Should calculators be used in primary schools

[MTar]

Hi there, my name is Martha and I'm a student. I'm currently doing some research on whether calculators should be used in primary schools. A lot of people have said to me that calculators take away from learning maths, however other people have said they're a great tool that makes maths more accessible. I would love to hear what you think about this!

No, you need to know how maths works first.

Well my y6 child has used one this year but mainly because they are using pi and doing some ks3 maths....

They can use them to check their own answers - but rarely. For example, when they’ve come up with their own digits for calculations using dice and it would take hours mark them all separately!

Up until 2016(?) there was a calculator paper as part of the key stage 2 tests.
I agree that children have to know how maths works first but using a calculator is also a useful tool for checking/speed. Children still had to understand what calculations they needed to do.
I don't think they make maths accessible if children don't have a certain level of understanding to enable them to pick the correct calculations.