Introduction

Homework in our school takes various forms depending on the age of the pupils. For example, for younger children it may be practicing reading and the learning of spellings and tables to support their learning in school, while for the upper juniors it may be additional work to prepare them for the demands of secondary school.

We are also mindful that children have the opportunities and experiences outside of school that are equally important in developing and enriching their lives. Our policy and practice therefore recognises the need for the children to have time to be children!

The purpose of Homework

As a child progresses through primary school, homework has some or all of the following purposes depending on the age of the child and format of the homework

• It consolidates and reinforces the skills and understanding learnt in school.
• It can extend school based learning.
• It fosters the partnership between the school and parents in achieving the aims of the school for the benefit of the child.
• It helps develop the confidence and self-discipline the child needs to study on their own.

Aims and Responsibilities

Mindful of the above purposes of homework, our aims in setting homework are to:-

• Give children further practice of the skills and concepts learnt during the school day.
• Extend and support the learning experiences in school via reinforcement and revision.
• Enable parents to share in their child’s education in partnership with the school.
• Provide progression towards independence and individual responsibility in upper Key Stage 2 to prepare the children for transfer to High School.
• Ensure consistency of approach throughout the school.

The school, parents and pupils each have responsibilities regarding homework. These are as follows:-

School is responsible for setting and monitoring homework appropriate to the child’s age and ability.

Parents are responsible for providing their child with time, space, encouragement and support with any homework they have including hearing the child read and assisting in the learning of tables and spellings.

Pupils are responsible for undertaking any homework set and remembering to take home and return to school all books and equipment needed to undertake their homework.

Time allocation for homework

These are recommended time allocations for homework. This is only a guide, and whilst the school endeavors to follow these guidelines carefully, there may be times when these guides are modified or changed.

When setting homework teachers will be mindful of the above time allocations and will distribute the homework across the days and week accordingly. Where the homework involves learning spellings and/or tables, the checking of this may take the form of a test set on a specific day of the week. Parents will be notified which day the test will be administered in order that they can support the child in their homework by ensuring the homework learning task is completed by the day of the test. Homework tasks set will generally practise skills the children have learned during recent lesson activities.

Homework support facilities in school

Details of the homework expectations for each class will be presented in the homework section of each class page on the school website.

In order to support children’s learning all children have the opportunity to complete homework during homework club on a Monday, should they need to do so for whatever reason. Internet access will also be provided in this club.  Also, the school’s open door policy allows all staff to be made aware of any issues that may be significant to any child’s ability to complete his or her homework.

Homework Feedback

We recognise that pupils benefit from feedback on their homework. Much of the homework, particularly grid homework, may not be formal paper exercises requiring formal marking. Therefore, much of the feedback may be verbal from the teacher to the child; the format and timing of the feedback depending on the nature of the homework and when it is assessed by the teacher.

With the older children, teachers will check that homework has been completed, and, depending on the task, children may ‘class mark’ or ‘self-mark’ their work under the direction of the teacher or teaching assistant. This may be followed by general feedback to the class.

All homework is set with a deadline for completion. Homework handed in after the deadline will not be marked. This is to teach the importance of working to deadlines.

Absences

Children who miss lessons due to being absent from school may be given work they have missed as homework, if appropriate. Where children are absent for longer due to medical reasons, it is not school policy to supply work to cover these periods, as the children should be able to attend school if they are well enough to undertake work. There are, however, exceptions to this rule and the school reserves the right to decide whether this is acceptable or not. Following Government guidelines, holidays in term time will not be authorised therefore the setting of homework for unauthorised absences is not applicable.

Rewards & Consequences

As with all other forms of school life we recognise, and will reward, children for their efforts in homework tasks.

Constructive feedback from parents about their child’s homework is also welcomed by the school.

Rewards

• Housepoints
• Praise in good work assembly
• Class homework trophy – half termly (the fewest pieces of uncompleted homework)

Consequences

• 3 weeks in a row missed homework – text from teacher
• No homework in a half-term – letter from Headteacher