Home Learning

What is the purpose of home learning?

• To consolidate, reinforce and extend skills and understanding, particularly in English and Mathematics.

• To provide opportunities for parents and children to work together.

• To allow parents to gain an understanding of what children are learning in school.

• To allow children to progress towards becoming more independent learners.

What is the role of the school?

• To provide parents with a clear policy regarding home learning.

• To ensure this policy is fully and consistently followed.

• To provide support for parents with information about home learning.

What is the role of the teacher?

• To plan and set a programme of home learning that is appropriate to the needs of the child.

• To ensure all children understand the home learning they have been given.

• To mark and give feedback about home learning.

• To be available to talk to parents and children about home learning.

• To inform parents if there is a problem regarding home learning.

What is the role of the parent / carer?

• To support the child in completing home learning.

• To ensure the child completes home learning to a high standard and hands it in on time.

• To provide the appropriate conditions for the child to complete the home learning.

• To provide the appropriate resources for the child to complete the home learning.

• To communicate with school if they are having any concerns about providing the above.

What is the role of the child?

• To ensure they have everything they need to complete home learning each week.

• To make sure they understand the tasks that have been set.

• To put in the same level of effort as would be expected of class work.

• To hand the home learning in on time.

• To take on board any feedback about home learning.

Home learning in Reception

Learning together is the emphasis for children in Reception. The activities are literacy and maths based with a strong emphasis on reading together. This is a vital time to lay the foundations for continuing learning at home.

What type of work will my child get?

The main emphasis is on reading at home. This should be done in two ways:-

• Adults reading to children – this is really important even if your child is beginning to read themselves!

Parents are encouraged to read a wide range of texts to their children including nursery rhymes, picture books, short stories and non-fiction texts such as recipes or information books.  The children will bring home a library book each week and we encourage you to read these to your children as they are likely to be books that your child cannot read independently. Talking to children about what you are reading is also important.

• Children reading to an adult

When they are ready to, children will start bringing books home from school to read to an adult.  Encouraging your child to point to the words as they are being read is important as well as discussing the story and the characters.  Asking lots questions about the book will help with your child’s understanding of language and therefore you are encouraged to spend several days with the same book so that you can develop a secure understanding of the text.   Also, in the front of your child’s reading diary will be some key learning targets that link directly with their level of reading and this will support you to understand the types of skills that we are expecting your child to be able to do.

Parents/carers should sign or comment in the reading diary each time they read with the child.

• Letter formation

When your child is ready, they will bring home some phonic sheets which link to Jolly Phonics, the tool which we use to teach phonics.  This sheet has a section to practise letter formation to support children with handwriting.  This may also be a picture to trace over to practise fine motor skills or a letter formation worksheet. This shows where to start and finish when forming each letter and what each letter should look like. Giving children the opportunity to practise forming letters and also developing drawing skills with a variety of different tools is valuable. The important thing is to watch them and correct any mistakes sensitively - please do not let your child complete the sheet unsupervised as we are watching to identify correct formation – thank you!

• When your child is ready, the class teacher will provide parents with a ‘Phonic pack’.  This contains the phonemes (sounds) which the children have been learning in class.  We will also provide you with the action which accompanies each sound so that you can support with your child’s acquisition of phonics.  We encourage children to learn the phonemes (sounds) and letter names.  You will be supported with this through a parent phonic workshop in the first half term.

   

  • Tricky Words

  Children learn to read tricky words. These are words which we don’t ‘sound out’.  The children learn to read them by sight for example the word ‘said’ would not make any sense if you tried to sound it out!  Regularly practising reading tricky words, looking out for the words in reading books and playing games with them, will really benefit your child. For some children, it will be useful to practise writing the words as well as reading them. The tricky words list for your child will be placed in their home learning folder.

  • Number work

  Your child will also have some early number skills to practise and these will be set at a pace which is suitable for your child.  For example they might be asked to count objects to 10, say the number before and after a given number or to know pairs of numbers which add to make 10.  A list of these skills will be placed in your child’s home learning folder.

   

  How much time should be spent on home learning in Reception?

  Approximately 15 to 20 minutes per day depending upon the child’s level and concentration – children should enjoy this time and not feel pressurised so please do talk to us if it does become challenging to engage your child.

   

   

   

  Home learning in Key Stage 1 (Year 1 and 2)

  For children in Key Stage One, we encourage parents to work together with their child to support them with their home learning. The emphasis remains on English and particularly reading, but we include ways in which children can be supported with important numeracy skills too.

   

  What type of work will my child get?

  We would encourage parents to continue with some of the Reception learning, particularly at the start of Year 1. 

   

  • Adults reading to children – this remains really important even if your child is beginning to read themselves!

     

  Reading on a regular basis is vital when children are in Years 1 and 2. Children will bring their reading books 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 – if they can be sounded out, looking at the pictures for clues and looking at the shape and length of words are some ways in which the child can attempt to read an unknown word.  

  Asking lots questions about the book will help with your child’s understanding of language and therefore you are encouraged to spend several days with the same book so that you can develop a secure understanding of the text.   Also, in the front of your child’s reading diary will be some key learning targets that link directly with their level of reading and this will support you to understand the types of skills that we are expecting your child to be able to do.

  Parents/carers should sign or comment in the reading diary each time they read with the child.

  • High Frequency Words (spellings)

    Children will have daily phonics lessons throughout Key Stage 1, which will also include ways that children can build up a secure sight vocabulary. It is vital that children build up a bank of words which they can read and spell on sight. In the front of the home learning books there will be a list of key words which your child should practise reading and writing regularly – we would also encourage you to re-visit them regularly to reinforce learning.

    You child will also be given a spelling rule or a spelling pattern to investigate each week.  For example they might have been learning about ai making the long a sound as in rain.   They will be given some examples e.g. rain and train and their home learning would be to find other words that fit the same pattern.  Children will no longer be given lists of words to learn but will be tested on words that follow the rule or pattern e.g. brain, claim, stain which all contain the grapheme ai.  This is to ensure that rules and patterns are embedded and can be applied across children’s writing and reading.

  • Numeracy

    Children will be given home learning to develop important numeracy skills. Parents can support their child by giving them lots of opportunities to practise these skills. The children will be working towards a Maths award which will be shared with you. The awards help children to work towards some basic mathematical skills such as confidently knowing their 2, 5 and 10 times tables, doubling each number up to 20, halving each even number up to 20, knowing the number bonds of all numbers up to 20 and so on.

    The award that your child is working on will be stuck in their home learning book.

  • Home Learning grid

    Your child will have a home learning grid which will have a number of activities suggested in it which link to learning in school.  The tasks could be creative, practical, writing based etc.  Your child should choose 1 of these each week and then work with you to complete the learning.  For example if the children were looking at Light and Dark in science, one of the learning activities might be to go to a dark place with a torch to make shadows together.  There is no right or wrong way for your child to present their learning so they might draw some shadows in their home learning book, they might take some photographs of the shadows, they might write about what they did. Further instructions on how to complete the Learning grids can be found inside the front cover of the Home learning book.

     

    How much time should be spent on home learning in Year 1 and 2?

  Approximately 10 - 15 minutes per day on reading or reading related activities depending upon the child’s level and concentration.

  5 minutes on high frequency words and spellings each day.

  5 minutes on maths skills each day.

  Support to complete their learning grid activity which can take as much or as little time as your child would like.

   

  Children should enjoy this time and not feel pressurised so please do talk to us if it does become challenging to engage your child.

   

• Home learning in Key Stage 2 (Year 3 and 4)

   

  As children get older, home learning provides an opportunity for them to develop the skill of independent learning. It is important that parents support their children, but good habits of independent study should be encouraged.

  The main focus for home learning in Year 3 and 4 continues to be English and Mathematics.

   

  What type of work will my child get?

  • 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 that sometimes will go beyond the literal meaning. Children will read texts that are more detailed and will take longer to read. They should be encouraged to read all types of texts including non-fiction.

  Also, in the front of your child’s reading diary will be some key learning targets that link directly with their level of reading and this will support you to understand the types of skills that we are expecting your child to be able to do.

  Parents/carers should sign or comment in the reading diary each time they read with the child or discuss the text.

  • High Frequency Words (spellings)

    Children will be learning about spelling patterns and rules in Year 3 and 4 and some children will also be learning key words.  If your child is learning key words, these will be stuck in the front of the home learning books.  Please support your child to practise reading and writing these regularly – we would also encourage you to re-visit them regularly to reinforce learning.

    You child will also be given a spelling rule or a spelling pattern to investigate each week.  For example they might have been learning about adding  –ness to the ends of words for example happy - happiness.   They will be given some examples that follow the rule or pattern eg silly - silliness and their home learning would be to find other words that fit the same pattern.  Children will no longer be given lists of words to learn but will be tested on words that follow the rule or pattern.  This is to ensure that rules and patterns are embedded and can be applied across children’s writing and reading.

  • Numeracy

    The children will be working towards a Maths award which will be shared with you. The awards help children to work towards some basic mathematical skills such as confidently knowing their times tables and the corresponding division facts or rapidly recalling pairs of numbers that add up to 100 and so on.  Parents can support their child by giving them lots of opportunities to practise these skills.

    The award that your child is working on will be stuck in their home learning book.

  • Home Learning grid

    Your child will have a home learning grid which will have a number of activities suggested in it which link to learning in school.  The tasks could be creative, practical, writing based etc.  Your child should choose 1 from each section each week and then work with you to complete the learning.  For example if the children have been learning about fractions they might be asked to show that they understand halves and quarters.  They might draw shapes and colour and label the halves and quarters or they might cook and cut a pizza into halves and quarters and take photographs to stick in their book.  Further instructions on how to complete the Learning grids can be found inside the front cover of the Home learning book.

     

    How much time should be spent on home learning in Year 3 and 4?

  Approximately 15-20 minutes per day on reading or reading related activities depending upon the child’s level and concentration.

  10 minutes on high frequency words and spellings each day.

  10 minutes on maths skills each day.

  Support to complete their learning grid activities which can take as much or as little time as your child would like.

   

  Children should enjoy this time and not feel pressurised so please do talk to us if it does become challenging to engage your child.

   

  Home learning in Key Stage 2 (Year 5 and 6)

   

  As children get older, home learning provides an opportunity for them to develop the skill of independent learning in preparation for Secondary School. It is important that parents support their children, but good habits of independent study should be encouraged.

  The main focus for home learning in Year 5 and 6 continues to be English and Mathematics but they will also be encouraged to work towards a project based task over a sustained period of time. 

   

  • Reading

    Children may read to an adult, with an adult or read to themselves.  The story and characters should be talked about and new words discussed. Older children need a clear understanding of the text that sometimes will go beyond the literal meaning and children should be encouraged to discuss their reading, using quotes from the text to support their answers.  Children will read texts that are more detailed and will take longer to read but they should continue to be encouraged to read all types of texts including non-fiction.

  Also, in the front of your child’s reading diary will be some key learning targets that link directly with their level of reading and this will support you to understand the types of skills that we are expecting your child to be able to do.

  If your child reads to you or you spend some time discussing the reading, please record your comments in the reading diary.  Children in Year 5 and 6 will be encouraged to use the diary to record their thoughts on their reading for themselves for example they might record what has happened so far or what they think about a character.

  • Spellings (High Frequency Words)

    Children will be learning about spelling patterns and rules and some children will also be learning key words.  If your child is learning key words, these will be stuck in the front of the home learning books.  Please support your child to practise reading and writing these regularly – we would also encourage you to re-visit them regularly to reinforce learning.

    You child will also be given a spelling rule or a spelling pattern to investigate each week.  For example they might have been learning about homophones and they will be given some examples e.g. hair and hare or deer and dear. Their home learning would be to find other homophones.   Children will no longer be given lists of words to learn but will be tested on words that follow the rule or pattern.  This is to ensure that rules and patterns are embedded and can be applied across children’s writing and reading.

  • Learning Logs

    Your child will have a learning log and each week the teacher will stick tasks into the log for your child to complete. The tasks are often open-ended and there is no set way for the children to present their work and they can do it differently each week. For example, they can draw pictures and posters, stick items in, research and/or write about a topic. Every week the children will have two separate tasks, usually one for English and one for maths but occasionally the tasks may be based on another curriculum area such as science or history. Further instructions on how to complete Learning Logs can be found inside the front cover of each log and we do have some examples of completed logs if you would like to see an example.

  • Punctuation and Grammar

    Children will have a folder with a weekly worksheet which will reinforce an element of punctuation or grammar, linked to what they have been learning in class.

  • Numeracy

    The children will be working towards a Maths award which will be shared with you. The awards help children to work towards some basic mathematical skills such as confidently knowing their times tables and the corresponding division facts or rapidly recalling pairs of numbers that add up to 1000 and so on. Parents can support their child by giving them lots of opportunities to practise these skills.

    The award that your child is working on will be stuck in their home learning book.

  • Creative Home learning

    Each term, all children in Year 5 and 6 will be set a piece of creative home learning. This home learning is open ended and allows them to work on a creative project which can be presented in any way which they wish. Creative home learning is set 3 times a year and the children will have about 6 weeks to complete their project.

    How much time should be spent on home learning in Year 5 and 6?

  A minimum of 20 minutes reading 5x per week.

  A minimum of 60 minutes on their Learning Log (30 minutes per task).

  30 minutes per week on a spelling, punctuation, grammar or maths award activity.  This could be 3x 10 minutes.

  Support to complete their creative home learning which can take as much or as little time as your child would like.

   

   

   

  How can parents find out more information about home learning?

  Each teacher produces a termly Curriculum leaflet which gives an outline of the topics being covered during the term.  On this leaflet, it will state which day home learning will be set and when it is expected back.

  Teachers will have different systems for handing in home learning and they will tell parents and children about this at the beginning of the year.

  If parents need advice on how to support their children with home learning then they can speak to the child’s class teacher.

   

  Why will children sometimes be given extra home learning?

  Children who take part in specialised lessons such as Booster Classes or Intervention groups may sometimes be set extra home learning to reinforce the work being done.

  Additionally, children who work in a one to one situation with teaching assistants, will sometimes be given extra home learning.

  In both cases, children should complete this work alongside their normal home learning unless the child or the parents have been told otherwise.

   

  What will happen if children don’t complete their home learning?

  The expectation is that children will complete their home learning. However, if for any reason children are unable to do it, for example if you are away for the weekend, parents/ carers should inform the class teacher. Teachers will keep records of children completing home learning and these records will be checked on a regular basis.

  Home learning is not compulsory and you may decide that your child is taking part in a great deal of activity outside of school such as dance lessons, swimming, brownies and so on.  If this is the case please do let us know otherwise there may be occasions when your child will miss playtime or some of a lunch time, if they have not completed home learning.

  What if a child says they have received no home learning?

  If there is a reason why home learning has not been set, the class teacher will inform parents, usually by text.  If parents have not received a text but there doesn’t appear to be any home learning, please check with the teacher.

  We will begin to set home learning tasks in the second week (usually the first full week) of each term and we will not set home learning in the last week of a term.

  How will the home learning be marked?

  Teachers will mark children’s home learning in a variety of ways.  The Learning Logs/Grids and Creative Home Learning tasks will be ‘quality marked’which means the children will be praised for their efforts and comments, specific to their work will be made.  Improvement prompts will be included where necessary. Teachers generally will not mark home learning that is handed in late.