Parent's Area : Homework

Lockington C.E. Primary School

Homework Policy

Although homework or working at home has a valuable contribution to play in children's learning, children also have a right to time out of school to socialise, pursue their own interests and to relax.

Our homework policy is set within this belief, that many of our children are occupied in valuable learning experiences out of school hours. We therefore ask a minimum of homework from the children but that which we do ask we expect to be done.

For children in Key Stage 1 developing a partnership with parents / carers and involving them in their child's learning is the key purpose. Short activities of different kinds provide a very important opportunity for young children to talk about what they are learning to an interested adult and to practise key skills in a supportive environment.

As children get older homework provides an opportunity for children to develop the skills of independent learning and this should increasingly become its main purpose. Children should gradually get into the habit of regularly devoting periods of time to study on their own. Not only will their learning benefit but also the transition to Year 7 will be smoother.

Purposes of Homework

to help develop an effective partnership between home and school in pursuing the aims of the school
to consolidate and reinforce skills and understanding, particularly in literacy and numeracy
to exploit resources for learning of all kinds at home
to extend school learning through, for example, additional reading
to encourage the older children to develop the confidence and self discipline to study on their own in preparation for the requirements of the secondary school

We do not expect children to finish off work at home, other than in exceptional circumstances. The work that children are set in school is appropriate to their ability and all children should therefore be able to complete their tasks in the allocated time.

We do not expect children to be set a task which requires a parent / carer to teach the child a new concept - that is the teacher's role. An exception could be when a child is experiencing a particular difficulty and the teacher has asked that explanation and help be given.

We do not expect that a great deal of written homework will be set unless it is, for example, research which will inform a child's learning in school and may be fed back to other children. Teachers have a heavy workload without the extra task of marking large amounts of written homework.

Time allocation

We recommend:

Years 1 & 2 1 hour per week focusing on reading, spelling and other

literacy and numeracy work

Year 3 & 4 1.5 hours per week as above with occasional assignments in

other subjects

Years 5 & 6 0.5 hours per day continued emphasis on literacy

and numeracy but also ranging over the

whole curriculum

All children, including those in Reception, take home their reading book and Reading Record Book every night. Parents are encouraged to use the Reading Record Book as a means of dialogue between home and school.

Children in Key Stage 2 have a Homework Diary in which to record their set activities.

This should go home every night for parents to see and annotate if they wish, sharing any problems or providing positive feedback.

Homework, particularly for the younger children may take the form of games to be played with an adult.

For Key Stage 1 homework largely consists of reading in its broadest sense - looking at books together, talking about stories, predicting, empathising and practising newly learned skills.

Alongside children reading their school book are the many opportunities encountered in everyday life - reading road signs, recipes etc.

All children should read every night with the most fluent readers reading on their own for 10 - 20 minutes.

In Key Stage 1 spellings are learned in class and during the daily phonics lesson. Occasionally individual children may receive their own personal spellings to learn at home with parents.

Children in Key Stage 2, who do not know the first 250 high frequency spellings and the Year 4/5 spellings from the National Literacy Strategy, have their own personal spellings to learn for an individual test, generally each week. The more competent spellers secure their knowledge during the daily phonics lesson.

Children in Key Stage 2 receive mathematics homework on a routine weekly basis in the form of tables to be learned, mathematical problems to solve or facts to be learned. The homework is expected to be complete within a week and is always recorded in the Homework diary for parents to see.

Older children may be asked to undertake some research for history / geography or possibly prepare a presentation.

Individual children may be asked to work at home to overcome a specific problem / difficulty e.g. handwriting.

The Role of Parents / Guardians / Carers

Parents / Carers are encouraged to:

encourage a homework routine
provide a reasonably peaceful, suitable place for homework- alone or, more often with young children, together with an adult
make it clear to children that they value homework and support the school in explaining how it can help their learning
encourage children and praise them when they have completed a task
speak to the school about any concerns over the quantity and / or content of the homework
remember that many activities undertaken at home relate to school such as baking, water play and visits to places of interest!