The Silver Birch Academy

Home Learning Policy

September 2015-July 2016

Home Learning Policy 3Rationale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

How Teachers can help the pupils in their class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3How Parents and caregivers can help their children to complete Home Learning Activities . . . . 4Home Learning Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Organisation of Home learning across EYFS, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Useful links for parents (educational websites) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Aims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Homework Expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Page 2 of 8

Home Learning Policy

Rationale

Homework or Home learning activities are school related activities undertaken at home. Home learning helpspupils by complementing and reinforcing classroom learning and fostering good lifelong learning and studyhabits. It provides an opportunity for pupils to be responsible for their own learning. For home learning to beeffective, the activities must be meaningful, relevant and related to work being studied in the classroom.

Guidelines

Home learning is an opportunity to develop a partnership with the school by establishing regular home learningpatterns from when pupils start school. It also enables parents to actively participate as partners with theirchildren in the education process. By completing home learning activities regularly, pupils are assisted todevelop organisational and time management skills. It also promotes self-discipline, skills in using out-of-school resources and a personal responsibility for learning. Parents and pupils are advised of Home Learningexpectations at the beginning of the school year and in termly Year Group Letters to parents. Pupils from Year1 – 6 are also provided with a Home Learning Book in which to complete tasks. These books will be marked bythe teacher and on occasion, peer marked. It is expected that pupils complete the home learning requirementsas indicated by their classroom teacher. Whilst it is important that children take increasing responsibility forcompleting their own work as they move through Key Stage 2, Great Chart encourages parents to sign theHomework Diaries as the children complete tasks. Parents will be informed if children repeatedly do notcomplete Home Learning Tasks.

How Teachers can help the pupils in their class

There are a number of ways in which teachers can support their pupils when setting Home Learning tasks.These include:

• Setting regular home learning to help pupils establish a home study routine• Setting varied, challenging and meaningful tasks related to class work that are appropriate to the pupils’

learning needs• Giving pupils enough time to complete home learning, taking into account, home obligations and extra-

curricular activities• Assessing Home learning and providing practical feedback and support• Helping pupils develop the organisational and time management skills needed for them to be responsible

for their own learning• Ensuring that parents and caregivers are aware of the School’s home learning policy• Developing strategies to support parents to become active partners in Home learning

Page 3 of 8

How Parents and caregivers can help their children to complete Home LearningActivities

There are a number of ways in which teachers can support their pupils when setting Home Learning tasks.These include:

• Encouraging them to take increasing responsibility for their learning and organisation• Observing and acknowledging their success and asking how their home and class work is progressing• Attending school events, displays or productions in which their children are involved• Encouraging them to set aside a regular daily session to read and complete home learning• Setting an example by reading themselves• Contacting the relevant teacher to discuss any problems their children are having with home learning• Helping them to balance the amount of time spent completing home learning, watching television, playing

computer games and engaging in other leisure or recreational activities• Checking whether home learning for upper primary has been set and ensuring they keep a home learning

diary• Reading texts set by teachers. Discussing their child’s response to the texts and asking to see work they

complete in relation to these texts• Discussing home learning in their first language, where English is not the main language spoken at home,

and linking it to their previous experiences

Home Learning Activities

To complement the new expectations of the 2014 Curriculum, Home Learning Activities will take a range offorms including:

• reading on a regular basis including undertaking ‘Bug Club’ Reading based activities• reinforcing acquired skills and knowledge, e.g. spelling words• working on Art / DT or Topic based projects• gathering information or materials to extend their class work• investigating, exploring and making observations• completing unfinished work

Organisation of Home learning across EYFS, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2

EYFS

• Daily Reading Practice and Key Word Practice• Weekly activity sheet for Home Learning.• Other activities are also recorded in the child’s Home/School Link book

Year 1

• Daily Reading Practice with Reading Journals used to extend able readers• Weekly Spellings from January• Weekly Numeracy Activity

Year 2

Page 4 of 8

• Daily Reading Practice with Reading Journals used to extend able readers• Weekly Spellings• Weekly Tables• Weekly Numeracy or Literacy Activity• Longer Home Learning Activity to be completed during the holidays

Year 3

• Shared Reading• Weekly Spellings• Weekly Tables• Weekly Numeracy, Literacy or Topic Activity

Year 4

• Shared Reading• Weekly Spellings• Weekly Tables• Weekly Numeracy, Literacy, Topic Activity

Year 5

• Shared Reading• Weekly Spellings• Weekly Tables• Weekly Numeracy, Literacy or Topic Activity

Year 6

• Shared Reading• Weekly Spellings• Weekly Tables• 1-2 Numeracy Activities• Literacy or Topic Activity

Useful links for parents (educational websites)

• Bugclub• Planet Sherston

Introduction

We believe that homework makes a valuable contribution to children’s learning. For the older children it helpsprepare them for life at secondary school. Homework also gives parents an opportunity to discuss school workwith their children, providing some understanding of, and insight into, the National Curriculum.

Page 5 of 8

Aims

As in all areas of school life, it is essential that parents and school are clear about what is to be achieved, andare mutually supportive.

We aim to

• Encourage a sense of responsibility in children and help them develop a sense of pride in their work• Reinforce and extend work done at school• Set homework that is suitably differentiated and appropriate to the age of the child• Help prepare older children, particularly those in Year 5 and 6, for life at secondary school• Encourage parents/guardians to continue to be involved with their child’s learning.

Approaches

We believe that homework

• Builds on work done in the classroom and may cover any area of the National Curriculum. Key Stage 2children may be asked to complete research activities or mini-projects

• Develops and extends understanding and allows the pupils to develop as independent learners• Enables the class teacher and the parent to confirm that the child has an understanding of a subject and

helps to instil and develop a sense of discipline about work at home.

In order to ensure the above

• Homework will be provided on a consistent basis, within each year group. Children will be given clearinstructions about the amount of time it should take and when it will be handed in. It is important torecognise that the amount of time taken on a piece of homework will vary according to the year groupand ability of the child

• At the beginning of each term class teachers will provide the parents/guardians with written details ofthe work to be covered and homework expectations in a curriculum letter

• Any pupils who do not have access to the internet or a computer will be offered the use of schoolcomputers during the school day or at homework club

• Homework can be differentiated to cater for individual children’s learning needs.

Homework Expectations

We value our home/school links and this is very important where homework is concerned. Parents are requestedto support and encourage children by giving time and a suitable home environment in which homework canbe done. Children benefit enormously from being able to share their work with their parents. This is not tosuggest that the parent should spend time altering or correcting the child’s work but rather discuss it andsuggest how it might be done differently or improved. Constructive comments enable the child to develop abetter understanding of the work and reinforce what is taught in school. Comments written in contact booksare important and helpful to the teachers

We aim to promote daily reading at home. Each child has a reading record book which parents are requestedto sign. Above all other subjects, reading is a crucial aspect of school work and needs to be encouraged at all

Page 6 of 8

times. A child’s written skills reflect their attitude to reading. A child who reads widely and with enthusiasm isoften able to translate this into written work. It is not always possible for an adult to hear a child read at schoolevery day. It is most important, therefore, for a parent to try to hear their child read as often as possible, todiscuss the plot and characterisation and ask the child questions about what has been read.

In addition all pupils have a learning log and homework may also be set in this. Learning log activities aredesigned to be open ended and allow pupils to record their learning in any way they wish to.

The following list shows what homework is expected in general terms across the school. In addition to this anychild not completing work in class may be asked to finish it at home.

Year R (from Term 2)

Every night ReadingWord building activities, using words given fortnightlyReinforcing weekly letter sounds where appropriate

2x week Sharing Library booksWeekly Learning log - topic based activity

Year 1

Every Night ReadingEvery Week Spelling patterns to learn. Talk homework in Learning LogOccasional Literacy / numeracy / science activity or topic workin Learning Log

Year 2

Every Night ReadingEvery Week Learning log activity

High frequency or Sounds Write words to learnMultiplication tables to learn

Year 3

Every night Reading

RegularlySpelling patterns to learn with Literacy activities andor tables to learnand practiceMaths activities or work linked to curriculum areas in Learning Logs

Year 4

Every night Reading

Every weekLiteracy or maths activities and times tables and spellings to learn andpractice

Regularly RE or Learning log activities related to different curriculum areas

Year 5

Year 6

Page 7 of 8

Every night ReadingEvery week Learning log activities related to different curriculum areas

Spellings and times tables to learn and practiceMaths activities

Regularly R.E.Research and project work

Every night Reading

Every weekMaths & Literacy activities to reinforce classwork OR Learning Logactivities related to different curriculum areas

Regularly R.E.Occasionally Research / Project work

In all year groups homework is set at the teachers’ discretion.

It is also of great benefit to children of all ages to discuss issues of all kinds with their parents. We hopethat parents will support the school in encouraging their children to develop a responsible attitude to theirhomework.

Page 8 of 8