising and knowing the value of New Zealand denominations of currency (i.e. coins and notes)
Algebra
- Completing open number sentences involving addition and subtraction of one-digit numbers (e.g. 2 + 5 = 3 + __)
- Checking the truth of number sentences involving addition and subtraction of one-digit numbers (e.g. 7 − 5 = 6 − 4, true or false?)
- Copying, continuing, creating, and describing a repeating pattern with three elements
- Identifying missing elements in a pattern (e.g. red, green, blue, red, _____, blue)
Is your child on track? Our free 20-question online placement test checks these exact objectives and recommends a starting level — instant result, no login needed.
Take the free placement testMeasurement
- Comparing the length, mass (weight), or capacity of objects directly or indirectly (e.g. by comparing each of them with another reference object, used repeatedly)
- Using comparative language for lengths and heights (longer, shorter, taller) and mass (heavier, lighter)
- Telling the time on analogue and digital clocks to the hour, using the language of 'o'clock'
- Selecting appropriate units of time to communicate approximate durations in years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, or seconds
- Sequencing events in a day using everyday language of time (e.g. after, before, earlier, later, tomorrow, yesterday, the day after, next)
Geometry
- Identifying, describing, and sorting by one attribute familiar 2D and 3D shapes presented in different orientations, including cubes, cylinders, and spheres
- Composing a compound shape using smaller shapes by trial and error, and decomposing a shape into smaller shapes
- Following instructions to move to a familiar location or locate an object
- Using positional language to describe the position and movement of objects (e.g. above, below, left, right, in-front, behind, top, bottom, inside, outside, on, under, next to)
- Using pictures, diagrams, or stories to describe the positions of objects and places.
Statistics
- Collecting categorical data for an investigative question with limited categories (e.g. Do students in our class have one foot longer than the other?)
- Recording data using tally charts
- Creating picture graphs for categorical data
- Describing a picture graph by giving the frequency for each category
- Answering questions about a picture graph, including which category has the most or least items
Want help getting there? Vertex Academy runs small-group Study Hubs in Avondale — one $59/week membership, aligned to these curriculum objectives, first session free.
Book a free assessmentLearning objectives sourced from the New Zealand Curriculum (Mathematics and Statistics, 2025) © Ministry of Education, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Vertex Academy is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Ministry of Education.