At Windmill L.E.A.D. Academy we believe that homework is a vital link in the working partnership between children, parents/carers and staff. Worthwhile tasks that are completed at home enable children to appreciate the help and support of their families in “thinking together” and enables parents/carers to help and be involved in their children’s education. It also has an important role to play in reinforcing and extending the learning and teaching that has taken place in the classroom.
Recommended Time Allocation
How often will homework be set and how much time should children spend on it?
- Learning Logs are given to children every half term in Years 1 – 6 and children are expected to ideally complete a task every week. These tasks vary in depth and complexity appropriate to the year group. We encourage parents/carers to be as creative as possible and to go with the enthusiasm of your child to develop their tasks.
- We recommend children practise their spellings & times tables at least three times a week for 15minutes.
- It would be very beneficial if children read every day if possible, they should try to spend at least 10 minutes reading in EYFS and Year 1, 15 minutes reading in Year 2, 20 minutes in Year 3 & 4 and up to 30 minutes in Year 5 & 6. Reading to a parent/carer or older sibling really helps and children will get rewards if their reading diary is signed everyday!
The Importance of Reading
Reading is by far the most important skill our children need to learn. Reading impacts on everything – the best readers are the best writers. Also, reading is a skill that is vital to their life and future, helping them understand and make the very best of the world as they develop into adults. Reading is the most important task we ask our children to complete at home.
Knowledge Organisers
At the end of a half term, children are given a ‘Knowledge Organiser’ about the topic they will be studying in the next half term. The ‘Knowledge Organiser’ is on a sheet of A3 paper and contains lots of interesting information about the topic and QR codes that can be scanned to find out further research. It is great if children can read and research about the topics with family members or friends before the new term begins, as it always makes for interesting discussions in class when they have some knowledge to share and discuss.
Every year groups ‘Knowledge Organisers’ can be found on the curriculum page.
Learning Logs
The choices of tasks are linked to the current topic the class will be studying and are therefore relevant to the current learning. Children also give their ideas for tasks to go into the learning logs. A great way for children to have ownership over what they are learning.
The ‘Learning Log Book’ is where children will be able to present their homework and record any learning that they want to reflect on and develop further. How children present their work is up to them, the more creative the better. Work completed on a computer may be stuck in. As children complete their work they can bring in their Learning Log or model/art work to show the teacher/class. A topic list of key vocabulary is also included.
Please ask if you want to know more about how you can help your child at home.
Please do not hesitate to ask your child’s class teacher for advice about homework.
Homework, learning logs and knowledge organisers are adapted for children with special educational needs and for children who are just learning the English language.
Throughout the year, we run information sessions that will really help parents/carers find out about how they can help their children with phonics, reading, writing and maths led by our specialist teachers. We also follow up these sessions with an opportunity to come into your child’s class and take part in some lessons.