Calculation Policy

Rationale

A calculation policy ensures a robust and consistent approach to the teaching of the four operations ensuring smooth progression through the year groups. Pupils must not simply rote-learn procedures but demonstrate their understanding of these procedures through the use of concrete materials and pictorial representations. The purpose of using multiple representations is to give pupils a deep understanding of a mathematical concept and they should be able to work with and explain concrete, pictorial and abstract representations, and explain the links between different representations.

At Tyrrells Primary School, we teach maths through the support of Mathematics Mastery up to Y3. This will be rolled out to the rest of KS2 over the next few years. To prepare for this, all year groups will follow the same calculation policy, which has been taken from Mathematics Mastery’s Progression in Calculations document.

Aims

• To provide a uniform approach across the school, enabling consistency throughout the year groups.
• To ensure teachers and parents are aware of the strategies that children are formally taught within each year group.
• To identify appropriate pictorial representations and concrete materials to help develop understanding.