Dorchester St Birinus Primary School

Dorchester St Birinus Church of England School

Maths

We want our children to be assured, happy and resilient mathematicians who relish a challenge.

Children begin their mathematical journey in our Reception class by learning number rhymes and songs, have opportunities to 'play' with weights and containers, construction, water, sand, looking at patterns and modelling with shapes.

Children gradually develop their understanding of mathematics through structured teaching activities based on the White Rose Scheme. 

Throughout school children will use practical apparatus to support their understanding and will be given opportunities to broaden their understanding through problem solving and challenge. 

We ensure that children follow a strategic learning path where they look first at concrete examples, then move to recording and understanding pictorially and then, when they are ready they begin to explore abstract concepts. We encourage children to use the correct mathematical vocabulary which is taught alongside new concepts. 

We also use an app called Times Tables Rock Stars which develops skills in learning multiplication tables in a fun and engaging way. 

Through our use of the White Rose maths scheme we encourage deep understanding, confidence and competence in maths. The scheme develops independence and reflective thinking and we strive to use mathematics across our whole curriculum; for instance creating a line graph to record temperatures in a science experiment. 

We also supplement our scheme with additional resources such as problem solving websites and challenging activities.