Homework

Rationale

We believe that homework is an opportunity for parents/carers to become active partners in supporting learning. Homework can help promote a positive attitude to learning at home and show children that home and school are working together in partnership. We believe that homework should be enjoyable for the child and should stimulate imagination and creativity, reinforce lessons taught in school and give the opportunity for applying learned skills.

At Kings Road, we aim to

Give pupils the opportunity to extend their learning in areas of personal interest and stimulate imagination and creativity.

Encourage children to develop the confidence, independence, resilience and motivation needed to study away from the school environment.

Provide opportunities for parents and children to work together, thereby, fostering an effective partnership between home and school.

Ensure a consistent approach throughout the school.

Homework will be broken into two key elements-core homework and optional family homework.

Research has shown that homework has very little impact on the progress children make at primary school unless it is reading and the learning of rapid recall facts. What has the most impact is talking to others, sharing ideas, and exploring concepts. These things cannot be shown through the completion of a sheet, but are ingrained in the quality of conversation that is had in the moment and the reflection that comes from that.

Core Homework

Reading for Pleasure – regularly through the week.

Reading regularly with your child and in EYFS and year 1 using the weekly phonics sheet to reinforce phonics.

Daily practise of Number Bonds/Times Tables/telling the time (as appropriate to year group) This could include using TT Rock Stars.

Weekly spellings sent home or linked to the statutory spelling list for the year group.

Family Homework

Family Homework invites the children, siblings and parents/carers to spend time together, collaborating and having fun when completing the tasks set. Families will have the opportunity to complete a series of tasks that are sent home at the beginning of each half term. The suggested activities list is not exhaustive; we ask the children to do as many of the suggested ideas as they wish. Families are able to choose when they do the homework and how this could look so there is flexibility built in for our differing families and all of their needs.

Feedback will be given to pupils on their homework in a number of ways:

Directly from the teacher in the form of verbal feedback

Peer feedback during sharing/celebration assemblies once a half term.

Marked tests (spelling/times tables etc)

Pupils with SEND

We aim to ensure that all tasks set are appropriate to the ability of all. When setting homework to pupils who have SEND, we refer, wherever possible, to their Educational Health Care Plans and one plans.

Reading

Children from Reception and Year 1 will take home graphemes that the children have learnt that week along with common exception words to learn at home. This is supported by a book that is linked to the phonics that they have learnt that week. Children can also take home books from the classroom library. Children have home school books that parents are encouraged to write in.

From Yr 2-6 children will have books they take home, some will be banded according to the children’s needs or a book from the class library. Children from year 2-6 are encouraged to write in their reading journals.