Making Fluent and Flexible Calculators

Improve your KS2 and KS3 pupils' understanding of mental calculation in maths by focusing on establishing strong base facts and using them to solve more complex calculations.

Making Fluent and Flexible Calculators is a whole class programme that supports all pupils in developing their knowledge and application of additive skills, which are gateways to pupils' success in multiplication. It aims to improve children’s understanding of mental calculation by focusing on establishing strong base fact knowledge and combining it with rich, flexible strategies to help pupils solve calculations efficiently and accurately.

The Making Fluent and Flexible Calculators programme:

Provides a shared language for all pupils to have a range of mental calculation strategies that can be applied to a broad fluency range.
Helps pupils solve simple calculations quickly and enables them to tackle more complex problems without relying too much on written methods.
Enables the maths curriculum to continue but still provides manageable opportunities to practice and embed learning.

I have grown in confidence using a variety of methods and being able to teach them to the children. The most amazing thing that I have seen during this period of time is my class growing in confidence with their number knowledge. They are not scared anymore of numbers and doing the mathematical talk in front of their peers.

Tithe Farm Primary School and Nursery, Dunstable

What are the aims of Making Fluent and Flexible Calculators programme?

The aim is to identify current mental calculation strategies used by a range of your pupils. A bespoke programme for your cohort of pupils is created to be delivered over a 6-to 8 week period.

The programme is fully resourced with:

Short, easy-to-administer, diagnostic assessment
Additional online learning platform to support yours and your colleagues ongoing CPD
Full set of comprehensive teaching guides and teaching power points
Carefully scaffolded independent practice resources
Multiple sets of progressive fluency slides

The difference has been simple delivery, repetition, explicit teaching and not assuming. We can feel like we are on overload with other things, but this is simple and repeated and gives time to assimilate for all. No assuming but hunting for strategies.

Knutsford Primary Academy, Watford

Impact of the Making Fluent and Flexible Calculators programme

Pupils in KS2 made on average 8 to 9 months progress in their mental maths.

Students in lower attaining KS3 classes made on average 10+ months progress in their mental maths.

Making Fluent and Flexible Calculators delivery

if you are interested in running this programme with your school or trust please contact gillian.shearsby-fox@hfleducation.org or charlotte.harber@hfleducation.org

From the assessments I noticed that students were over reliant on the column method and number bonds in some cases were extremely limited, but when completing the exit assessments, I noticed more make 10, doubles and the use of base facts. Going forward we will include the teaching of these strategies for our lower groups as a definite and make a point of including ‘I can do this another way’ for higher groups as the norm.

Ormiston Venture Academy, Great Yarmouth