At Bridge & Patrixbourne CEP School, we aim to develop an effective partnership between home and school and encourage pupils to link and extend their learning between the two. Following parental consultation it is apparent that, whilst there is broad support for the principle of home-learning, there is wide variation in opinion of its scope and time allocation.
Research carried out by the Education Endowment Fund shows that home-learning at primary level has minimal impact but we recognise that some parents may wish for their children to complete some or all of the home-learning activities detailed below.
Homework in the Early Years
Learning together is the emphasis for children in Reception. It is an ideal time to lay the foundations for continuing work at home and will be enhanced by exploring a range of activities together. The following are excellent activities:
- Board games to encourage sharing, taking turns and the development of general language and social skills.
- Art and craft activities.
- Helping with everyday activities e.g. visits to the shops, baking (simple weighing), looking at environmental print such as signs.
- Imaginative play including dressing up.
- Oral games e.g. I spy.
Daily Reading
Children love being read to at home and they will also bring home their reading book to share with you. Discussing the story and the characters and asking questions about the book will help with your child’s understanding of language.
Homework in Key Stage 1
Daily Reading
Reading on a regular basis is vital when children are in Year 1 and 2. Children may bring their library book home every evening, and the role of the adult is to listen and support them. It is important to remind them to use different strategies to read new words i.e., using their phonics knowledge to sound words out, blend and read an unknown word. Just as important is discussing the book to check that your child has understood what they have read.[MMT1]
Termly Key Knowledge & skills
At the beginning of each term, teachers send home an information leaflet detailing key mathematical and grammatical concepts as well as spellings that the parents could use to support their learning at home. These can also be found on the Class Pages of our school website.
Homework in Key Stage 2
Reading
Children may read to an adult, with an adult or read to themselves, in the presence of an adult. The story and characters should be talked about and new words discussed. Older children need a clear understanding of the text, which sometimes will go
Termly Key Knowledge & skills
At the beginning of each term, teachers send home an information leaflet detailing key mathematical and grammatical concepts as well as spellings that the parents could use to support their learning at home. These can also be found on the Class Pages of our school website.
Year 6
In preparation for secondary school, Year 6 will have regular English and Maths homework tasks alongside their termly home learning sheet. These will have clear deadlines and there will be an expectation that the work is completed by all children to a high standard to the timetable set. This work will be completed in designated ‘home learning’ books to give children experience of looking after their own exercise books for use at home.
As with all their learning in school, we have high expectations and included in your child’s Home Learning Book will be the non-negotiables for the class; these are the expectations for all children in terms of presentation, grammar and punctuation.
