Homework is a necessary activity and will help to develop pupils' organisational skills and prepare them for life in secondary school. It should:
- be set according to the motto, "little and often";
- not be set just for the sake of it;
- help to reinforce and recap previous teaching, not cover new territory.
Therefore, you should expect your child to carry out the following homework activities each week.
Reading
Pupils should read every evening. Most pupils are now independent readers which means they may often read to themselves. Adults can help to support by talking about the books that the children are reading - asking them about things such as the story plot and characters. Reading may include fiction, non-fiction, Internet research, eBooks etc.
Spelling
Rather than bringing spellings home to learn for a weekly test, the teaching of spelling patterns will now be covered within English lessons.
Maths
This year we will be developing the speed of the instant recall of mathematical facts and multiplication tables, using the Club 99 challenge. This consists of an increasing number of questions to be answered in 10 minutes, with the advanced levels being completed in 5 minutes.
Monday: Pupils will bring home their test from the previous week (in order to see which questions they were struggling with) along with a blank test if they move up a level to rehearse during the week.
Friday: Pupils will take the test to try and score 100% and move onto the next level.
In addition, Daily Maths Questions (DMQs) will be sent home (Tue-Thu). Designed to encourage pupils to rehearse previously taught work, these are quick fire questions and will not take a significant amount of time. Sometimes they will be multiple choice with a space to record the reasoning as to why the answer is either A,B,C or D. At other times there may be a space provided to give the answer. Rather than being done in a book, these will be given as a slip - the sheets should be returned the next day and support will be given if a correct answer has not been given.
Other Homework
On occasions, when relevant, work may be sent home to continue from lessons, along with activities to increase confidence and pace. Pupils are always encouraged to pursue their own interests by carrying out additional topic work research or preparation for class presentations.
