At Baines’, we believe that pupil progress and enjoyment of school can be supported, encouraged and consolidated through the completion of homework tasks. We regard the involvement of parents/carers as fundamental in the learning process. 

Our Homework Schedule

Weekly homework for English and Maths will be provided in a written format or via our online platform: Google Classroom. This will be appropriate to the attainment level of the child and the national end of year expectations of their year group. 

We focus on weekly spelling related tasks for English Homework, and number fact related tasks such as multiplication tables for Mathematics Homework as the pupils progress through the school. By the time the children reach Year 6 we hope that they have established a clear homework routine in preparation for secondary school.

Children are asked to try to complete homework independently although they will benefit from the support and encouragement of their parents/carers. Teachers explain to children how the work is to be completed but parents/carers are encouraged to contact the school if they have any concerns or if further clarification is needed. Teachers also value feedback about homework from children and parents.

We set out weekly assessment activities in school hours to ascertain how the children are attaining in the areas of spelling and mathematics fact recall and also provide opportunities for children to practise within school hours if they are unable to at home.

 

The Importance of Reading

In addition to the written homework referred to above we strongly encourage the children to spend a short amount of time each day reading or being read to.

Learning to read is about listening and understanding as well as working out what’s printed on the page. Through hearing stories, children are exposed to a wide range of words. This helps them build their own vocabulary and improve their understanding when they listen, which is vital as they start to read. It’s important for them to understand how stories work too.

Even if your child doesn’t understand every word, they’ll hear new sounds, words and phrases which they can then try out, copying what they have heard. As children start to learn to read at school, parents/carers can play a vitally important role in helping to keep them interested in books.

 

Home/School Communication

We believe that effective communication between home and school is vital in supporting the pupils to read, therefore reading record books are kept as a tool for communication and a record of reading attainment and achievement.