Holy Trinity CE Primary Academy

Home learning
Our happy and successful school is built on strong home/school partnerships so that all children thrive and can achieve their very best. Working together we can make home learning a success and help children with their progress, building good habits for a life of learning.

The class homework activities set by teachers are not optional but we hope that by working together to establish good routines it should be enjoyable for the children (and parents) and help them with their progress.

We are very fortunate to have the high levels of support and engagement from home and appreciate the time you spend with your children on school learning whilst juggling clubs, activities and general family life.

Finding a quiet space and time, free from distraction is a priority, and by modelling this with your child(ren) you are helping to instill really good learning behaviours from an early age that they will take with them on their learning journey.

Our daily focus is reading, spelling and numeracy – practice makes permanent. Get the basic fundamentals, and this paves the way for greater learning success.

The Reading Gateway
‘The more you read
The more you will know
The more you learn
The more places you will go!’
Dr Seuss

Language and literacy provide us with the building blocks not just for academic success, but for fulfilling careers and rewarding lives.

At school, our focus is:
• pupils’ speaking and listening skills by encouraging them to read books aloud and have conversations with their teachers and friends about them;
• a balanced and engaging approach to developing reading, which integrates both decoding and comprehension skills;
• promoting fluent written transcription skills by encouraging extensive and effective practice and explicitly teaching spelling;
• targeting teaching and support by accurately assessing pupil needs; and using high-quality structured interventions to help pupils who are struggling with their literacy.

At home, we ask you to read to your children every day, right up to their teens. It is always fun to have a family book on the go. Children who hear a good reader reading to them, find it easier to write well because they instinctively understand what good sentences sound like. You are never too old to be read to. Read together with love and enjoyment. 30 minutes a day of sharing a book together – reading and talking about the story or the characters will really enhance your child’s vocabulary and comprehension as well as being a special time together. Language rich environments and opportunities to talk are crucial to children learning to read quickly, so that a whole new world opens up to them.

Children need to learn to decode each word, of course, but more importantly, they need to understand what they have read. If your child brings home a book that is too challenging for them to read, then you can read it to them, asking them to read short passages, or to find words or letters that they are familiar with. Then ask them questions about what you have read. If they bring home a book that is very easy, that is also absolutely fine. Let them read it easily and with enjoyment and then discuss the text and the pictures, making sure that you explore nuance and hidden meanings. Your child is free to bring home any book from the library that takes their fancy. (Please help us by ensuring the books get brought back again.) We want children to love reading, and to enjoy books.

Whilst no written homework is set, children in years 1 to 6 are expected to practise their times tables and number bonds at home (see homework document below for more information).

These skills are the building blocks for many areas of maths which children will meet in their future education. If children are confident with these skills they are more likely to have the confidence to tackle more complex problems and build on their mathematical skills because they are not having to think about the core skill because it is already established. The ability to learn and recall times tables has also been shown to help with other areas of development such as cognitive, communication, memory and analytical skills.

Other ways to help your child with maths include telling the time, dice games, board games, working out change and other maths problems as they occur in real life.

Letting your child know when you are using everyday maths and even letting them help to solve the problem (if appropriate) is also valuable learning. Some examples of this would be:

There are a few frequently asked questions about homework:
“How much help should I give them?” -Think how your children learn at school. Staff don’t expect them to learn in isolation, we give support, guidance, show them new skills or make sure they are safe if using particular tools or materials. Work and learn alongside them, talking and help them develop their ideas, skills and understanding, whilst still trying to develop resilience and independence.

“How much time should we spend on a task?” – This is linked a little to the child’s own age and a 10 – 30 minute focused burst is much more effective than spending a couple of hours on something whilst at primary school. However sometimes a project will take longer or a child might become particularly engaged with a piece. Quality always outweighs quantity – and for some children, developing this skill can be harder than the more common issue of time management.

‘’What are the expectations for homework at Holy Trinity Primary Academy?’’
Key Stage 1
Foundation Stage:

Key Stage 2
Sarum Class (Years 3 and 4)
• Children should read at least 4 times a week and ideally every day. They should discuss the text with an adult regularly to ensure good comprehension.
• Read to your child regularly.
• Practise spellings daily - both weekly and long term spelling sheets
• Practise times tables daily up to 12 x 12 including division facts. Eg. 7 x 8 = 56 and 56 ÷ 8 = 7
• Practise number bonds daily – adding and subtracting up to 20 and then 100.
Eg. 48 + ? = 100 and 100 – 39 = ?

Avebury Class (Years 4 and 5)
• Reading – read to your child and with your child, talking about the text, with special reference to questions that involve inference and deduction to find hidden meanings.
• Times tables up to 12 x 12 on instant recall.
• Basic number facts (single digit add single digit as well as double digit subtract single digit)

Silbury Class (Years 5 and 6)
• Reading: Listen to your child for accuracy, intonation and pace. Read to your child so they understand pace and intonation. Ensure they really comprehend the text, especially asking questions that require inference and deduction to arrive at an answer.
• Tables – multiplication and division facts.
• Quick accurate adding of 1 digit to 1 digit, subtracting 1 digit from 2 digit numbers and 2 digit from 2 digit,
• Recall fractions, decimals and percentages for any fraction with a denominator of 2,3,4,5,8,10 (1/4 =25% = 0.25, 1/5+20% = 0.2, 1/8=12.5% = 0.125, etc)

Please do not hesitate to ask if you have any queries. Thank you for your support.

Homework

Homework letter

Learning at home

Homework