Home Learning

Home learning will be set for all children in a variety of ways:

FS1 children:

Each week your child will be asked to learn a new nursery rhyme.
Each half term your child will receive a bingo style sheet with activities the children can complete and tick off.
Later in the year, phonic activities will be sent home with your child. Please encourage your child to take part in these activities with your support.
Helpful websites to develop Literacy and Maths skills will be shared on the school websites

F2S children:

Each half term your child will receive a bingo style sheet with activities the children can complete and tick off.
Each week suggested tasks to support the children’s future learning will be stuck in their planner
Each week your child will be given a reading book to share with you at home. A planner is provided alongside the reading book for you to comment on your child’s reading. Book bags will be checked every day and books will be changed once a week. Please try to read with your child at least 4 times a week as it is vital that reading is practiced regularly.
Other learning, such as phonic and number activities will sometimes be sent home to support your child’s specific needs identified within learning which is taking place in school.
When children are ready, they will be provided with a spelling book to practice high-frequency and tricky words and words based on phonic patterns.
Helpful websites to develop Literacy and Maths skills will be shared on the school websites

For all FS children, please ensure that your child brings a bag every day and please remember to check it regularly for letters and communications from school.

Home Learning in KS1

Phonics:

As the children learn a set of new sounds, flashcards of these sounds will be sent home for them to practise daily. Later in the year as we prepare for the Phonics Screening Check (Year 1) a selection of real and pseudo (alien) words will be sent home to support this.

Reading:

To support our ‘read and repeat’ reading scheme (see phonics policy) your child will only change their books on a Monday and Friday in Key Stage 1. They will bring home a phonics levelled book which is for your child to read to you and a reading for pleasure book which is for you to read to them. You should be reading with your child at least 4 times a week and adding a comment in your child’s school planner. The class teacher will add comments to the planner during guided reading sessions and will note down any sounds or words your child would benefit from practising at home.

Spellings:

Your child will receive a set of spellings once a week which will be stuck in their school planner. It is important that you help your child to learn the words ready to be tested at school the following week (details of these days will be on class pages on the website as they may differ between classes). Your child’s score will be recorded in their school planner after the test. Any spellings that your child can not spell correctly within the test will be recorded and shared with you at the end of each half term, these words will need to continue to be learnt and will be retested in school the following half term. However, please remember that when learning spellings, it is not just for a ‘test’ and your child needs to remember these long term so coming back to old spellings is really useful!

Timestables:

Your child will need to know and understand their timestables in order to be able to be an efficient, accurate, confident mathematician in the future. They need to learn their timestables in any order and not just as a pattern. By the end of Key Stage 1 the times tables that all children should know are: 2, 5 and 10. It is important that you work with your child on these timestables regularly at home. Timetables will be given as home learning weekly in year 2 and tested within school the next week (and when appropriate in year 1). Your child’s score will be added to their school planner weekly so that you can monitor your child’s progress.

Basic mathematical knowledge:

In addition to having secure timetable knowledge, it is important that your child learns and understands other key mathematical facts e.g. number bonds to 10, 20, 100 etc. One piece of maths home learning will be given each week and this will support your child with securing number facts and knowledge which will lead to accurate and efficient mathematicians in the future. This will be recorded in the school planners each week.

Learning Grids:

At Waverley we understand each family has their own priorities for completing homework therefore, each half-term, your child will receive a learning grid project which can be completed at your own discretion. This will be recorded in your child’s planner.

Some suggestions on how you could help your child at home:

The most important message to give your child/ren is that learning is fun. Most of the learning you can do with your child at this stage in their development is through talking and playing games together.

Talk to your child about what they are learning at school.
Encourage them to find out things for themselves.
Read books with your child. Take them to the local library and help them to choose books.
Let your child help you around the home.
Listen to your child. Encourage them to ask questions. If you do not have the answer, why not find out together?

How to help with homework:

Although home work can be completed by children independently, we suggest parents and carers are actively involved in supporting their children’s homework as this will make it most meaningful.

Spread the homework over several days rather than trying to complete it in one long session.
Make sure your child has a quiet place to work with no distractions.
Talk through the activity with your child before they start.
Encourage and praise them when they have completed the activities.
Listen to them as they read and show you what they have done.
Help test their spellings and check that they remember the meanings of the words.
Help them to learn their times tables and to increase their speed.
Visit the library and get books out on topics they may be learning about.
Extend the activities where appropriate.

Reading with your child:

Children learn about reading by listening to stories, by making up a story as they turn the pages of a book and by reading print of all kinds. Reading with your child is one of the best ways to help your child learn to read. If reading is fun, your child will want to read with you.

Children should read for 10 to 15 minutes a day (at least 4 times a week).
Find a relaxing and comfortable place to read together away from distractions.
Choose a time when you both want to read. If your child is too tired, then choose an earlier time.
Let your child choose which book/text to read. It is important for them to feel engaged with the book/text. Children will often choose favourite stories that they know by heart. This is fine and a normal part of learning to read.
Before starting to read the story, talk about the cover, the title, the author and predict what the book may be about.
Do not always read the book straight through to the end. As you read, pause to talk about the pictures, discuss what has happened and what may happen next.
Try to engage your child in the text as well as the pictures. Even at an early stage, encourage them to read some of the words in the text.
Encourage your child to look closely at the words by finding those that look the same, rhyme or start with the same letter.
Always praise your child, particularly when they have corrected themselves. This helps build up confidence and makes reading pleasurable.
After finishing the book, talk about it together. Try asking: Were you right about what you thought was going to happen in the book? Have you read any other books like this? If the story carried on, what might happen? Which character did you like best/least? Why?

As your child becomes a more confident reader encourage them to read by themselves a little each day. This should be in addition to reading with you.

Phonics

Phonics are a key part of early reading and writing. If you have internet access at home, there are many good interactive activities and games online to help practise phonics. We offer a parent phonic workshop during Autumn term to support parents with their own understanding of phonics and in turn help to make you more confident about supporting your child at home.

Writing with your child

Learning to write well is an important communication skill. Children learn about writing from watching others and from the writing they see around them – things like adverts, notes and letters. One of the most important ways to encourage your child to write is by providing them with a model of a writer – you!

Always praise your child to develop their confidence as a writer (even if their writing is not entirely recognisable).
Choose a time when your child wants to write and when you are able to help. However, if your child is reluctant, don’t insist.
Talk with your child before they begin to write. This will help them clarify their ideas.
Encourage your child to try to write for themselves, even if they make mistakes. Suggest they have a go with words that they don’t know how to spell. They need to say the word slowly and write down the sounds that they hear.
As your child begins to write at home, do not over-emphasise neatness in their writing attempts. When children write they need to get their ideas down first.
Children need to feel that they are writing for a purpose. This can be in the form of letters to friends, stories, shopping lists, making and writing greeting cards, plans for a party, postcards and diaries.
Children can often be encouraged to write if they have nice notebooks or mini whiteboards to use.
Encourage children to use the sounds they have learnt in phonics—if they spell words incorrectly but phonetically this is ok!

Home Learning in KS2

Reading:

Your child will get the opportunity to change their love for reading library book (if finished) from the school library. Please try and encourage your child to read at least 4 times a week at home (please remember to add a comment in your child’s school planner). Whilst reading, please encourage your child to explain things to you about their book and ask them questions to ensure that they are understanding the text and they can relate this into a different context. Although it is important for your child to read their school books, it is equally important for them to enjoy reading and to read for purpose so therefore please encourage your child to read their home books, comics, cereal boxes, websites, instructions, timetables and charts – all of this can be added into the reading section of the school planner.

Spellings:

Your child will receive a set of spellings once a week in their planners. It is important that you help your child to learn the words/rules/patterns ready to be tested at school the following week. Your child’s score will be recorded in their school planner each week. Please remember that when learning spellings, it is not just for a ‘test’ and your child needs to remember these long- term, so coming back to old spellings is really useful!

Timestables:

Your child will need to know and understand their timestables in order to be able to be an efficient, accurate, confident mathematician in the future. They need to learn their timestables in any order and not just as a pattern. By the end of year 4, your child should know all of their timestables (year 3 : 3, 4 and 8; year 4: 6, 7, 9, 11, 12; year 5 and 6 is about applying this number knowledge in a range of contexts). It is important that you work with your child on these timestables regularly at home. Timestables will be given as home learning weekly and tested within school the next week. Your child’s score will be added to their school planner weekly so that you can monitor your child’s progress. Timestables will continue to be practised during years 5 and 6 – the quicker and more efficient your child is with their timestables the quicker and more efficient they can be when using their maths strategies e.g. long and short division, multiplication, fractions of amounts, percentages of amounts. Year 4 will be tested on timestables knowledge at the end of the year. In your child’s planner, they will have a log on details for TTRockstars—a great app for practising timestables.

Basic mathematical knowledge:

n addition to having secure timestable knowledge, it is important that your child learns and understands other key mathematical facts e.g. squared numbers, equivalence of key fractions and decimals e.g. ½ and 0.5, equivalence of time e.g. quarter to 9 and 8:45. The school’s calculation policy will be available on the school website to help you understand how basic arithmetic is developed.

In year 6:

A range of resources may be used additional homework to ensure that all children are as SATs and secondary school ready as possible (this will vary throughout the year in response to the needs of the children).

Learning Grids

Promoting reading at home:

Reading is one of the most important things that you can do to help with your child's education, so try to put aside some time for it on a regular basis. Remember that books aren't just about reading the words on the page - understanding is key - and the skills we focus on in class will be aimed at developing understanding. Your child’s experience of reading in class will therefore be as broad as possible and it is important to remember that reading in class is more than reading aloud from a novel or ‘reading book’. Your child will not read aloud every day, but they will read every day, and in a variety of contexts, as we aim to develop understanding across the curriculum in addition to spoken fluency.

Reading at home is an important part of this larger picture, so please encourage and support it. Try to make reading engaging; you want your child to learn how enjoyable and important books can be, and if you can enjoy a story together is even better.

Some ideas for helping your child to enjoy books:

Visit the library to encourage wider reading and choose books connected to class work - take out CDs and DVDs as well as books.
Schedule a regular time for reading.
Encourage your child to read aloud for part of the time, adopt the actions or voice of a character, or act out the story.
Allow children opportunities to choose their own texts so that they remain enthusiastic about reading e.g. back of boxes, information on computer games, comics, home story books, information texts etc.
There is no need to correct every mistake - focus on fluency and understanding as well.
Ask your child to summarise part of the story, or to predict what they think might happen next.
Ask them to describe their favourite character, or talk about what they like or do not like about the book.
If your child's teacher has recommended any particular reading strategies, practice using these at home.
Make sure that children’s books are easily accessible in different rooms around your house.

Helping your child with maths (practising number facts):

A secure knowledge of basic number facts related to addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and place value will give your child a firm foundation for all Mathematical topic.

The following ideas will give you some guidance:

Times tables Try to practise for a few minutes each day using a range of vocabulary e.g. times by, multiplied by etc.

Have a ‘fact of the day’. Pin this fact up around the house. Ask your child if they can recall the fact.

Play ‘ping pong’ to practise number facts with your child: one person says a number, followed by the other e.g. counting in multiples: 2's, 4's, 5’s; number bonds to 10, 20, 100, 1000 etc.; plus or minus a particular amount.

Make pairs of numbers which add or subtract to a target number: e.g. ? + ? = 23. Encourage your child to answer quickly, without counting or using fingers.

Throw 2 dice. Ask your child to find the total of the numbers (+), the difference between them (-) or the product (x). Can they do this without counting on fingers?

Use a set of playing cards (no pictures). Turn over two cards and ask your child to add, subtract, multiply or divide the numbers. If they answer correctly, they keep the cards. How many cards can they collect in 2 minutes?

Play Bingo. Each player chooses five answers to a mathematical question (e.g. multiples of a number to practise the times tables, factors of a number, answers to the squared numbers up to 12 x 12 etc.). Choose a question e.g. 4 x 6 and if a player has the answer, they can cross it off. The winner is the first player to cross off all of their answers.

Use real life experiences – paying for shopping, calculating over all costs from menus, cooking (dividing food into fractions, doubling/halving a recipe, reading different scales, converting measurements), reading a timetable.

Link it to your child’s interest - football league tables, car speeds etc.

Measuring – calculating lengths, perimeters and areas (using tape measures, rulers), reading scales when weighing (this could be within baking), calculating differences between capacity (using jugs and other containers).

Other online Games – If you have online access, there are many good interactive games and activities to practice maths. Please remember to support your child and ensure they stay safe online.

When working with your child on maths, encourage them to explain their strategies and understanding. They need to be considering: Can I do this mentally? What other mathematical knowledge can I use to help? Do I need a written method or jottings? Should I use a calculator? Can I make an estimate? Is my answer sensible? Would a doodle or sketch help? Have I checked my work?

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