Our homework policy
Our Homework Policy was written to support and engage as many learners as we can, and to provide opportunities for others – family, friends – to support in a positive, constructive way. It’s great to see more and more children are putting more and more effort into their homework. Recently, a few parents have asked about expectations. I hope the following will clarify what we can expect and what you can expect:
Talk Time
Teachers have noticed that, in some instances, a lot of time has been taken on the presentation of the Talk Time homework. Children are welcome to do this although it is not necessary. The purpose of Talk Time homework is to encourage a conversation around their current learning. Any notes made in their homework book should simply be there to aid them as a prompt when it is discussed in class the following week. For this reason, teachers tend to give verbal feedback during their talk time session in class. We want our children to be expert talkers, using a variety of sentences and expressions, and able to back up their points or disagree with others in a polite way – this is more important than written notes for Talk Time. Simply: it’s hard to be a good writer if you’re not a good speaker, so Talk Times using ambitious words, useful phrases, interesting sentences is the best way to support your child.
Creative
This is where your child’s creative juices can flow! Creative homework is an opportunity for your child to choose whatever they want to demonstrate some learning. For example, the Y3 and Y4 homework this week is Creative: I can show what I know about food chains. Your child could present all their learning in so many different ways, from a diagram with notes to a story or comic strip. Parents’ and carers’ role is to support, encourage, help but (obviously) never to take over and do the homework! Teachers always look forward to seeing how creative children can be. If you notice the work has not been marked, please don’t worry. Teachers will have looked at and celebrated the homework in another way – the work might have been viewed by the whole class using a visualiser which allows the work to be projected to the whole class and a discussion of ‘stars and steps’ will happen. Peer assessment is also effective – children are very able to share what’s good and what needs improving! These sorts of verbal feedback strategies are often more effective than a written comment because it’s more instant and it makes sure the child understands (and their work is praised publicly!).
Practice makes Perfect
This is similar to what you might consider traditional homework: it may be a worksheet or a writing task (such as Y5’s current homework: I can write instructions). Practice Makes Perfect is useful homework when something has been taught in school but needs consolidation. The work should be fairly straightforward for the child as there should be no need for new learning, so just some encouragement from you is needed. However, it would be a great time to get your child to teach you – they should be able to explain the key points or processes! We use this type of homework less often because usually the best practice is where a teacher can keep feeding back and presenting new challenges when they see it as appropriate. Teachers mark these activities in line with our marking policy.
As always, please ask if you’ve any questions or concerns.
27 January 2011
This week’s homework is Creative and is due in on Wednesday 01 February.
I can show what I know about food chains.
The children this week have been learning about food chains. This is their chance to explain the food chain process. They can do this any way they want, but here are a few ideas if you’re struggling:
- a comic strip
- a diagram
- a recorded interview with a food chain expert
- a diary entry written by an animal at the top of the food chain
Obviously this is not an exhaustive list, so feel free to add your own ideas into the mix. A really good resource (which we’ve used this week) to help with your child’s understanding of the food chain, can be found on the BBC Bitesize website.
27 January 2012
Your homework this week is Creative and is due in on Wednesday 01 February.
I can design a brand new animal that would suit living in the Arctic.
Think of all the work we have done in class about how animals have adapted to living in the polar regions.
Think of the following:
- habitat map
- position in food chain
- shelter/safety
- food the creature eats and how it gets it
- predator or prey?
- camouflage and colour
- teeth
- feet and eyes
- any other special features
You can include writing and labelled drawings to show your learning.
27 January 2012
This week’s homework is creative. It’s due in on Wednesday 01 February.
I know what a hero is.
It links to our new topic, Heroes. Your child could produce a:
- poster
- draw a picture
- write some sentences
- do some research
Remember, homework should stick to one page of the Homework Book, but the page can be extended with flaps, pull out sections or some other creative way.
20 January 2012
This week’s homework is Practice Makes Perfect. It’s due in on Wednesday 25 January 2012.
There is a worksheet in your child’s book. We are learning to form our letters correctly and then join letters together.
Have a look at our handwriting policy.
20 January 2012
Your homework this week is creative and is due in on Wednesday 25 January 2012.
I can invent and make a page of a study book to show people how to write a great scripts.
Think of the following:
- How the page should look so it looks like a study book or important bits book.
- How you are going to make it creative and interesting to read.
- What information will you include to help your reader learn about scripts?
- What tips will you give to your reader?
- If you’re producing information about scripts, include stage directions, character lists, how many acts to include and how your actors speak and move.
20 January 2012
This week’s homework is Creative and is due in on Wednesday 25 January.
I can find and draw a minibeast.
Following on from our minibeast hunt in the week, we want your child to locate a minibeast in their own garden and draw a picture of it.
See if your child can categorise it based on what they’ve learnt this week.
20 January 2012
This week’s homework is creative. It’s due in on Wednesday 25 January 2012.
I know the 2 times table.
Possible ideas:
- Write the number sentences (1 x 2 = 2, 2 x 2 =4…)
- Create a poster
- Create number sentences with flaps for the answers
- Show the times tables as pictures
- Create a game
13 January 2012
For all children in Year 1 to Year 6, the homework this week is Talk Time:
Which two charities should we support at school and why?
It’s time for children to think about our school charities. Currently, we support the NSPCC and the WWF. A previous School Council selected these because they wanted to help animals and people, and wanted to help nationally and internationally. We’ve helped these charities for two years now, so it’s time for a change. We need you to have a discussion at home about which charities would be best for us to support. Each class will then discuss this and then the councillors will bring the views and ideas together to decide on the charities.
You might want to discuss whether we support a local charity like St Gemma’s, or a children’s charity like Unicef, or a charity that have helped our learning, like the Dogs’ Trust, or even whether we should support charities in school at all.
06 January 2012
As some of you may already be aware, Moortown Primary School is linked with a school in Durban, South Africa called Shallcross Primary. This partnership allows us to share our learning. This week’s Creative homework hopes to introduce the children in Durban to our local area.
I can draw what I see outside my window.
Encourage your child to include a lot of detail and spend some time doing this as some of best ones will be sent to the children at Shallcross Primary in South Africa.