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What children learn in each class

A plain-English guide to Maths, English and Irish in primary school in Ireland – so you know what your child is working on, from Junior Infants to 6th Class.

3rd Class · Stage 3 (3rd and 4th Class): bigger numbers, times tables, fractions and decimals; reading for meaning and writing in different styles.

Maths

Primary Mathematics Curriculum (2023)

  • Numbers to 999; place value and rounding
  • Learning multiplication tables (2 to 10)
  • Division, including remainders
  • Fractions: halves, quarters, eighths, tenths
  • Decimals: tenths
  • Time to 5 minutes, on analogue and digital clocks
  • Money: euro and cent, adding and giving change
  • Length (m, cm), weight (kg, g), capacity (l, ml)
  • Area with squares; angles as turns; right angles
  • Bar charts and the language of chance (likely, unlikely)

English

Primary Language Curriculum (2019)

  • Reading novels, poems and information texts
  • Comprehension: finding answers, working things out, predicting
  • Using a dictionary
  • Writing recounts, instructions, letters and reports
  • Writing in paragraphs
  • Speech marks and apostrophes
  • Nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs
  • Spelling rules: prefixes and suffixes
  • Giving short talks to the class

Gaeilge (Irish)

Primary Language Curriculum (2019)

  • Reading Irish stories and readers
  • Writing short pieces on familiar themes
  • Verbs in the past, present and future (Inné, Gach lá, Amárach)
  • Asking questions: Cad?, Cá?, Cathain?, Cén fáth?
  • Describing people, places and weather

Easy ways to help at home

  • Practise times tables little and often (5 minutes a day)
  • Ask 'Why do you think…?' questions about books
  • Let them help with measuring in cooking and DIY

Good to know

  • The official curriculum sets goals for two-year stages (Infants, 1st–2nd, 3rd–4th, 5th–6th). The points for each class are typical examples – every school plans its own order, so your child may meet some topics a little earlier or later.
  • Children learn at different speeds. If something here seems far ahead of where your child is, that's completely normal – their teacher is happy to help with any questions.
  • Standardised tests in English reading and Maths take place at the end of 2nd, 4th and 6th Class.
  • In Gaelscoileanna and Gaeltacht schools, children learn through Irish, so their Irish is usually well ahead of this guide.

Sources: Primary Mathematics Curriculum (2023) and Primary Language Curriculum (2019), NCCA – curriculumonline.ie. More parent resources: ncca.ie/en/primary/resources-for-parents.