Home Learning Guidance
Home Learning Guidance
The most important aspect of children’s learning is their attitude. If they are keen, interested and take a pride in their learning, then whatever their ability, they will steadily improve. By working together, we can support all aspects of their learning and development, building up their confidence as we celebrate their achievements.
At Westfields Junior School, we believe that home learning supports, extends and consolidates the learning covered within the classroom while supporting children to develop self-discipline, independence and the ability to take responsibility for their own learning. It also develops a partnership between home and school, helping parents to learn more about what their child is learning in school.
The table below sets out our expectations in regards to home learning.
Reading
Reading takes place regularly in school in a variety of forms: independent reading, reading to an adult, shared reading in class, group reading, guided reading, peer reading and being to read to by an adult. We value all these opportunities as they develop not just the ability to read but the skills needed to understand texts at increasing levels of complexity. These reading experiences also improve a child’s vocabulary, leads to more highly-developed language skills and improves the child’s ability to write well.
All children will be expected to read regularly at home to ensure that they become skilled, efficient and interested readers who are able to access learning and information presented in all forms, as well as enjoy reading for pleasure. Our expectation is that children read 5 x a week with at least two times being to an adult at home.
All children are given a reading record book to record their reading and we ask that children write comments about what they have read. These could be comments to explain what is happening, who the characters are, what they like or dislike about the book, what they predict might happen as well as a summary at the end of the book to support the development of their comprehension skills.
We ask that parents sign these books when they have heard their child read, giving them the opportunity to comment on anything they feel that their child has done well at, or may have struggled with. Teachers and support staff will check reading records each week and to monitor not just the number of times children have read but also to ensure the reading materials are appropriate for their age and stage.
Spelling
Children will be set weekly spellings using the Spelling Shed spelling scheme which contains words from the National Curriculum expectations for your child’s year group or they will be given words appropriate to their spelling ability. The words given will generally follow a rule or pattern which will be taught in school so that children understand how it works and can apply it to a variety of words. Children will be set their spellings on a Tuesday and will be tested on the following Monday. To support children with the learning of their spellings, they should visit Spelling Shed three times through the week to complete the tasks and activities set in order to learn their spellings. In children’s reading records, children will have their spelling record which contains lists of weekly spellings as well as a range of additional spelling activities that children can complete. After children have completed their weekly spelling tests, they will highlight the words they spelt correctly; any words spelt incorrectly can be practised again.
Grammar and punctuation
Grammar and punctuation are an essential part of children’s ability to express themselves well when writing for a variety of purposes. It also enables them to make best sense of texts when reading. The National Curriculum is clear about which skills children should be able to use routinely within their writing and we place high emphasis upon these skills so the majority of the English home learning will have a grammar and punctuation focus. These tasks will be uploaded onto ClassDojo, our learning platform.
Maths
MyMaths
As a school, we use “MyMaths”, an interactive online home learning website, for the development and securing of mathematical concepts. The children will log on to the main pages, enter their portal ID and password (found in reading record books) and see their weekly home learning. Each piece of home learning will have a series of “lessons” attached to it to consolidate anything taught in school and to allow the children greater depth of understanding. Clicking on the “revise first” icon will access the lessons. It is recommended that the children look through these before starting their home learning.
Children will then complete a short home learning task which is marked instantly so the children can see any errors and, as parents, you can see how they have achieved. Working with your child, you can also see anything that has come up and talk it through with them. Our expectation is that children achieve a minimum of 80% accuracy for the tasks set. These home learning tasks can be done more than once to allow misconceptions to be addressed by the child and allow them to continue to practise and develop their confidence and speed. For any child who cannot access “My Maths” online, paper copies can be requested.
TT Rock Stars
In addition, to help with your child’s learning of their multiplication tables, each child has log in details and access to the interactive, fun and engaging online resource, “Times Tables Rock Stars” otherwise known as ‘TT Rock Stars’. Children will need to practise their multiplication tables at home to ensure that they can reach the expected standard of recalling the multiplication facts up to 12×12 by the end of Year 4, building on their fluency and recall through Years 5 and 6.
If you have any concerns over home learning at all, please contact us as soon as possible so that we can address these and support you in supporting your child to gain the best from their learning and make best progress.