Homework

We have high expectations of children within our school and, during the day, they will be asked to work hard in all aspects of their learning. We set a range of homework tasks which develop and increase in amount as the children progress through our school. 

Learning experiences in Nursery and Foundation can be shared on Tapestry.  All parents will be given a log on once their child is registered with us.  We value all the learning opportunities that you, as parents, are able to support with at home and love to share those experiences with you. Our staff also upload some of the exciting steps and achievements your child makes at school so that you can share their progress and success with them at home.  

From Year 1, homework will be set on Google Classrooms.
Some tasks may be set in paper format and, for some areas of learning, children may bring home an exercise book to practise skills which cannot be so easily facilitated electronically. 

Homework will mainly include: -spellings, maths tasks, times tables, written work, reading and research tasks.  Other activities may be set related to the current topic and links to Websites to practise and embed concepts will also feature.  In the latter part of the school, homework may include a task which will prepare children for a lesson or a follow up task to embed their understanding or secure important knowledge.  

The tasks are set to support your child with the learning that they are currently doing at school. 

When practising spellings with your children please encourage the following process:

• Look at the word
• Say it
• Cover it
• Write it and then check it

We recognise that many of our children are involved in lots of exciting opportunities outside of school - something which we encourage- however,  a short time spent doing homework tasks set really makes a difference.
​We very much appreciate the support we receive from our parents. 

Reading 

Throughout their time at our school children will be expected to read
regularly at home.  We want children to enjoy reading fiction books for pleasure and to be keen to explore non fiction texts to extend their interests and embed new knowledge. All children have access to library books weekly and can select books from class libraries too.  

In Foundation and Year 1, children will bring home a phonetically decodable book to read with you at home. This allows children to practise and embed the phonic skills they are currently being taught in school. They will keep this for a number of days and should re-read this often to build up their decoding skills. 

As children become more fluent readers, they will work through a wider range of texts. 

Where possible, we recommend children spend 10 – 15 minutes reading or being read to at home each evening.   Fluency in reading is essential and contributes directly to academic achievements as children move on through our school and on to secondary education. ​

The amount of time given to homework is less important than the quality of the tasks given, but the school follows the Government guidelines, which are as follows:

• Key Stage 1 - an average of 1 hour per week, on reading, spellings and other literacy and number work.

• Years 3 and 4 - an average of 1½ hours per week on English and maths with occasional assignments in other subjects.
• Years 5 and 6 - an average of around 2½ hours per week, with a continued emphasis on English and Maths, but also ranging widely over the curriculum.