Home Learning

We provide abundantly for the needs of the pupils as Jesus abundantly met the needs of the 5000, by ensuring the pupils receive- an education appropriate to the world outside their classroom 

At St George’s Primary School we aim to achieve success. We set challenging targets for our pupils and support them in achieving their goals.

We ensure that our practise and the provision we offer is based on the latest educational research, we learn from and through experience as well as by networking with other local schools both on the Isle of Sheppey (Isle of Sheppey collaboration) as well as part of our Aquila Multi Academy Trust group.

To achieve the best outcomes for pupils we have reviewed the way in which the traditional homework model can be improved so that parents, pupils and staff can work effectively making the best use of time to raise attainment.

We expect all pupils to work hard throughout the school day and therefore their time outside of school should principally be for extra-curricular activities, rest and relaxation. Going to, for example, Brownies, Beavers, swimming, dance and football clubs are very valuable activities. As far as possible we will try to provide provision for some activities as part of a club at the end of the school day. Equally valuable, however, is family time spent at home, playing, talking and seeing friends.

We also believe that a carefully balanced home learning programme is beneficial for pupils for the following reasons:

• To give parents the opportunity to be directly involved in their child’s learning
• To reinforce the partnership between home and school
• To consolidate skills learnt in school and give opportunities to extend learning

Homework vs Home Learning

Should teachers give homework to students? If so, how much and what type of homework should be assigned? How much time should pupils spend on homework? What roles should parents play in the child’s homework?

Quite a bit of research has been done over the decades on homework and the evidence is fairly clear in terms of the type of home learning that has a positive impact on pupil learning and the type of work set that does not. We are well aware of the important role parents play in supporting their child’s learning. One of the key indicators of pupils’ success at primary school is the level to which parents and carers engage in what their child is learning.

Traditional models of homework, when a child is set a series of questions to work through, have little to no impact upon learning and in some cases have a negative impact. Children can see the exercises as pointless and lose enthusiasm in learning which can be incredibly damaging.

What works?

When homework works best, pupils are allowed opportunities to ‘prepare’ for a topic of area of learning., complete a projects and/or read around it, following their own lines of enquiry or interests. This type of home learning encourages pupils to develop independence and a love of knowledge. They find things out for themselves and therefore have a far greater ownership over what they have learnt.

Some aspects of learning simply need practise, such as reading and recalling facts. These are incorporated into our approach ensuring that our pupils develop an independent approach to learning, whilst also consolidating key facts, and practising skills.

One of the key indicators of a pupil’s success at primary school is the level to which parents and carers engage in what their child is learning.

How can parents support home learning?

Parents have an important role to play in supporting this approach to Home Learning. Simply sending your child to school with a pencil case and their homework book does not work. For our pupils to achieve success we need parents to take an interest in what their children are learning.

Here are some tips from the Department of Education as to how parents can best support their children:

1. Make Time: Your child will benefit from you taking an interest in what they are doing.
2. Experiences: Try and link life and leisure experiences to your child’s school work e.g. visits to the park, museum or days out.
3. Talk: Make time to ask your child about what they are studying and what they have learned. Another great way to show you are interested is to attend school activities such as parents’ evenings and sports events etc.

Reading: It is important that children read every day at a level with which they are confident and comfortable. Even once your child is a fluent reader it is still essential to read and discuss books with your child as well as to read to and with them. This enhances comprehension skills and understanding.

Times-tables: Children need to have quick mental recall of number facts; we expect pupils to know all of their tables to 12 x 12 by the end of year 4.

Consolidation: Periodically, teachers may set consolidation home learning in English or Maths. If a concept has been particularly tricky to master in class or further practice is required then it can be beneficial to spend some time at home rehearsing what has been covered in class.

Maths: At the start of every half-term the newsletter will outline the number concepts to practise e.g. in Year R it might be counting forwards and backwards using numbers to 20. In Year 4 it might be comparing and ordering numbers to 10000. Parents will also be sent home leaflets about key skills your child will be learning in that year of school and activities/ideas to reinforce these.

We have some Maths homework books which are free to download and print for parents.  Please see below 

Find out more:

Our approach to Home Learning is based upon the most recent educational research. You can find out more from any of the sources below:

• Visible Learning: Prof. John Hattie
• Toolkit of Strategies to improve learning: Sutton Trust
• Department for Education: www.education.gov.uk
• The Facts on Education: How useful is homework? http://www.cea-ace.ca/publication/facts-education-how-useful-homework
• Our Home Learning policy can be found below

Home Learning Schedule:

Year Group	Phonics and Reading	Doodle Maths	Spellings	Topic
R	Phonics + 10 mins reading per night	Doodle Maths 10 mins per night	Pupils will be given spellings by class teachers to learn weekly or termly.	Home Learning activities sent home 3 times a year. Pupils to pick a minimum of 1 activity from each area (5 areas in total) and complete.
1	Phonics + 10 mins reading per night	Doodle Maths 10 mins per night Tell the time to the nearest hour and half hour
2	Phonics + 10 – 20 mins reading per night	Doodle Maths 10 – 20 mins per night. 2, 3, 5 and 10 times tables Tell the time to the nearest minute.
3	Home reading 20 – 30 mins reading per night	Doodle Maths 20 – 30 mins per night 4 and 8 times tables
4	Home reading 20 – 30 mins reading per night	Doodle Maths 20 – 30 mins per night 6, 7, 9, 11 and 12 times tables
5	Home reading 30 + mins reading per night	Doodle Maths 30 + mins per night Consolidation of times tables
6	Preperation for SATs/Secondary School Homework Programme

Maths Homework Books

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Supporting your child with Reading

We believe in developing a reading culture throughout the school by creating welcoming book areas in classrooms, a school library hosting a variety of books, and raising the profile of reading through a print rich environment, attractive book displays and promoting the written word at all times.

In the Early Years and Key Stage One the children are taught to read using Read, Write Inc. which is a programme created by Ruth Miskin.  Through discrete phonics lessons, children learn to read accurately and fluently with good comprehension. They learn to form each letter, spell correctly and compose their ideas step-by-step.

Throughout the programme, children learn the English alphabet code: the 150+ graphemes that represent 44 speech sounds. They rapidly learn sounds and the letter, or groups of letters, they need to represent them, in three sets of Speed Sounds Lessons. Simple and enjoyable mnemonics help all children to grasp the letter-sound correspondences quickly, especially those who are at risk of making slower progress or those who are new to learning English. This knowledge is taught and consolidated every day. High-frequency words that are not phonetically regular are taught as ‘tricky’ words (we call them Red Words) and are practised frequently.

Lively phonic books are closely matched to children’s increasing knowledge of phonics and ‘tricky’ words so that, early on, they experience plenty of success. Repeated readings of the texts support their increasingly fluent decoding.

Phonics is taught daily in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. The children receive a 30 minute discreet phonics lesson, and are often placed in ability groups across their year group for this lesson. Assessments are made termly and pupils are moved group depending on their scores.

In year 1 pupils take part in the statutory phonics assessment in June. This assesses their knowledge of phonics by reading words, either real of made up. Typically children need to score 32 out of 40 in order to pass the test. Any pupil who does not receive the pass grade will have further ‘catch-up’ lessons in Year 2 and resit the test again at the end of year 2. Parent information sessions are held throughout Year 1 to help you support your child with phonics at home.

• Read, Write Inc. – An article explaining the Read, Write Inc phonics scheme
• Top tips for Parents – Ruth Miskin shares some tips to help you support your child with phonics

Read, Write Inc FAQs

As children become more fluent in their reading and progress throughout the school they then are able to join our Accelerated Reader programme. Accelerated Reader monitors and tracks the progress of pupils reading. It helps us to assess pupils reading level, suggest titles of books at that level, and then assess the pupils’ comprehension of the book by asking a series of quiz questions. Pupils take the quizzes using IPad’s in the classrooms and enjoy sharing the feedback they receive. Each week we celebrate they class who have passed the most quizzes and the class who have earned the most points, points are earned by taking quizzes even if you don’t pass them.

We encourage parents to use AR Bookfinder to help pupils identify which book they would like to read next. AR Bookfinder is an online tool which checks if ANY published book is on the Accelerated Reader scheme and, if it is, what level the book is. It is a very useful tool to help parents select the most appropriate books for their child if going to the library or book shop.

• What is Read Write Inc – Watch the 2 mins parent video (Note: BROKEN LINK)
• AR Book Finder – Help find the right books to support your child’s reading ability