Homework

We are passionate about equipping every child with the academic tools they need to be successful in secondary school and beyond. In order to do this in an informed way, we look at what research says about the most effective ways of doing things and shape our school policies to match.

What does research say?

· Overall, homework in primary schools does not appear to lead to large increases in learning

 · Activities that involve the parent and child working together on something or talking about work in school can be more effective

· Regular daily homework in the form of worksheets which a child is expected to do unaided can have a negative effect

· The most effective thing any parent can do to help their child succeed at school is to read stories to them every night.

Planning, collecting in and marking homework takes a lot of staff time. Since research show that formal homework does not lead to increases in learning, we therefore consider it to be poor stewardship of the limited resource of staff time to waste it on something that is unlikely to be productive. So rather than homework, we promote home learning.

Home learning in our schools aims to:

· Recognise and celebrate learning that already happens at home

· Promote parents and children reading and talking together

· Providing opportunities for pupils to feel proud about pushing themselves beyond what is compulsory

· Encourage perseverance, self-discipline and pupils taking responsibility for their own learning

· Enabling classwork to concentrate on those things that require the teacher’s presence.

Home learning in the Reception

In the early years, parents should read a story to their child daily. If parents cannot do this for some reason, then the parent should ensure that an older sibling, or older relative can do this on their behalf. There is nothing else a parent can do that will have more impact than this. Parents should make sure their child is a member of their local library in North Walsham and visit regularly. Our Reception Team celebrate children who have read every day across the school week. Once our Reception children have begun to blend sounds into words they will also bring home a Read Write Inc Book Bag Book for the children to read aloud to an adult every day.  Parents will be expected to support their child's learning in phonics by practising graphemes and 'Fred Talk' (blending sounds into words).

Home learning in Years 1-6

Compulsory home learning: basic skills practice.

•  All children will be expected to read books daily at home.

We want all children to be 5* readers. This means they are reading 5 times every week. The more they practise reading, the easier and more enjoyable it will become. There is not enough time during the school day for children to practise skills as often as they need to – so doing this at home is vital. Children also need to learn to persevere in reading longer texts as their reading skills develop. Children who do not practise reading at home are very likely to fall behind and will then struggle throughout their school careers. Children who read five times at home in a week will be entered into a raffle to win a weekly book prize. 

The more parents read to their children, the larger their vocabulary will grow and the more they will develop their own love of reading. This is as true of children in Years 5 and 6 as it is of children in Year 1.

• Children must also spend time each day revising their number facts (counting, addition and subtraction number bonds and timetables) and
• spellings.

Ten minutes every day is much more effective than an hour once a week. The more children practise these, the easier the facts will be to remember. The quicker they can remember them  automatically, the more their brain has space to work on other, higher level things. If we do not practise maths facts and spellings regularly, we will begin to forget them.

Homework will be set on Google Classroom and through the Times Tables Rock Stars website (Years 2 to 6). 

We understand that parents determine what actually gets done at home.

We want our pupils to learn:

· The more you challenge yourself, the more your brain grows as you learn new things

· Success comes from effort and practice

· Success lies in our own hands....we can choose the easy path or we can choose to take on challenges

· Success is optional. It is a choice you make. Stretch yourself and learn or take it easy and waste your talents?

 We also want to recognise and celebrate the learning that goes on at home that is not organised by school. Children can tell us about what they have been learning at home by drawing, sending a photo via Class Dojo, bringing in leaflets or photos or writing about it.

For example, a child might

· Be learning to play a musical instrument

· Attend a football or swimming club

· Be taught how to cook something or make a snack

· Go on a trip with their parents to visit a museum or art gallery

· Learn another language

· Go and see a concert or a play at the theatre

· Go to classes about their religion

· Play an educational game online

· Go with their parents on a long walk in the park – maybe collecting conkers or making bark rubbings

· Attend ballet, judo or drama classes

· Belong to an organisation such as the Brownies or Cubs and attend regularly

· Be learning how to knit or sew or do woodwork or fix a bike

· Use the internet, together with their parent, to find out about something they are learning at school.

This list is not exhaustive – anything where a child is learning something new, counts.

Year 6

In order to get Year 6 ready for secondary school, where regular homework will be expected on a daily basis, the class teacher may also send home additional compulsory tasks in English, science and maths, on top of the home learning outlined.

For example, they might be given a maths worksheet to do or a reading comprehension.

Children with Education and Health Care Plans

The compulsory element of the home learning policy may be modified for children with an education and health plan, to best fit in with their needs. Where this is necessary, it will be discussed with parents.

Compulsory Home Learning