The Approach
Tables Stick helps children see relationships and build connections within multiplication, so understanding deepens and times tables fluency becomes secure and lasting.
Why Connections Matter
Times tables should make sense.
Multiplication is a connected network of relationships. When children understand how facts relate to one another, they build a coherent web of understanding and recall becomes more secure, flexible and confident.
Tables Stick Approach helps children see & build these connections.
Building Fluency Through Connection
The Tables Stick approach is built on three pillars that help children see and use the relationships within multiplication.
Structure
Exposing connections
Using the Tables Stick layout, children see patterns and relationships within and between times tables.
Using the Tables Stick layout, children see patterns and relationships within and between times tables.
Facts are introduced in relation to known facts so multiplication becomes a connected network, rather than a list of isolated facts.
Representation
Making structure visible
The Tables Stick makes multiplication structure visible so patterns and connections can be clearly seen.
The Tables Stick makes multiplication structure visible so patterns and connections can be clearly seen.
Children spot patterns, notice relationships and build on what they already know.
Reasoning
Building from known facts
Using the Tables Stick, children use known facts to derive and secure new ones.
Using the Tables Stick, children use known facts to derive and secure new ones.
Known facts become anchors for working out new facts.
Rooted in Research
The Tables Stick approach draws on the Education Endowment Foundation guidance report Improving Mathematics in Key Stages 2 and 3, alongside broader research into how children develop deep and secure mathematical understanding.
When used alongside concrete resources such as ten frames, arrays and Numicon, it supports the Concrete–Pictorial–Abstract approach (CPA), enabling children to build understanding through physical manipulation, visual representation and abstract reasoning.
Supporting a Mastery Approach to Times Tables
The Tables Stick approach aligns with the NCETM’s Five Big Ideas of Mastery, supporting pupils to develop deep, connected understanding of times tables.
Mathematical Thinking
Children reason about relationships between facts, explain patterns and use known facts to derive new ones.
Representation & Structure
The consistent layout of the Tables Stick makes multiplication structures visible so patterns and connections can be clearly seen.
Coherence
Facts are introduced in small, connected steps so new learning builds on what children already know.
Fluency
Fluency develops through understanding relationships between facts, supporting rapid, accurate and flexible recall.
Variation
Children explore times tables, noticing what stays the same and what changes.
What This Means for Children
Connections become visible
Children see how facts relate to each other.
Strategies support thinking
Pupils use simple, consistent strategies to reason about unknown facts.
Confidence grows
Children experience success as they realise they can work out new facts from known.
Recall becomes rapid, accurate and secure
Giving pupils' confidence to apply knowledge flexibly across mathematics