Homework in the Primary School
PATHS – Parents and Teachers Home
support.
At AAESS we feel homework is important and sets good working
habits. We want to make sure it is valuable, flexible, creative
and fun. Our homework tasks are directly linked to the needs of
the children and build on previous knowledge.
We use various homework strategies; for example parental support
and guidance, joint family learning tasks and independent
learning. Homework will not always take the form of recorded
work.
In Key Stage 1, we will outline what has been happening in class
and then give suggestions for practical activities rather than
recorded. We will draw on the internet to give further learning
opportunities.
Suggested homework times (4 times a week) -
Reception –
10 minutes per night reading
Year 1 – 10 minutes reading per night and 10
minutes other
Year 2 – 10 minutes reading per night and 15
minutes other
In Key Stage 2, we will outline what has been happening in
class, share examples of practical activities, draw on the
internet to give further learning opportunities and support this
learning with recorded work where we feel it is appropriate. We
aim to give a varied homework diet with a strong mix of simple
oral activities, investigative work and scaffolded recorded
tasks.
Suggested homework times (4 times a week) –
Year 3 – 15
per night reading and 20 minutes other
Year 4 – 15 minutes reading per night and 25 minutes
other
Year 5 – 20 minutes reading per night and 30 minutes
other
Year 6 - 20 minutes reading per night and 40
minutes other
Our pledge to children and parents
• We will inform you of our classroom activities and help
support your discussions and activities at home
• We will give you suggestions for home support
•
We will try to vary tasks to keep children of all
learning styles and interests are stimulated.
•
We will offer differentiated activities as and when
appropriate.
•
We will review our homework policy regularly and make
amendments as necessary
•
We will strive to keep homework interesting and creative
•
We will share and delight in your child’s work at home as
before. As the children's home work supports our class
learning, their work at home will always be acknowledged.
•
If we feel a particular child needs a different homework
approach, we will communicate this to you and change it.
•
We appreciate that every child is different.
•
Each year group’s homework will be posted to your family
e mail address and put on the web site every Sunday
•
The homework will be held on the web site for one week
only
•
For those of you that do not have an internet connection,
we will hold a hard copy in each classroom that can be copied at
your request
•
Should you requite a hard copy every week, please
communicate this to the class teacher. It is not a problem, but
we would like to keep paper copies to a minimum
How to support your child at home
•
Always tackle homework at a suitable time – often this is
not straight after school or just before bed time
•
Stick roughly to the time guide lines
•
Encourage your child to retrieve the homework each week
from the internet if possible
•
Talk through the class activities and encourage your
child to tell you more about them
•
Ask questions about the class work - discussion is very
important
•
Get your child into a reading routine – this can be
silently and independently at times and aloud with an audience
at others. Encourage discussion about the book and not just
decoding.
•
Read through the suggested PATHS activities. They should
be self explanatory, but they will have been discussed with your
child in class, so ask them too.
•
Set time aside for different suggested activities but
utilise other incidental time too eg, taxi rides, bath time…….
•
Try not to get too stressed if your child is struggling.
Leave the task and come back to it, or ask the teacher for more
support.
•
You know your child well. Do what you can in the time
you have but make sure that your child still has time for
‘normal’ family activities and play.
•
Offer lots of support, encouragement and praise.
