Home Learning

Research into the impact of home learning demonstrates that when homework tasks are specific and focused on the learning that is taking place in school, they have the most impact.

The aims of our home learning policy are;

• To support and strengthen children’s current learning.
• To prepare them for future learning.
• To support children to keep up, not catch up.
• To support children with additional needs.
• To give all children the opportunity to secure basic skills in reading, maths and spelling.
• To bridge the gap between home and school; providing parents and carers with direct involvement in their child’s learning.
• To provide consistency across the school, to support parents with knowing what to expect.

How can parents support their children?

Talking to your child about their day

The Importance of Talk Research supports the importance of vocabulary development from an early age. We would therefore encourage parents to daily converse with their children about what they have learnt at school, for example, by holding the following sorts of discussions:

• Tell me about the most interesting thing you have learnt today?
• What did you enjoy most about today’s learning?
• What do you think you are going to be learning about next?
• How could you have improved your learning today?

Valuing the contribution home learning can make

We want parents to;

• Make it clear to their child that they value home learning, and support the school by explaining how it can help their learning.
• Carry out home learning tasks in quiet places away from distractions whenever possible.
• Encourage and praise them when they have completed home learning tasks.
• Ensure the quality of work at least matches the quality of work in school. Children should be encouraged to take a pride in their work and handwriting should be similar to school expectations.
• Use a good quality pencil or pen. They should not write in felt tips or crayons.
• Pick the right time and persevere, because it is important they understand they need to fulfil their expectations.
• Talk to their child’s class teacher if it is becoming difficult.

Reading

Reading and sharing books is absolutely vital for a child’s development. We know children who read frequently do better in school. Therefore we encourage parents to read with their child every night.

Phonics fully decodable book – Children working within the Read Write Inc scheme will bring home a fully decodable book chosen by their phonics teacher, which complements the sounds they have been learning that week. This book can be read independently by the child, and they are encouraged to read it at least 3 times to build their fluency.

Library book - Each child will take a library book in their book bag each day. Children are encouraged to use their phonics knowledge to read this book and share it with an adult. We encourage parents to talk to their child about the title of the book and the author. Whilst reading, children are encouraged to look at the pictures and maybe pause during the story to talk about the characters, what has happened and perhaps can they predict what may happen next. After reading the story, children should talk about what they liked/ didn’t like about the story.  After reading we ask parents to write a brief comment in their Reading record book for children in Reception to Year 2, so that staff can discuss the books the children have read and can see their progress at home.

We expect all children to read a minimum of 5 times per week.  Teachers check how often each child is reading at home and parents are actively encouraged to meet our expectations.

We ask that parents don’t stop reading to their child even when they are a fluent reader. They should be reading books to them that are more challenging and include words they have not encountered yet. This will improve not only their reading ability but their vocabulary and consequently, their writing.

Bug Club – All children have access Bug Club by visiting www.activelearnprimary.co.uk and entering their log in details. Bug Club provides children with a range of engaging and rich texts in the form of eBooks. Children can read the eBooks themselves, or have them read to them using the audio feature. Each eBook comes with an exciting quiz to complete that will support children in developing their comprehension skills. Children also have the opportunity to earn virtual coins as rewards to spend in their Bug Club world.

Spelling and Grammar

Spellings - Weekly spellings will be sent home every Friday via the letterjoin platform and tested the following Friday. These spellings will relate to phonics and spelling patterns the children have been learning in school. Children are expected to practice these words several times throughout the week in order to help them commit the spellings to memory. We recommend using the look-cover-write-check method.

Handwriting – As children practice their spellings via letterjoin they will be encouraged to write and practice these using their very best handwriting in their home learning book. Also via letterjoin, children can enjoy games and activities to practise their handwriting using the same methods we teach in school.

Grammar and Spelling Bug - Children will be set grammar and spelling activities on the Active Learn website that correspond with their learning in school. Children are expected to complete short tasks, quizzes and games to consolidate their learning. This will not necessarily be set weekly, but as and when it fits with the teaching sequence at school.

Maths

Reception - to practise counting from 1 to 20 and to practise recognising and writing these numbers.

Year 1 - to practise number bonds from 1 – 10 and then 1 - 20. This can be done using our online platform called Numbots. They can also be practised at home using objects or counters, pictures and number bond cards.

Year 2 - to increase their fluency when recalling number facts to 20 and beyond.  They are also expected to practise their times tables for 2x 10x and 5x tables. These can be done using our online platform called Numbots for number bonds and TT Rockstars for tables.  It can also be done through chanting, singing, writing and any other online games and apps. Children can also deepen their understanding by practising the related division facts.

Year 1 & 2 will also receive maths consolidation in their home learning book each week in the form of a practice worksheet.