Homework

We believe that homework should be another way to support our vision that every child will become a ‘lifelong learner’.  It should therefore be fun, engaging and enhance the children’s independence, confidence and resilience as well as consolidate previous learning and/or support new learning. 

From Year One onwards, the children receive homework on Google Classroom.

What homework looks like in our school:

EYFS: (homework on Tapestry)

Reading: Each child is expected to read every day to encourage a love of reading and fuel their imagination. Parents are encouraged to listen to their child read, read with and to their child and to discuss what has been read with them. 

Optional Activity: Each week, staff set a suggested activity for Reception children which will either reinforce and build upon learning from the previous week, or help to prepare children for the following week. These activities will be practical and fun, and are not compulsory.

KS1:

Reading: Each child is expected to read every day to encourage a love of reading, develop a broad vocabulary and fuel their imagination. Parents are encouraged to listen to their child read, read with and to their child and to discuss what has been read with them. Books from the reading scheme (until they become a ‘free reader’) are sent home weekly plus children have access to library books. We try to encourage children to select from a range of genres, authors and themes and include fiction, non-fiction and poetry. 

Spelling: High frequency words lists are sent home at the start of the year.   Over the term there are a range of strategies to learn spellings shown in class and weekly spellings are sent home to learn.

English: The children are given an activity that will help them with their current learning in class or will be a help with learning the following week.  This may link to the topic that they are learning about.  We strongly encourage completion of these tasks.

Maths: Yr 1 - Children are set one piece of maths homework per week to consolidate and extend learning.  We strongly encourage completion of these tasks

Yr 2 - Children are set one piece of maths homework per week to consolidate and extend learning.  We strongly encourage completion of these tasks. 

Part way through the year Yr 2 gain access to Times Table Rockstars. We recommend that children play for 15min a week to develop their multiplication and division facts recall.

KS2:

Reading: Each child is expected to read every day to encourage a love of reading, develop a broad vocabulary and inspire their imagination. Parents are encouraged to listen to their child read, read with and to their child and to discuss what has been read with them.  Books are selected from a range of genres and themes and should include fiction, non fiction and poetry. 

Spelling: At the beginning of each half term children will be given age-related vocabulary lists to learn over the half term. The expectation is that the children will learn and use these words within their work. They will be assessed on their learning through different means e.g. dictation, so that the children learn to use and spell these words in context. The words will include subject specific words as well as words from the National Curriculum lists.

Maths: Children are expected to complete mental maths activities (30 minutes a week) to embed their knowledge of the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) through the use of Times Tables Rockstars.  There will also be weekly maths homework set that supports the learning in class that week; this may be in the form of online activities or questions sent home.  This is expected to take no more than 30min.  Whilst completion of maths tasks is strongly encouraged in all year groups, it is compulsory in Year 5 and 6.

Half-term Homework: The topics that we choose at Foulds are designed to engage and inspire our children and we know that, with their interests piqued, they want to go on to find out more.  We love this curiosity and want to feed it.  Therefore, at the start of each half term or term (depending on the topic a Phase is covering), two optional tasks are set around their new topic.   One of these tasks will be a trip/visit (if suitable) that we think will enhance your child’s learning about the topic and one will be a project that they can do if they wish to delve even deeper into their learning. 

In Upper Key Stage 2 there may be times in the year where there is more homework.  This will be to consolidate learning, for example in grammar, reading comprehension or maths and this will be compulsory.