Woodcote Primary School

We feel that home learning is an important opportunity for families to support their child’s learning, to find out which topics/subjects are being covered, to give them an advantage with future learning, consolidate learning and to promote their independence.

We set Homework weekly from Year 1. Homework is set to either recap or practise learning that is taking place in class. This learning will enhance what they do in class but will not be essential to the learning in class as some children may not be supported at home to complete this. 

We recognise that views differ about this and that there may be times where it is not possible for a child to complete their home learning.   If you choose for your child not to complete all or some of the home learning for whatever reason, we will not sanction children. This allows families to choose the level of home learning they wish their child to engage in. However, children in Years 5 & 6 must complete their Maths and English Home Learning weekly.

Reading 

• This is the most important piece of home learning your child should complete. Children need to be able to read to access all areas of learning, for example to read a maths problem or learn about a period of history.
• If they complete nothing else, please support and encourage them to read each night for approximately 20 minutes. This can involve reading to an adult, discussing what they have read, sharing a book or from Year 4 reading to themselves. Please ensure someone dates and initials the reading record when a child has read at home, this can be completed by the child. You do not always need to write a comment unless you feel it is relevant.
• When children read, they will be practising a range of reading skills;
  • Decoding (the process of translating printed words into speech)
  • Prosody (reading with expression)
  • and Comprehension (the ability to read text, process it and understand its meaning).
• To support the development of these skills, children will bring home books they can decode easily for practice (Little Wandle Books) as well as a book to read for pleasure (maybe sharing with an adult if above their own reading ability). Children need to develop in all these skills, as well as developing a love for reading.

 Spellings/Phonics

• In Reception to Year 2, they children receive weekly phonics homework from Little Wandle.
• In Years 3 to 6, pupils receive a pack of spelling sheets each half term. Pupils should complete one sheet (double sided) per week, which will consolidate the rule/area they are addressing in class. Teachers post weekly answers on Class Dojo so you can self-mark at home. At the end of the half term, please return the folder to school. The sheets will then be replaced for the next half term.

Multiplication Tables (Years 2 to 6)

• Multiplication tests happen weekly in KS2. The learning of these is supported by the children’s access to TTRockstars. Teachers will indicate which tables your child needs to focus on weekly. The expectation is for pupils to secure rapid recall of all tables up to 12 x 12 (including related division facts) by the end of Year 4. 

English  Home Learning (Years 1 to 6)

• Pupils receive a pack of English Homework sheets each half term. Pupils should complete one sheet per week, which will consolidate the learning they are addressing in class. Teachers post weekly answers on Class Dojo so you can self-mark at home. At the end of the half term, please return the folder to school. The sheets will then be replaced for the next half term.
• In Year 6 we set additional tasks using CGP books.

Maths Homework (Years 1 to 6)

• All Year Groups are set Maths Learning through MyMaths, an online platform. This will include Lessons and Homework tasks.  In addition to TTRockstars we are also purchase Numbots which is a partner programme for addition and subtraction and will be allocated from Year 1.
• In Year 6 we set additional tasks using CGP books.

Independent learning projects

Each half term we set suggested projects linked to the next unit the children will learn about in their foundation subjects (Art, DT, History, Geography and Science). This is an opportunity for children to expand their learning, choosing their own tasks, approach and presentation methods. This gives children the opportunity to share and follow their own learning interests.