Homework - Guidance for Families
At Preston Manor Lower School, we believe Home Learning consolidates and reinforces skills, understanding and knowledge in all curriculum areas, helps raise achievement of individual pupils, provides opportunities for families and children to overcome challenges and reach goals together, and thereby fostering an effective partnership between home and school.
At Preston Manor School, we value the support of families and carers and believe that home-school partnership to grow from strength to strength.
We recognise that learning takes many forms, both in children’s school and home environments and we hope that our home learning reflects a balance of family time to allow learning to be consolidated at home, whilst still allowing for leisure time.
Home Learning
There are various strategies used for assessment, such as peer and self-assessment. There may be times when a Home Learning task is used to practise knowledge in a task that will be marked in class. Work will be assessed by teachers on a Tuesday, however, if Home Learning is handed in late then we cannot guarantee that the teacher will have time to assess that piece. If students persistently hand in Home Learning late, or not at all, then they will have to complete the work in their lunchtimes and a meeting with parents will be arranged.
Open Home Learning will not be set on a weekly basis. It will depend on when it is planned into the Curriculum.
Tuesday | Home Learning due in | Spelling Test in Class |
Thursday | English and Maths Home Learning Tasks are set and handed out | Spelling Test in Class |
Everyday | Reading | Families/carers to record with comments in Reading Diaries |
School Holidays | Open Home Learning during the school holidays |
- Home Learning will be set on these days throughout KS1 and KS2. The amount and the type of learning will become more complex as children move into Upper KS2.
- Home Learning will be due on Tuesday AFTER it is set. Home Learning is always handed out on Thursdays.
- Open Home Learning will not be set on a weekly basis. It will depend on when it is planned into the Curriculum.
Open Home Learning
This refers to a task that is set where the learning, achievement and results can be endless!
Classes may be given stimulus during holiday periods. This stimulus can be an object, story, phrase, idea, character, project etc.
Pupils will be given an open task, which they can interpret in their own way.
E.G. Stimulus: London 2012 Olympic torch
Open task: Represent your knowledge of the London 2012 Olympic torch.
For this example, pupils can:
- Write a story of the history of the Olympic torch
- Make a 3D model of a torch to show its design features.
- Create a map of the torch’s route through Great Britain
- Write a newspaper report interviewing one of the torch bearers
- Create a slideshow of images from the torch’s route using sound and text also.
All of these would meet the task’s Learning Objective and each child would have something different and personalised.
Literacy and Numeracy
Home Learning set on a weekly basis for pupils in KS1 and KS2 is:
- Mental Math’s and Multiplication Facts - There is an expectation for all children to learn basic arithmetic. This needs to be practiced every day at home. Children need to improve both their speed and accuracy in recalling basic arithmetic and multiplication facts. Children will be tested frequently on the speed and accuracy of their recall of these facts. They should know all their multiplication facts up to 12 x 12 by the end of Year 4.
- Math’s Activity related to learning in class – KS1 Math’s learning is sent home in paper format. KS2 will be set on the Atom Learning platform.
- Spellings – the children will be tested on their spellings weekly
- Literacy Activity related to learning in class – KS1 Math’s learning is sent home in paper format and KS2 will be set on the Atom Learning platform. It also will include practicing spellings or handwriting or reading sight words or phonemes.
Reading
Reading is expected to happen every day with children given guided reading books at their level. We want to encourage reading for pleasure and so as an addition, they can borrow books from the LRC as often as they like.
Reception
- Read a phonics sound book every day. Comments to be made in Reading Diary
- Once appropriate, children will be given phonemes, spellings and basic number skills to practice
Year 1 & Year 2
- Read a Guided reading book every day. Comments to be made in the Reading Diary
- Timed mental arithmetic task every week.
- Spellings every week
- One Maths and one English task every week.
- Open Learning task when planned into the curriculum. This will be more frequent for Year 2.
Year 3 and Year 4
- Read a Guided reading book every day. Comments to be made in the Reading Diary
- Timed mental arithmetic task every week.
- Spellings every week
- English and Maths tasks on the Atom Learning Platform every week.
- Open Learning task when planned into the curriculum. Minimum of 2 every term.
Year 5 and Year 6
- Read a Guided reading book every day. Comments to be made in Reading Diary
- Timed mental arithmetic task every
- Spellings every week
- English and Maths tasks on the Atom Learning Platform every week.
- Open Learning task when planned into the curriculum.
To read our Homework Policy please click HERE