At the Whiteoak Academies, daily Mastering Number sessions are delivered across all year groups to strengthen pupils’ fluency, flexibility and confidence with number. The rationale behind these sessions is to build firm, foundational number sense by developing deep conceptual understanding alongside rapid recall of key number facts, enabling children to approach more complex mathematical concepts with confidence and flexibility.

In Reception and Key Stage 1, we use the NCETM Mastering Number at Number Sense materials to support children in developing secure understanding of number, counting and additive relationships. These sessions focus on helping pupils develop automaticity with key facts while also deepening their conceptual understanding through the use of carefully chosen representations, mathematical talk and structured practice.

In Year 3, we continue to use the Year 3 Mastering Number materials to consolidate pupils’ understanding and fluency with Key Stage 1 additive number facts. This supports children in securing efficient mental strategies and strengthens the foundations needed for more advanced mathematical learning across Key Stage 2.

In Years 4 and 5, pupils take part in Mastering Number at Multiplicative Reasoning, which focuses on developing a deeper understanding of multiplication, division and proportional relationships. Through these sessions, pupils strengthen their multiplicative fluency and develop more sophisticated mathematical reasoning.

Our year 6 pupils continue to engage in daily fluency and retrieval practice rooted in the principles of teaching for mastery, ensuring that key number knowledge and mental strategies remain secure as pupils prepare for secondary mathematics.

Through consistent daily practice, Mastering Number sessions help pupils develop accuracy, efficiency and flexibility in their mathematical thinking, supporting success across the wider mathematics curriculum.