For P6 parents · Sec 1 in 2027
Sec 1 Math starts with algebra: the units your child has drawn since P4 become letters. Word problems get denser, working starts to earn marks and the pace picks up. Here is what Term 1 usually covers, and what helps in December.
Written by the Genius Plus Academy Math team from our Sec 1 curriculum. Each school sets its own scheme of work.
What changes
The bar model your child has drawn since P4 gives way to algebra almost at once. The idea is the same, a unit that stands for an unknown, but now it is written as x and worked with when there is no picture to draw.
Questions hide the Math inside longer sentences. The skill that matters is turning words into an expression or an equation before solving it.
In secondary school, method marks reward clear steps. A right answer with working the marker cannot follow can still lose marks.
Topics move faster than in Primary, on the G3, G2 and IP routes alike. A small gap in Term 1 can quietly grow by Term 2.
Term 1
Most schools open Sec 1 with number topics and the start of algebra. These are the first topics our own Sec 1 classes and our December Headstart cover:
| Topic | What your child will meet |
|---|---|
| Prime factorisation | Factors, primes, index notation, and using prime factors to find the HCF and LCM |
| Real numbers | Negative numbers, the number line, and working with integers, fractions and decimals together |
| Introduction to algebra | What a variable is, and writing expressions from words and from the models your child already knows |
| Simplifying and substituting | Collecting like terms, expanding simple brackets, and substituting values into expressions |
Each school sets its own scheme of work, so the order can differ slightly.
December
If you would like a structured start, our P6 to Sec 1 Math Headstart on 7 and 8 December covers the four topics above in two days, with the tutor's written notes on where your child stands.
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After the choices are in
The units your child has drawn since P4 become letters in Term 1. Here is how we can help with that step, from December onwards.
December · two days
Mon 7 and Tue 8 Dec, 10am to 3pm, Coronation Plaza or Zoom. Prime factorisation, real numbers and an introduction to algebra, with the tutor's written notes to bring home. S$380, lunch included.
See the Headstart →
From January · weekly
Small classes, recorded lessons and weekly marked homework, onsite or on Zoom, for G3, G2 and IP students. Start with a free diagnostic and trial.
See Sec 1 Math →
Until 31 Dec 2026
Register for 2027 weekly classes now to keep 2026 fees, pick your child's class timing before January, and take the Headstart at half price.
See Priority Registration →
It is different more than harder. The biggest change is algebra: the unknowns that were drawn as units become letters, and children need to work with them without a picture. Most children adjust well when they meet the ideas early and practise them steadily.
A first look at the Term 1 topics, such as negative numbers and simple algebra, helps many children. Covering the whole Sec 1 syllabus in advance is not necessary, and rest after PSLE matters too.
Yes. Students posted through Posting Group 3 take Math at G3. Those in Posting Groups 1 and 2 take it at G1 or G2, and can take it at a more demanding level if they did well in Math at PSLE, under Full Subject-Based Banding.