Dear Parent / Carer,
Please find below details of the homework we will be setting your child / children for the year ahead.
Reading: It is a national expectation that your child reads for 15 minutes every day. Reading is like any skill and practice makes perfect. To encourage our children to read we will be launching on Monday 18th September our ‘Journey to the Jurassic’. The competition will run along the same lines as last year’s Race to Rio and Boeing to Bimma. Air miles can be collected for reading for 15 minutes five times each week (a maximum of 25 miles weekly). Weekends can be set aside as time to catch up should any weekdays be missed.
How it works - Each time a pupil brings their planner signed by an adult to confirm they have completed their 15 minute daily read they will be awarded five air miles. These are recorded in class. As the days and weeks progress each pupil’s total number of air miles will accrue. Once a reader has reached 150 air miles they will win a coveted Scolosaurus badge to wear proudly around school. Daily reading checks will be carried out by volunteers chosen to be Passport Controllers. At some point each day, readers with signed evidence will show it to Passport Control as proof of their reading, and their planners will be stamped accordingly to indicate that day’s air miles have been awarded.
Maths: A relevant section of IXL Maths is to be completed each week. IXL is an online maths program that covers a wide range of skills in a fun and interactive way. It offers the opportunity to practise focused skills, and will even demonstrate why answers may be incorrect and how to solve the problem next time. Please look out for individual logon details in your child’s planner. Obviously, we understand that some children will not have access to a tablet, laptop, computer, or internet at home. In order to ensure inclusion, we plan to set up a number of fun computer clubs that will run at various times during the school week. This will offer the opportunity for those children who cannot access IXL at home to do so in school - and offer additional school time for those pupils who would like to tackle further IXL challenges. Details of the days and times of the clubs will follow. At the end of each term a report will be generated and sent out to parents to inform them of their child’s progress through the IXL program.
Spellings: Weekly spellings will be practised at home using a variety of methods highlighted by class teachers. Up to 20 spellings will be given and these will include 4/5 Key Words weekly. ‘Key Words’ are those highlighted in the National Curriculum that a child is expected to know by the end of their school year. In Years Five and Six pupils will be challenged to put tricky words into a sentence as part of the spelling test.
Multiplication tables: Pupils are to be provided with a weekly multiplication revision sheet as part of their homework. One of the targets of our school improvement cycle this year is a big push on learning multiplication tables.
As ever, we will monitor and evaluate how the homework system is working and make amendments and improvements when necessary.
We fully understand that homework can prove stressful and can make busy family lives even busier. Therefore, we want the homework our children are asked to complete to be beneficial, relevant and fun. You will see that the homework set this year will, for the most part, reflect learning that has taken place in class that week – whether that is the particular sound learned in a Key Stage One class, or the letter string or maths objective worked on in Key Stage Two.
Homework is one of the ways in which we can ensure learning continues, and is consolidated, outside the classroom. It should develop independence, resilience and a sense of accomplishment.
But we cannot achieve this without your help. We set great store at Gilded Hollins on our partnership between school and home. We all want the same end goal – for your children to achieve to their full potential; to be the best they can be. Your support in encouraging your child to complete their homework on time, to pack it into their bags for its return to school, and to listen to them read for 15 minutes daily will be very much appreciated.
Thank you,
D Nash