This term we have made some small changes to the way we do our homework. Children in Year 1 to Year 5 will be focusing on reading, spelling and times tables. Children can use their homework book to practise in, but this does not need to be returned to school. However, please note that Reading Diaries must be in school every day with the comment section completed.
In Year 6, children will have revision books to take home, complete and return to school. This will help prepare them for the all-important SATs.
All children from Years 1 to 6 will continue to have weekly spelling tests. Homework will continue to be posted on the year group blogs, this remains the same. So, to ensure you don’t miss any homework, please make sure that you have signed up to your child’s year group blog in order to receive this information.
You say that for homework in years 1 to 5, the children will be “focusing on reading, spelling and times tables”. Does this mean that there will no longer be any homework activities set that are NOT related to these areas, or that they will continue to be set but are not the focus?
Thanks.
Reblogged this on Selsdon Year 3.
I have concerns about this mid term change. If a child is exceeding the standard approach in school or needs assistance to achieve the best they can do, how is no homework going to help support this?
If only reading will be given as daily homework how will maths tests be instigated if no structure on the progress made in school is followed through the home?
If no homework is marked, what activities are the school replacing this time with to continue the focus on the students progress through the years?
What evidence have you witnessed which shows the current methods are not successful?
How does this approach benefit the children?
Where is this benefit documented?
How does this approach benefit the children when they reach high school?
I’m worried that this approach will fail our children in what is already a very competitive world
I think this is good because if you only get seven out of ten in your spellings you can practise in your home work book to do better.
The focus will be on these areas, however teachers may also set topic based homework linked to the children’s learning, for example at the start of a topic or following a school trip.
Hello Pam
Thank you for your comments regarding homework.
Apologies if the blog post suggested that we are no longer asking children to do homework. I would like to clarify that we are not stopping homework, we are just changing the focus. Reading is the daily homework, the children will also have weekly spellings and maths homework. There will be links to maths challenges and activities on the year group blogs so that children can access these to practise their times tables and the skills they have been learning in class. Key Stage 2 children also have sheets in their reading diaries to practise and record their weekly spellings and times tables.
There has been extensive research which highlights the importance of children knowing all of their multiplication tables before they leave primary school. It is not only important that children can recall number facts but that they can also apply these skills when solving number and word problems. As a federation we are committed to ensuring that all of our pupils are equipped with the knowledge and skills that will enable them to be successful in both secondary school and their future lives.
We will be monitoring the effectiveness of homework through spelling tests, reading comprehension activities and the monitoring of progress in books.
Best wishes,
Mrs Parker