Ambergate Primary School

HOMEWORK POLICY

We believe that education is a life-long process.  A child’s education does not cease when he /she leaves our school premises, learning at home is an essential part of good education.

“Homework” is any work or activity completed outside lesson time, either alone, with parents, or others and homework make an important contribution to progress at school.

We see the purpose of homework as being to:

• Develop an effective partnership between school and parents for each child’s education, as children achieve more when teachers and parents work together,
• Consolidate/reinforce skills and understanding, particularly in Literacy and Numeracy,
• Utilise resources for learning available at home,
• Extend school learning
• Develop confidence, independence and the self-discipline needed for personal study in preparation for secondary school and beyond,
• Provide opportunities for parents and children to work together to enjoy learning experiences

From the Early Years simple games, learning spellings, and of course, reading with parents provides valuable opportunities for the practice/reinforcement of key skills in a supportive environment.  As children get older they need to develop the habit of regularly devoting short periods of time to personal study.  All children are expected to take part in a variety of homework tasks to enhance and support their work in class.

This homework policy is designed :

• To ensure consistency of approach throughout the school
• To ensure progression towards independence and individual responsibility
• To ensure parents/carers have a clear understanding about expectations for themselves and the pupils.
• To extend and support learning
• To provide opportunities for parents and pupils to work in partnership and enjoy learning experiences

The emphasis of homework activities is on the development of skills of literacy and numeracy. From time to time children may bring home a piece of work they have missed through absence, or for further reinforcement. Other activities are added as children move up the school.  Regular reading is vital.  It is our policy to set homework as follows:

Years 1 & 2               1 ½ hours / week

Years 3 & 4               1 ½ hours/week

Years 5 &6                30 minutes per day

Please note: Homework tasks will vary as to the needs of the individual class and the individual child.

The school pays a subscription to the “I am learning” website.  In addition to the homework outlined above all children have their own username and password to access the “I am learning” games to support maths, literacy and other areas of the curriculum. Please encourage your child to use it as often as possible.

How staff at Ambergate support this policy:

• By providing a range of homework tasks and activities.
• By ensuring that the children have a clear understanding of the tasks involved and a common understanding of the high expectations held of them individually, according to their ability
• By communicating with parents and keeping them informed of children’s progress, projects and topics studied in class and their children’s individual tasks.

How parents /carers can help to support their children:

• Provide somewhere peaceful for children to work without the distractions of television, other family members and pets
• Provide a suitable place equipped with a clear table space, chair and  good light
• Provide encouragement and support to children when they require it
• Support the school in explaining and valuing homework
• Encourage pupils and praise them when homework completed
• Be actively involved in the homework (particularly of younger children)
• Share with school any issues arising from homework for example by a comment in a reading record.  We would also be interested in hearing how well the children completed other activities, whether they were interesting / too easy / too hard, etc

Children are expected to:

• Make full use of any opportunities they are presented with
• Tackle home tasks promptly and with a positive attitude
• Take pride in their presentation and content, acknowledging the high personal standard expected
• Be organised to look after and return books and completed tasks on the agreed dates.

Feedback for pupils/parents or carers and teachers

Feedback needs to be given promptly and may be given in a variety of ways

• Verbal response from parents or carers and teachers
• Class discussion
• Tests eg. Spellings or tables
• Pupil/peer evaluation
• Presentation of work in class and/or school assembly