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

 

At Crook, the focus of homework is on the important skills of reading. Regular reading at home, especially reading with parents, should be encouraged.  We feel passionately that the most significant thing that you, as parents, can do to support your child’s learning is to share books with them on a regular basis. By this we mean reading to your child, listening to your child read and talking about what you are reading. As adults, we are all reading role models – there is lots of evidence that children seeing their parents and adults around them read is a powerful factor in encouraging them to read more frequently.

 

Becoming a confident reader, able to understand a range of texts is hugely important – it allows a child to grow in confidence and to access all areas of the curriculum.

Your child should spend short periods of time (10-15 minutes) each day reading, talking about their reading or listening to an adult read. 

 

In addition to reading, we would encourage you to spend time with your child accessing some of the online web activities which are designed to recall taught facts in a fun and engaging way in maths and Spanish in KS2. 

 

Here is a list of homework expectations for each year group. 

 

All website based homework tasks are linked on the school website under children and then the named page. All children have been provided with appropriate log in details from their class teacher to access each of the web based homework tasks - if you are having difficulty logging on to any of the websites please inform your child's class teacher. 

 

As an alternative to completing web based homework at home children do have the opportunity to complete their work one lunchtime each week alongside a year group teacher.

 

 As with every new skill in life, the more you practise, the more time you invest, the better you become. Therefore, below is a minimum expectation for each year group however any additional time spent on the activities will only benefit your child.   

 

EYFS Pupils

 

In EYFS homework is set on a Friday. Homework in EYFS will consist of practical activities which you can complete at home alongside your child.  A pack of grapheme and tricky word cards will be sent home at the start of the year.  Miss Roberts & Miss Fox will send a MarvellousMe each Friday explaining which phonemes, graphemes and tricky words to focus on at home.  In addition they will describe the activities to be completed and tried at home to support the work your child is completing in school. 

 

 

Year 1 & 2 Pupils 

In years 1/2 homework is set on a Fridayday and must be completed by the following Fridayday. Teachers will check completion and those who have not completed it will be asked to do so in school on a lunchtime. Homework in years 1/2 will consist of:

 

Reading book - Collins E-library for Little Wandle Letters & Sounds (online) - Children will be allocated an e-book at the appropriate level to read. Children should be encouraged to read at home as often as possible, every night for 5 minutes would be great. Children in year 1 and 2 should read the same book several time (for a whole week) until they are fluent and able to discuss in detail. It may seem too easy for your child at times but this is a strategy used to help the child build confidence with reading. 

 

Reading for pleasure - Sharing book - Children will bring home a library book to be shared and enjoyed together. This book will be picked by your child from the class library and can be kept at home for a week before being returned and changed for a different book.  Books within our class library include both fiction and non-fiction books so please encourage your child to select a wide range. 

 

Grapheme & Tricky Word Cards - Children will be given sound cards/word cards to practise the children’s blending and help them become more fluent with recognising sounds in words. These should remain at home for you to use with your child and not be sent back to school.

 

Maths (YEAR 1) - School Jam (online) - When your child is ready to access the maths National Curriculum Children are expected to complete online activities set by the teacher each week. We would encourage children to play these games as often as possible over the week to improve fluency and confidence, 5 minutes a night would be perfect.

 

Maths (YEAR 2)- TT Rockstars (online) - Children are expected to complete 15 1-minute games per week.  Short bursts of practise on a daily basis are more effective than spending hours once a week. 

 

Handwriting - Letterjoin (online) - Children are expected to complete 5-10 minutes as often as possible, daily practise would be great. 

 

 

Year 3 & 4 Pupils 

 

In years 3/4 homework is set on a Monday and must be completed by the following Monday. Teachers will check completion and issue individual detentions for a Wednesday lunchtime if not completed.  

 

Reading book - Children will be allocated a book to read. Children should be encouraged to read at home as often as possible, every night for 5 minutes would be great. We would appreciate parent comments relating to your discussions about the text and the children’s understanding. We expect children to read at least 3 times per week. Every week, we will monitor the amount of time each child is reading at home.

 

Reading for pleasure - Fiction Express (online) - Read a chapter a week. The new chapter on Fiction Express will be released every Friday, and is expected to be completed by the following Tuesday.  MYON (online) - We have an online reading library which children can access to read for pleasure at home.  There is a wide range of both fiction and non-fiction books available to read online. 

 

Maths - TT Rockstars (online) - Children should be completing 10 minutes of times tables using the online TimeTable RockStars site. They will be given 10 garage games to complete every week and in Year 4 one soundcheck game. Once these are completed, children can access more games and challenges. Times tables are vital for supporting maths. Children at the end of Year 4 will also sit a times tables test in which they will need to know all times tables up to 12 x 12 and be able to answer within 6 seconds. 

 

Spelling - Spelling Shed (online) - Children need to complete at least 3 spelling games at home every week. The children will be taught the spelling focus during Monday’s lesson and tested the following Monday. They will be given other activities during the week to complete.

 

Spanish - Language Angels (online) - Children are expected to complete at least 15 minutes on any of the available games to revise their spanish skills each week. 

 

Handwriting - Letterjoin (online) - Children are expected to complete 5-10 minutes as often as possible, daily practise would be great.

 

 

Year 5 & 6 Pupils 

 

In years 5/6 homework is set on a Thursday and must be completed by the following Wednesday and issue individual detentions for a Wednesday/Thursday lunchtime if not completed. 

 

Reading book - Children will be allocated a book to read. Children should be encouraged to read at home as often as possible, every night for 5 minutes would be great. We would appreciate parent comments relating to your discussions about the text and the children’s understanding. We expect children to read at least 3 times per week. Every week, we will monitor the amount of time each child is reading at home.

 

Reading for pleasure - Fiction Express (online) - Read a chapter a week. The new chapter on Fiction Express will be released every Friday, and is expected to be completed by the following Tuesday.  MYON (online) - We have an online reading library which children can access to read for pleasure at home.  There is a wide range of both fiction and non-fiction books available to read online. 

 

Maths - TT Rockstars (online) - Children should be completing 10 minutes of times tables using the online TimeTable RockStars site. They will be given 10 garage games to complete every week and in Year 4 one soundcheck game. Once these are completed, children can access more games and challenges. Times tables are vital for supporting maths. Children at the end of Year 4 will also sit a times tables test in which they will need to know all times tables up to 12 x 12 and be able to answer within 6 seconds. 

 

Spelling - spelling Shed (online) - Children need to complete at least 3 spelling games at home every week. The children will be taught the spelling focus during Monday’s lesson and tested the following Monday. They will be given other activities during the week to complete.

 

Spanish - Language Angels (online) - Children are expected to complete at least 15 minutes on any of the available games to revise their spanish skills each week. 

 

Handwriting - Letterjoin (online) - Children are expected to complete 5-10 minutes as often as possible, daily practise would be great.