We were disappointed to read Professor Josef Lauri’s recent comments about the Malta edition of Abacus (‘Means of maths destruction?’, April 29). This view is not reflective of the hundreds of thousands of pupils and teachers who have used it successfully over the past 20 years.

The professor was incorrect to state that Abacus does not teach traditional methods of mathematics, such as column addition, subtraction and memorisation of times tables.

These topics form an integral part of Abacus, and are vital for primary aged pupils to cover during their maths studies.

It is also incredibly important, however, that children are taught other calculation strategies at this age, getting to grips with different ways of approaching mental arithmetic as early as possible.

Abacus is built on a “four pillars” approach to creating confident and engaged young mathematicians. Research shows us that to become confident problem-solvers children need to develop a secure understanding of place value, a solid bank of number facts, a secure set of models and images and they should be fluent in doubling and halving.

As children grow up in a digital, global society, it is more important than ever that children are supported to develop a conceptual understanding of numbers and procedural fluency in maths.

In 2013 we launched a revised version of Abacus in the UK, which has been redesigned around the new English curriculum for maths. It continues to combine this mix of written and mental methods which are so essential for children’s mathematical fluency in the 21st century.

This revised version of Abacus also blends traditional print resources with an online teacher toolkit and pupil world.

The digital resources we have developed not only engage teachers and parents, but they importantly capture children’s interest to inspire a genuine love of maths.