Homework

In order to assist parents to support children with homework, we are publishing our homework guidelines

Spellings

At Holy Trinity our spelling curriculum targets reading patterns of spelling and the remembering of spelling. We deliver daily teaching of spelling in school that is based on strong phonics, with a focus on teaching pupils the connections between words, sound associations, etymology (the origins of words) and patterns.

Spellings are allocated weekly on Spelling Shed and we encourage children to complete weekly spelling practise to support recall and remembering. Children who complete games for weekly spellings on Spelling Shed will be awarded tokens that go into our half termly token draw.

Reading Record Book

All children have a reading for purpose book that they should take to and from school each day. There is no set limit regarding how much a child should read at home however, the national expectation is that all children should be able to read by the age of 6 and be able to read a wide range of texts with a strong degree of understanding, using high order inference and deduction skills by the age of 11.

We would like our pupils to read to an adult every single day! However, we know that this is not always possible. As a thumb rule, 3 times per week is something that we would like to achieve. Children receive tokens in school to reward their reading at home which are entered into a half termly school prize draw.

Inside reading record books, parents and pupils have the opportunity to record the date, book and page number and to write a comment. This does not need to happen every single time that a child reads however, a healthy reading record book should include records on a regular basis, particularly for pupils in Reception, KS1 and lower KS2. As pupils move further up the school, greater emphasis will be placed on pupils being more independent and they will generally be expected to make records and comments of their own.

Reading for Pleasure

We would of course like to encourage pupils to read their own books. To support with this, school provide each child with a Reading for Pleasure book and 50 Recommended Reads for each year group R-Y6. Reading for pleasure is proven to have an impact on pupils’ overall academic attainment and on their personal development. If parents and pupils would like to record and comment on their own books that they are currently reading, we openly encourage this also.

You can also find this information here: https://www.booksfortopics.com/booklists/recommended-reads/

Home School Record

Home School Record

All pupils across the school have a ‘Home School Record Book’. They should take this to and from school each day. Older pupils are expected to write in their books to record notices, events and homework. Younger pupils will have a summary sheet of their homework and the learning that they will be experiencing added to their books each week. We believe that using home school record books will help develop our pupils’ independent skills.  If parents need to make a comment of any kind, there is a space to do so in the home school record book. Younger children’s home school record books will be checked every day, however as pupils move up the school, books will be checked less frequently as children are encouraged to be more independent. We continue to encourage parents to have an open dialogue with school and to make an appointment with their child’s class teacher or speak with the class teaching assistant by telephoning school direct on 01429 855620 or contacting class email addresses. Teachers and teaching assistants will endeavour to respond to all calls and emails before the end of the school day.

Maths homework

Maths homework will be set weekly, either on Maths Shed or TimesTables Rockstars. Teachers will set the required amount of games each week as an assignment.

As parents ourselves, we fully appreciate the challenges of maintaining a healthy balance between work, family life, children’s out of school activities and homework.

Thank you for your continued support.

Mrs A Baines