23 October 2025
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Living and Learning: we’ve reached the end of the half-term. This Living and Learning statement provides an opportunity to review and reflect on the learning this half-term.
Talk to your child about what they’ve learnt about:
- Does your child know the protected characteristics?
- Can your child explain what democracy is?
What examples of manners and courtesy does your child demonstrate really well?
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
Living and Learning is the focus of this week’s Talk time and we need your help!
Which charity should our school support?
Discuss the purpose of charities and consider what charity might be important to an individual.
With your child, have a look at the list of charities below. Ask your child to consider which charity they’d like to be our chosen school charity – make sure they can express their opinions and back these up with reasons.
Below are the chosen charities that we’ll choose from:
Emmaus (pronounced em-may-us) helps people move away from homelessness by providing a home, training and work opportunities as part of a package of long-term support.
Martin House provides family-led hospice care free of charge for children and young people with life-shortening conditions.
National Deaf Children’s Society, who support deaf children with any level of hearing loss.
Woodland Trust, the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity, whose vision is a world where woods and trees thrive for people and nature.
Zarach, whose mission is to end child bed poverty, giving children the opportunity to engage at school and break the cycle of poverty.
The charities will be reviewed in class on Friday 07 November. Each class will vote for one charity which will be brought to the Junior Leadership Team who will have the final vote.
17 October 2025
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Living and Learning: we choose our new Junior Leadership Team during this week. Talk about what characteristics are needed for someone to represent the class. Also, think about other situations when voting is used. Can you think of situations when voting can help solve problems?
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
This week, your homework is to become a Season Detective!
We’re learning about how the seasons change — and you can help by observing what’s happening around you.
Over the next few days, go outside or look out of your window and notice signs of the changing season. You can use your eyes, ears and even your nose!
Here are some things to look out for:
- What time does it start to get dark?
- Are the leaves changing colour or falling?
- Can you spot any conkers, acorns or pine cones on the ground?
- Do you see any flowers or plants growing?
- What animals or birds can you see or hear? Are any behaving differently?
Write down or draw at least 3 things you noticed. You can add pictures, drawings or labels to show your ideas or you can write a few sentences to explain how these signs show the season is changing.
Bring your seasonal observations to share in class!
10 October 2025
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Living and Learning: there are nine protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. These characteristics are all protected in law. The acronym DR GRAMPSS or DR S GRAMPS might help to remember them, but you might prefer to just talk about a few of these depending on the age of your child. More important than simply remembering all of them is to encourage your child to be aware of fairness and equality.
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
This week’s Talk Time has us thinking about the question What makes a good leader? As it’s nearly time to choose our new Junior Leadership Team (JLT)!
A leader is someone who helps others, makes fair choices and listens to everyone. Think about the kind of person you would like to choose as a Junior Leader. Should they be kind? Helpful? A good listener? Brave? Fair? Why do you think those things are important?
Let’s talk about what kind of people make good leaders and how we can all use our voices in a kind and fair way.
Note: Previously, we’ve used this homework as an opportunity for pupils to prepare their speeches for the JLT elections. However, this year, pupils will prepare speeches within a lesson at school.
03 October 2026
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Living and Learning: speak with your child about respect and link with previous learning so far this year: rules, manners, rights and responsibilities. Then talk about respecting people, even if they’re different in some way – we’re all different and yet we’re all the same.
How can we make sure we show respect to everyone?
BBC Bitesize ‘What is discrimination?’ is worth checking out with children in Key Stage 2.
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
This week’s Talk Time relates to a moral issue and also links with our current Geography learning.
Is it okay to build new houses on green space (fields and parks in towns and cities)?
Your child may already have some views on this. However, this statement is all about taking different viewpoints into account.
This week’s ‘Remember 2s’ (R2s) will support your child as they reflect on the pros and cons of building new houses on our green spaces:
- What are the reasons for (the pros) building new houses there?
- What are the reasons against (the cons) building new houses there?
- Reach a conclusion – Do you take one particular side or is there a compromise that could satisfy everyone?
There’s a range of ways to approach this moral question. We suggest exploring the 5Ws and H (who, what, where, when, why, how).
Check out the examples below to help get discussions flowing:
- Who needs new housing (young people, families, elderly etc)? Who would build the new houses?
- What would new housing look like? What will be the impact on the environment with fewer trees and plants?
- Where would the animals from the fields/parks go? Where else could people go for walks/exercise?
- When would things be able to run normally (traffic, pathways etc)? When would people want more houses?
- Why don’t people move into houses that are already built? Why do we need more housing?
- How long would it to take to build the houses? How much would the new housing cost? How many people could live in the new housing?
Fancy an extra challenge? Your child might like to plan the new housing or design the type of housing that should go on some green space.
26 September 2025
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Living and Learning: alongside every right comes responsibility. At school for example, children have the right to play and relax, and the responsibility to play alongside others safely and respectfully. In lots of situations, we’ve the right to express our views, but we must do so in a respectful way.
Spend some time thinking of more examples in different situations: rights and responsibilities at home, in a shop, in a park…
BBC Bitesize ‘Rules, rights and responsibilities’ is worth checking out with children in Key Stage 2.
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
This week’s talk time has a reading and oracy theme.
I know a poem.
This week, you’re going to be learning a poem. It takes great resilience and remembering skills to be able to learn a poem – two of our 8Rs for learning.
Key Stage 1
A Little Manners Poem (Anonymous)
Wait your turn – don’t interrupt.
If you use it, pick it up.
When you need some help, say “Please.” Be kind and loving – never tease.
Say “Hi” when meeting someone new, and be a friend whose words are true.
If you win a game, don’t gloat.
To thank someone, write a note.
Don’t be piggy when you eat.
And clean your space so it looks neat. These manners are the perfect start
to showing friends you have a heart!
Years 3 and 4
This poem is really powerful when read aloud.
Let No One Steal Your Dreams by Paul Cookson
Let no-one steal your dreams
Let no-one tear apart
The burning of ambition
That fires the drive inside your heart.
Let no-one steal your dreams
Let no-one tell you that you can’t
Let no-one hold you back
Let no-one tell you that you won’t.
Set your sights and keep them fixed
Set your sights on high
Let no-one steal your dreams
Your only limit is the sky.
Let no-one steal your dreams
Follow your heart
Follow your soul
For only when you follow them
Will you feel truly whole.
Set your sights and keep them fixed
Set your sights on high
Let no-one steal your dreams
Your only limit is the sky.
Years 5 and 6
Poetry from the Romantic Era focuses on the beauty of nature. The poem contrasts the tranquility of nature with the rapid urbanisation of Wordsworth’s time. The Romantic Movement was a reaction against this spread of industrialisation. We’re learning about urban expansion and the importance of urban green spaces in our Geography topic this half term.
Daffodils by William Wordsworth
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
19 September 2025
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Living and Learning: good manners help people to get on well with others. Encourage your child to greet people politely (including the adults as they arrive at school), to say please and thank you, and to avoid interrupting. Like everything else, this needs practising!
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
This week’s Talk Time homework links to our current Geography topic, ‘Where in the world am I?’.
I can talk about my local area.
We encourage you and your child to go out and explore as part of this task. Be sure to find safe spaces to pause and reflect on the surrounding area.
Refer to these ‘Remember 2s’ (R2s) when discussions are taking place:
- physical features (natural things that would be around without people)
- human features (things that have been built by people)
- respect people whose views are different
You might wish to use these ideas as a starting point for your discussions:
- what facilities there are
- what I like
- what I don’t like
- how the area might be improved
- what I could do to help improve the area
This Talk Time is all about critical thinking. Your child might find it quite easy to talk positively about their local area. They may find it trickier to talk about aspects of the local area that they don’t like. Remind your child that it is okay to say that there are things they don’t like so long as they remain respectful and polite.
Skills developed in this Talk Time can help your child with other areas of learning, too. As part of your child’s daily reading, you could prompt your child to talk critically about a character or a part of the book that could be improved.
12 September 2025
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Living and Learning: the Eight Rs promote good learning behaviour. We use an animal to symbolise each ‘R’, which might help your child remember all eight: readiness (rabbit); responsive (dog); (safe) risk-taking (cat); responsible (horse); resourcefulness (squirrel), resilience (tortoise); remembering (elephant); and reflection (owl).
Have a conversation about these Eights Rs. Do they apply at home? Which of the Rs is your child strongest at? Is there one which could be improved? If so, how?
The BBC Bitesize page ‘Learning to Learn’ is worth checking out with children in Key Stage 2.
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
This week’s Talk Time homework brings together the learning that has happened in our Living and Learning sessions last week:
I understand the importance of staying safe online.
The children will be reading and talking about the Acceptable Use Agreements in class this half-term, as well as a copy being sent home to be agreed, signed and returned to school.
As well as considering these agreements within their classrooms, also talk about how these agreements can be applied at home and take the opportunity to set or reaffirm some ground rules for the use of technology in and around home.
A copy of the KS1 and KS2 agreements can be found be clicking on the links below:
05 September 2025
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Living and Learning: make sure your child knows our three school rules: Be ready. Be respectful. Be safe.
Have a conversation about the rules. Is one more important than another? Is there a rule that’s ‘missing’? What does each rule look like in school? What does it sound like? Make a link between our school rules and home: are there similar rules in the home? Also link to a wider context and talk about the country’s laws.
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
Our first Talk Time homework of the year is linked to Living and Learning:
I can greet someone politely.
We greet people every day, and a simple greeting has the power to brighten someone’s mood. Here’s an example of a friendly exchange we encourage children to use:
- Morning!
- How are you?
- I’m fine, thanks. What about you?
- I’m ok, thanks.
Encourage your child to greet people outside school in a similar way!
Our ‘Remember 2s’ (R2s) for this are:
- greeting
- ask how someone is, answer, and ask back
- thank them for asking
Together, talk about different ways to greet people politely and warmly.
You might also want to explore why polite greetings matter. These questions could help your discussion:
- When and where might you greet someone? (during school time, before school, after school, at the weekend)
- How can you greet someone? (facial expressions, body language, tone of voice)
- What kinds of questions might you ask when greeting someone?
Why is it important to ask questions? (What does it show? How might the other person feel?)
11 July 2025
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Pupil health Questionnaire
I can share my views about health.
We’re proud to be a happy and healthy school.
Each year, we ask you to complete a short health questionnaire. Your views can help us to become even happier and healthier.
Parents/carers: please complete a survey with your child, to find out their views on some of our key health issues at school, and comment at the end.
You can find the link to the survey using the QR code below.
Or you can click on this link .
Please submit before Thursday 17 July 2025.
04 July 2025
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
This Talk Time relates to your end-of-year report.
I can talk with adults at home about my report, recognising successes and strengths.
It’s important to remember that your achievements come in many forms. Your key strengths could relate to your learning behaviour, your attainment in a particular subject, or your speed of progress.
This is also a great opportunity to apply your understanding of the 8Rs for learning:
- responsive
- ready
- (safe) risks
- responsible
- resourceful
- resilient
- remember
- reflect
Being reflective will be the most prominent of the 8Rs in your conversations as you’ll identify successes recognised by your teacher in the report but also other strengths that you’re aware of. Consider which of the other 8Rs you currently excel at the most. Perhaps you’re a very responsible individual who always demonstrates good learning behaviour. Maybe you’re extremely resilient and have a never-give-up attitude. It could be that you’re very resourceful, using what’s around you to support your learning and not always seeking help right away.