Exploring 11, 12 and 13! Team Cole

Today in Reception, we took our first exciting steps into building numbers beyond 10—focusing on 11, 12, and 13. The children were brilliant as we explored how to see, build, and understand these numbers using ten frames.

We started by reminding ourselves how to fill a ten frame with 10 counters—this helped the children really see what 10 looks like as a complete set. Then came the exciting part: adding 1, 2 or 3 more to a second ten frame to build numbers like 11, 12 and 13.

🔢 Key learning steps:

1. Fill one ten frame with 10.

2. Fill the second frame with 1, 2 or 3 more.

3. Subitise the 10 and then count on to find the total.

We used important questions to support our thinking:

• How will you build the number 10/11/12/13?

• What number have you built?

• What do you notice about that number?

The children showed fantastic number sense, especially when subitising the full ten frame and confidently counting on. It was wonderful to hear them using mathematical language and sharing their strategies with each other.

We’re so proud of how quickly they are growing as mathematicians—Team Cole are smashing it already! 🙌✨