Woodland View Junior School Homework Policy

Woodland View Junior School – Homework Policy

‘ Learning at home is an essential part of good education. Regular homework is important as it gives pupils the opportunity to practice at home the tasks covered in class, and helps the pupils to work towards improving important skills. It also helps children and young people to become more confident and independent in their learning, which will help throughout their time at school and in adult life.’ (Teachernet)

‘To be effective homework needs to be part of a wider partnership between parents and schools.’ (P.5 Homework Guidance DFEE ISBN 0855 22 755 9)

At Woodland View Junior School we aim to:

 provide carefully planned tasks that support progression in learning  provide a regular programme of homework so pupils, parents, carers and teachers know what to expect each week  give pupils prompt, clear feedback on their work

It is the responsibility of the class teacher to ensure that the demands of homework are manageable for pupils and parents/carers on a day to day basis.

Each pupil will receive a Homework Diary, at the start of the academic year, which will identify the work that needs to be completed at home. Initially the diary will need to be signed by parents on a daily basis for Year 3 and on a weekly basis for Years 4, 5 and 6. Homework diaries will be randomly checked by staff and the monitoring of the diaries will be performance led; there will be fewer checks for pupils who manage their homework well and more checks for those experiencing difficulties with time management and organisation.

The purpose of homework:

 To develop an effective partnership between home and school in pursuing the aims of the school  To consolidate and reinforce skills and understanding – particularly in literacy and numeracy  To extend school learning, for example, through additional reading  To ensure progression towards independence and individual responsibility  To encourage pupils as they get older to develop the confidence and self discipline needed to study on their own  To provide opportunities for parents/carers, pupils and school to work in partnership  To provide opportunities for parents/carers and pupils to work together to enjoy learning experiences  To prepare pupils for the requirements of secondary school At Woodland View Junior School we have:

 Consistent practice across the school in setting, managing and marking homework  High expectations of pupils in completing homework  Homework is marked following procedures set out in the Marking Policy

Government guidelines:

The Government’s recommended time allocation, based on current good practice, is set out in Homework: Guidelines for Primary Schools and Secondary Schools, as follows:

Year Group Time Allocation Recommended Focus

3 and 4 1.5 hours a week Reading, spelling, Literacy and Numeracy work, occasional assignments in other subjects

5 and 6 30 minutes per Regular weekly schedule with continued day emphasis on Literacy and Numeracy, but also ranging widely over the curriculum

The Government also recommends that ‘on days when the homework activity is something other than reading children should be encouraged, in addition, to read on their own or with others for at least 20 minutes.’

Homework may take the form of:  Learning spelling  Learning multiplication tables  Reading  Numeracy  Literacy  Completing some work from lessons

Older children will be given homework which may also include:  finding out information  reading in preparations for lessons  preparing oral presentations  more traditional written assignments An example of a typical homework week:

Year 3 1 x maths activity 20 minutes per 1 x multiplication tables activity night 1 x Geography project work 1 x reading activity 1 x learning spellings and literacy activity Year 4 and Y5 1 x reading session Y4 – 20 minutes 1 x science activity per night 1 x learning spellings Y5 – 30 minutes 1 x multiplication tables activity per night 1 x maths activity

Year 6 2 x maths activities 30 minutes per 1 x learning spellings night 1 x Guided reading preparation 1 x humanities activity (History, Geography or RE) 1 x literacy activity

The role of parents and carers in supporting pupils:

 Try to provide a reasonably peaceful, suitable place for pupils to complete their homework  Make it clear that homework is valued and support the school in explaining how it can help pupil’s learning  Increase motivation by showing an interest in your child’s work  Provide encouragement and praise children when they have completed their work  Remember each child is different; some prefer to complete their homework in a single session, others may do better in short bursts with regular breaks  If you notice a particular misunderstanding or difficulty with the work, or have given a lot of support please put a brief note on the bottom of the work for the class teacher  Remember, study at home needs your support but it is your child’s homework! o Help by getting your child to read through what has to be completed o Encourage the use of a dictionary o Don’t give answers but prompt e.g. ‘Tell you what you understand by this.’ Homework that is not completed:

Any pupil that does not complete the assigned homework in the required time will be told to complete the task at lunchtime in the Blue Book session run by class teachers on a rota basis, unless there is a valid reason given by parents/carers.

If a pupil regularly fails to complete their homework task then the class teacher will make contact with the parents/carers to discuss any difficulties. Homework may then be monitored closely in class by the teacher and parent/carer and the homework diary used for more detailed communication between home and school.

If there are continued difficulties with homework then the class teacher will seek guidance from the Head Teacher, who may than go on to contact parents.

In extreme cases a home-school homework agreement may be drawn up.